FCB Media shines brightly at the 2018 Beacon Awards with Best In Show win and 12 Golds; PHD takes out Comms Council Media Agency OTY title

A sell-out crowd of just under 1000 of New Zealand’s leading media personalities came together last night to celebrate the industry’s best work from the past year at the 2018 Commercial Communications Council Beacon Awards, in association with NZME. The glitzy event was held at the Viaduct Events Centre, with the media industry dressed in their finest, all hoping to be seen in the spotlight winning metal for their media thinking that drove great business results for their clients.

FCB Media (above) dominated the night, taking out the supreme award for Best in Show with its The Inequality Issue campaign for Westpac NZ, (also awarded Gold in Best Collaboration and Best Small Budget categories).  This year’s Advertiser of the Year was Fire and Emergency New Zealand (left) who also picked up numerous awards during the night.

Says Derek Lindsay, convenor of judges for Beacons 2018: “It has been a really strong year across all media entries, and especially those campaigns which were awarded Gold.  As a result, the International Judges found it a particularly close decision in awarding the Best in Show. The International judges also noted that all of the Gold winners should be especially congratulated for keeping NZ at the forefront of effectiveness in media thinking and that this was a stable of world class work.”

FCB Media took out 12 Golds and 3 Silvers through its campaigns for Water Safety New Zealand, Westpac NZ, European Motor Distributors (Audi), Foodstuffs (NZ) – PAK’nSAVE, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Testicular Cancer New Zealand.

PHD (left) also shone brightly in the spotlight taking home 3 Golds for its collaborative work with Skinny Mobile for The Best ‘Freekend’ Christmas ever! And with MediaWorks for Helping Newshub win the election.  Plus, an additional 8 Silvers for Lightbox – Watercooler Radio, DB Breweries – Beer Bottle Sand and Genesis Energy – Reading More than the weather.

MBM also had a fantastic night with 3 Golds for work with Serato and two for Cheers and Uber. OMD, Carat and the collaboration of Carat, BC&F Dentsu and MKTG rounded out the Golds for the night for their campaigns for Kiwibank, MetlifeCare and the Movember Foundation respectively.

PHD were awarded Comms Council Media Agency of the Year for its outstanding work throughout the year. Media Agency of the Year is an entered category judged on the merits of the business over a calendar year. The award takes into account business vision, employee development, financial performance, client acquisition and development, industry contribution and creativity and innovation rather than the traditional way of who won the most metal on the night. This was judged by a panel of independent business people and auditors.

Robert Harvey (left) from Dentsu Aegis Group won the Sandy Smith Inspiring Individual Award with many of his staff acknowledging him in a tribute video as “amazing, compassionate, savvy, respectful and deserving”.

Brendhan Lovegrove, shining comedic light, was an excellent MC, and was joined on stage by Murray Sweetpants and friends at the Beacons Bar, where you could relax, grab a cocktail, a collectable Hauraki bobble head, and then your trophy. The executive judges joined the on-screen celebrations by explaining HeartBreak Island style, why each Gold clearly deserved to win their award.

The 2018 Beacon Awards in association with NZME were proudly sponsored by TVNZ, Sky, The Radio Bureau, Nielsen, Val Morgan Outdoor, Bauer Media, Big Mobile, Adshel, MediaWorks, Google, KPEX, and Soar Print.

VIEW THE WINNERS – Beacon Award Winners 2018.pdf