Whether you’ve got your Oscar speech prepared (just on the off-chance!) or you’re a hopeful golfer wanting to be Open Champion, everybody dreams of winning an award. In advertising, people are often blasé about awards, but let’s face it – everybody likes to win. It’s a great validation for all your hard work.
For The Gate, that dream became a reality not once but twice at the Drum Marketing Awards, held in Manchester on May 16th. We received two accolades for our work for Irish energy giants Airtricity – Best Product Service Launch of The Year and the prestigious Chairman’s Prize. Not a bad result for just one entry.
When we heard our name announced for the Chairman’s Prize that evening, we were thrilled. We were hopeful of winning in the Product/Service Launch category, because of the fantastic results we had achieved in our campaign. But to be recognised by the Chairman as the best entry from all the nominations was an amazing feeling.
Kevin Greenhorn, Managing Director of Airtricity, was equally impressed. It’s important to mention that our clients at Airtricity played a vital role in helping us to win this award. To achieve 200,000 new customers within the first year and a 50% increase in spontaneous brand awareness – it takes more than a clever idea and a few ads. And they didn’t do it by throwing a lot of cash at media. Indeed Airtricity’s closest competitor spent over 5 times the amount on media in the same period. The Gate simply worked harder and came up with smarter strategies that brought success.
Hard work and smart thinking is what the Gate has always been known for– and throughout the years our clients have been delighted with the results. As Jackie Duggan, Marketing manager for Airtricity said: “The campaign was hugely successful in terms of growing customer numbers, building brand awareness and getting cut-through in a very difficult, competitive market. The Gate was instrumental in making this the perfect launch platform for Airtricity.”
The excitement of winning awards aside, the thing we’re most proud of is the positive effect our Airtricity campaign has had – both on customers and the Irish energy market. After all, that’s what we are in this business for; creating impact, changing behaviours and making a difference. If you want The Gate to help you dramatically shake up your marketplace and propel your product/service to new heights, then pick up the phone. We would be delighted to hear from you.
