Ogilvy drives into the lead as DMA finalists are revealed

Ogilvy UK has emerged in pole position among the DMA Awards finalists with 22 entries on the shortlist – including work for Formula 1, the Tokyo Olympics, Relate and Barbie – with the award ceremony due to return to a live event in December, following last year’s virtual ceremony.

Ogilvy has been a regular among the leading finalists over the past decade, although has not won the grand prix since 2012. As has been proven in previous years, the agency with the highest number of nominations rarely comes out on top on the night.

Rapp is second on the shortlist, with 17 nominations for Virgin Media, Ikea, Samsung, Laithwaites and PayPal, followed by M&C Saatchi on ten and Edit, MRM and Digitas UK on seven apiece.

Wunderman Thompson, which walked off with the grand prix last year for the first time in nearly two decades – for its Unscripted campaign for BT Sport – is way down the pecking order for the 2021 awards, with just six finalists.

There are 35 categories in total, split across five tracks; industry sectors, channels, campaigns, data and craft, with entries in line for either gold, silver or bronze; the grand prix is chosen from one of the gold winning campaigns.

As is tradition, more than 300 senior marketers from agencies, brands and specialists helped to judge the awards over a ten day period, although the judging was once again carried out virtually, due to the pandemic. Mail management specialist Citipost Mail is the headline sponsor.

According to the DMA Awards website, the winners will be announced at the awards dinner on December 7, at Old Billingsgate in London.

However, for the second year running, the Grand Prix will not be revealed on the night. Those waiting with bated breath to find out which campaign is the best of the best will have to hold on for another six weeks until January 19.

More details are available on the awards website>