Weber Shandwick snap up six awards including the grand prix at The Drum Social Buzz Awards 2017
Three million girls in Africa are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) each year and Weber Shandwick took on the challenge of generating greater awareness in the UK.
Weber Shandwick snap up six awards including the grand prix at The Drum Social Buzz Awards 2017
Taking home the highly esteemed grand prix from The Drum Social Buzz Awards as well as; best use of video, most innovative use of social, best use of social media advertising, low budget, best social stunt and best socially responsible initiative, Action Aid's 'Brutal Cut' resonated among the panel of judges and left a lasting impression.
Eimear Lambe, head of brand strategy at Twitter said: "The judges across the board were impressed by Brutal Cut, and how a simple insight was carried seamlessly through the creative, media strategy and implementation. This work exemplifies best in class strategy and planning, and deserves the recognition."
VML Kansas City and Wendy's Inc have snapped up the chairman's award, as well as best use of Twitter, for its work on #Nuggsforcarter.
Many brands only dips toes into the waters of real time engagement with social media audiences but Wendy’s done it by combining a consistent, conversational voice with topical, relevant humor and playful sarcasm.
On why she chose this campaign, Lambe said: "This award goes to the another piece of work that sparked huge conversation and debate amongst the judges; #NuggsForCarter.
"It could only be done by a brand and team that have invested in their long-term social strategy and have built up the structure and reflex to move at the speed of culture!"
Winners of the social media agency/team of the year award, for a second year, are We Are Social, who judges described as a team who continue to raise the bar, demonstrate immense thought-leadership, push the industry forward, and execute work they are all envious of.
The global agency also won best use of a chatbot and best use of group/community.
Judge Andy Dangerfield, head of news curation at BuzzFeedUK said: "This category was was incredibly competitive and created a huge amount of debate between the judges - We Are Social showed themselves to be pioneers - unafraid the experiment with the latest innovation on social platforms.
"They took bespoke approaches to platforms, demonstrating masterful understanding of their strengths and targeting content on these and showed off a range of creative ways to engage with audience."
Winners also include: Manning Gottlieb OMD for best travel/leisure/sports social media strategy/ campaign, best retail/e-commerce social media strategy/campaign and best social event; Joint and Gorilla Media for best viral campaign and British Heart Foundation for best charity/not for profit social media strategy/campaign.
The award ceremony took place at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London on Wednesday 29 November. For a full list of winners, please click here.
The sponsors for the 2017 awards are: Audience, TINT, The Drum Network and The Drum RAR