In today’s climate of increasing accountability, the IPA’s decision to make their prestigious Effectiveness Awards into an annual event is welcome news. The more public evidence we have of the influence of advertising on business success the better.

In today’s climate of increasing accountability, the IPA’s decision to make their prestigious Effectiveness Awards into an annual event is welcome news. The more public evidence we have of the influence of advertising on business success the better.

When Thinkbox was approached by the IPA to be a sponsor of the Effectiveness Awards, our interest was natural: as the marketing body for Commercial Television, we champion the role of television at the heart of successful marketing campaigns, and each time the winners’ supplement is published we find more captivating success stories in which television has starred in a leading role. Effectiveness and accountability are key priorities of Thinkbox and the IPA awards are the gold standard in both.

In celebrating the successful winners this year, we’re encouraged to read about the range of tasks that television has fulfilled in delivering return on investment. Sixteen of the twenty-three winning papers used TV advertising as part of their campaign, more than any other media.

The perception that you should only consider television if you’ve got a seriously big marketing budget is challenged, amongst others, by the University of Dundee and Roundup Weedkiller.

The pre-eminent ability of television to be the springboard to enduring brand fame is well demonstrated by Bakers, while Travelocity shows us a compelling picture of how to achieve a more rapid journey to fame.

TV’s ability to emotionally engage audiences and communicate real life stories was demonstrated to great effect in the Blood donation and Oral Cancer campaigns, whereas Unibond utilized the power of the medium to add value to its range.

There is also a demonstration of the potency of leveraging a programme sponsorship throughout the communication mix and into the retail environment. You can read about this in the story of First Choice’s partnership with I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

The papers on the Northern Ireland fire authority and Fox’s Rocky demonstrated how the collaboration between media and creative can be critical to a campaign. Both recognised the fact that we don’t all watch TV in the same way and that media planning insights can better target consumers in the right mood or viewing environment.

Across the board, and in the face of some difficult communication briefs we have seen major beneficial turnarounds in terms of consumer behaviour and the perception of brands. These are powerful case studies where real insight, great creative, and clever media thinking have worked together to create some really engaging campaigns, and as we all know, optimising engagement is key in delivering advertising effectiveness.

Congratulations to all the winners – both for the business success they have managed and for sharing their stories with a wider audience.