Elvis crowned the king of the DMAs for Creme Egg Hunt

Elvis walked off with the top prize at last night’s DMA Awards, netting the agency’s first ever grand prix at the industry awards for its Cadbury’s 2019 “Hunt the White Creme Egg” activity, which also picked up two golds for best digital experience and best integrated campaign on the night.

The Mondelez-owned brand launched the “Creme Egg Hunt” strategy in 2017 but this year it hacked other companies’ social media feeds, billboards, websites and live experiences by hiding a White Creme Egg in their advertising.

Consumers got clues from HuntTheWhiteCremeEgg.com and uploaded photos of the sightings to win prizes including 30,000 milk chocolate Cadbury Creme Eggs, 1,000 rare white eggs and £10,000.

The work included TV, print, out-of-home, digital, social, in-store, PR, media partnerships and experiential. The grand prix judging panel praised the campaign’s creative execution, integrated strategy and, ultimately, “fantastic results”, which saw sales of the brand rise by 9.9%.

DMA Awards committee chair Matt Conner, who is also managing director of last year’s grand prix winner MRM McCann, said: “[Elvis and Modelez] excelled in combining a creative strategy with intelligent use of data throughout its audience selection and placement. This engaging campaign encapsulated the brand values, triggering behaviours that went on to deliver a significant retail sales impact. Delicious!”

But while Elvis made off with the “A Big Hunk o’ Love” from the judges, Proximity London took home the most golds on the night, with five gongs for Ikea. Ogilvy, which had led the shortlist with 23 finalists, was next in line, winning four golds for IBM, Rolls-Royce and Formula One. Merkle, MRM McCann and MullenLowe Open picked up three golds each.

In total, 17 different agencies and 22 brands each took home at least one gold across all the categories this year, which the DMA claims “highlights the breadth of the great work being done across the data and marketing industry”.

However, this claim appears to have fallen flat in the automotive and privacy by design categories, which both failed to muster a gold winner, despite handing out silvers and bronzes.

This year’s awards were judged by over 300 senior marketers from agencies, brands and suppliers over four days, with additional days of judging in Bristol and Edinburgh.

DMA managing director Rachel Aldighieri said: “The campaigns entered into the DMA Awards every year showcase the amazing talent our industry has within it. It also highlights how, despite economic uncertainty, we continue to deliver fantastic and engaging work for clients. Winning a DMA Award means you’ve truly made a difference, so every one of this year’s winners should be proud of their achievement.”

For the full list of winners visit the DMA Awards website>

TOPICS:data-driven marketing DMA DMA Awards Elvis