Campaigns for global brands including Corona, Dulux and KFC, and local brands such as Babyshop in Dubai, Oh Henry! in Canada and Skinny in New Zealand, are among the winners of the Effective Channel Integration category of WARC’s Media Awards 2019.

A total of 11 winners – one Grand Prix, two Golds, three Silvers and five Bronzes – have been awarded in the category, which showcases how sophisticated communications architecture help boost campaign effectiveness; the jury, chaired by Americo Campos Silva, Global Head of Integrated Brand, Shell, also awarded three Special Awards for particular areas of expertise.

The Grand Prix went to FP7 McCann Dubai for Al Umobuwah – Putting ‘Mum’ into ‘Parenthood’, a multichannel campaign for baby retail brand Babyshop.

The Arabic word for ‘parenthood’ translates into ‘fatherhood’, so Babyshop created a new Arabic word that means ‘motherhood’ and ‘fatherhood’ and launched it on Mother's Day via an online film and influencers as well as starting a school outreach programme for children to learn the word. Brand love for Babyshop among Arab mothers grew by 32%.

Commenting on the Grand Prix winning campaign, jury member Tejas Apte, Global Media Director, Unilever, said: “It was authentic to Babyshop’s brand purpose and was brought to life beautifully. While celebrating mothers, they made it inclusive, about parents.”

A campaign by UM Canada and Anomaly for Hershey’s Oh Henry! candy bar that tapped into Canada’s legalisation of cannabis won a Gold and the POE Special Award. A reformulation of the bar was specifically designed to address the hunger that many cannabis users experience shortly after consuming the drug.

Oh Henry! 4:25 referenced the time taken for the “munchies” to strike, while the campaign itself made use of sampling, partnerships, paid media to coincide with the passing of the new law, and social media amplification. The one million Oh Henry! 4:25 bars sold out and brand penetration in millennial households increased by a third.

New Zealand telco Skinny Mobile picked up a Silver and two Special Awards – the Path-to-Purchase Award + Effective Cross-Channel Measurement Award – for The Best 'Freekend' Christmas Ever!, a campaign by PHD New Zealand and Platform29.

Digital, radio, TV, OOH and direct mail were all deployed to focus promotion on its data offering instead of handsets. Further visibility was achieved by wrapping convenience stores and hijacking summer events. Acquisitions over the campaign resulted in the largest-ever customer base for Skinny Mobile and SIM sales were up 27% year on year.

Read more details of all the winners in the Effective Channel Integration category in the WARC Media Awards here. The winners of the Effective Use of Partnerships & Sponsorships and Effective Use of Tech categories will be announced over the next few weeks.

Sourced from WARC