The BD100 Award Winners Announced for 2020

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Now in its third year the BD100 Awards celebrate the best in agency new business

While this year’s ceremony may have been virtual the caliber of the winners was nothing to be sniffed at. In fact, our judges found shortlisting the hundreds of nominations from across the industry the hardest yet with one judge saying the talent was “off the scale” this year.

As well as recognising the Business Developer and Rising Star of 2020, the BD100 awards also awarded Win of the Year - as we know how much a big new client win can mean to an agency. And Team of the Year, because whilst celebrating individual performance is important, business development should be everyone’s business within an agency.

We are proud to share the BD100 winners of 2020…

Business Developer of the Year, sponsored by The Drum

WINNER: Bianca McLeish, Publicis Media

SHORTLIST:

· Harpreet Bushell, LAB Group

· Jack Williams, Atomic London

· Janita Lakhanpal, Ketchum

· Kate Barker, R/GA

· Matt Lambert, TMW Unlimited

· Siji Onabanjo, Cyber-Duck

Of our shortlist, one of the judges said they were impressed with the creativity, grit and determination to succeed, in the face of unexpected business adversity. It made judging this category tricky to say the least.

Bianca was crowned Business Developer of the Year having been called a 'powerhouse' by her management team. She is a mentor to three young women and an inspiration to all who work with her. Her submission showed evidence of how a complex global pitch was coordinated across multiple teams, during a difficult time and a personal note was included from the client who confirmed what a great job Bianca had done managing the entire pitch process. She embodies everything we love about our industry and is an incredibly worthy winner of the 2020 Business Developer of the Year Award.

Rising Star, sponsored by JFDI.

WINNER: Alana Herington, Ketchum London

SHORTLIST:

· Dean Rowland, OMD EMEA

· Emily Alexander, Wunderman Thompson

· George Perry, Jack Morton Worldwide

· Isabella Gelston, Karmarama

· Kabillan Navaratnarasa, TMW Unlimited

The shortlist was fierce in the Rising Star category featuring talent from a range of agencies, giving us all hope that our industry will continue to flourish in the face of adversity for years to come.

However, having started her role on their first day of lockdown, our winner Alana Herington’s submission stood out. She gained significant achievements across the board from amazing in-bound marketing statistics, to creating and managing a high-level pipeline of briefs, to working on group partnerships. We can’t wait to watch where her career will lead.

Win of the Year, sponsored by Winmo

WINNER: TMW Unlimited

It wasn’t the size of TMW Unlimited’s win (although it was significant), but the way it was won which impressed the judges. Tenacity, empathy for the client during a tumultuous time and a dogged determination to show that TNW Unlimited was right for the business, against incredible competitive odds, over a very lengthy time frame were all evident. They showcased a true reinvention of the pitch process for the times we have lived through in 2020.

Business Development Team of the Year, sponsored by DNA.

WINNER: MassiveMusic

MassiveMusic’s business development team won a range of new accounts in 2020 which was commendable. But more impressively, they did so by remaining true to their core values and passions by developing a branded product, which prospect clients couldn't resist. Their enthusiasm for new business and to innovate in the pursuit of commercial success, against a tough backdrop, sung out from the submission, as did the personality of the team (surely the only agency biz dev team to also be a band?!)

We hope the tenacity and enthusiasm shown by all our 2020 nominees will continue to shine in the year to come. We cannot wait to see what the 2021 awards will hold.