The Brand Agency takes out Agency of the Year and Bonfire is Digital Agency of the Year at 2022 Campaign Brief Awards; West Australian Ballet named Advertiser of the Year and Ad Person of the Year is Wunderman Thompson’s Mel Wiese

The Brand Agency walked on stage tonight to collect the 2021 Campaign Brief Agency of the Year award. It is the 11th time the agency has won Agency of the Year over the 35 year history of the award – first won by JB&B Perth in 1987. Remarkably, The Brand Agency has now won five Agency of the Year titles over the past 6 years.

The Brand Agency has been named Agency of the Year after a strong performance in 2021. They changed their approach and focused on their creative output, appointed Dean Hunt as Executive Creative Director, only the fourth in their history. They grew the agency by employing 30 new staff, with 111 permanent team members in Perth, making them well over two times larger than their nearest competitor.

The agency retained three of their largest clients and welcomed back RAC from fierce competition in WA and the East Coast. They also won more new business than anyone else and promoted talent from within to help lead the agency into the future. They also won three Best of Year creative awards at these Campaign Brief WA Awards.

2021 was a blockbuster year for Block Branding, who were runner-up for our Agency of the Year award. From a business perspective turnover increased by around 130% and net profit was up 180%. The agency won a heap of new business, including the City of Perth, and undertook the very successful launch of Karrinyup, the biggest job they have ever undertaken, creating about 1,000 different pieces in the campaign.

Advertising Person of the Year went to Wunderman Thompson’s National Chief Strategy Officer, Melanie Wiese. Wiese is described as “a force of nature” – Strong willed, intelligent, empathetic and ambitious. Wiese was the driving force behind the evolution of the Meerkats offer and now the Wunderman Thompson national strategic direction.

In 2021 Wiese was appointed as National Chief Strategy Officer for Wunderman Thompson Australia – based out of Perth. Never has a national agency network domiciled their Chief Strategist out of Perth. It’s a huge coup, and a testament to her impact both in Perth, Australia and in APAC where she is highly regarded.

West Australian Ballet was named Campaign Brief’s prestigious Advertiser of the Year. The West Australian Ballet has created the opportunity for Wunderman Thompson to deliver a suite of creative ideas that has consistently won at Award shows here, nationally and overseas. As a client they are brave, focused and open to working within the partnership for the maximum impact.

Other major award-winners were:

Digital Agency of the Year – Bonfire. In 2021 Bonfire surpassed forecasts and achieved 21% revenue growth year on year and a profit growth of 10% year on year. They also welcomed 75 new brands including Student Edge, Steadyrack, RAC Parks & Resorts, AIM WA, and Dirty Clean Food bringing their client roster to over 230 clients across Australia.

Challenger Agency of the Year – Moonsail. It has been a Big First year for Moonsail. At the beginning of 2021 Moonsail didn’t exist. by the end of 2021 they were on the rise with a healthy portfolio of clients in varying sectors locally, nationally and internationally. And they are projected to surpass $1M+ revenue in their first full financial year. Having held senior positions in their careers, Paul Coghlan and Matt Nankivell wanted to create a special agency that delivered the value of their global experience to brands locally, whilst challenging boxed-in mindsets.

Helen Filov Media Agency of the Year – Initiative. In a remarkable performance, Initiative has been named the Helen Filov Media Agency of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. Campaign Brief’s annual poll of sales directors and senior sales executives of WA’s major media was a much closer event this year with only 5 votes separating the top 3 positions.

Media Organisation of the Year – Nova 93.7. Jumping up four positions in 2021 to take out the Media Organisation of the Year award are Nova 93.7. This is the second time they’ve won this prestigious award having first won in 2007. It was a dominant performance by Nova 93.7, recording 10 more points than oOH! Media – who ranked clear No2.

Supernova of the Year – Simon Mullins (Rare) – Campaign Brief traditionally judges creatives a bit harder for this Supernova of the Year award, as they have so many other avenues to shine, but it’s very clear that Mullins has a bright career ahead and is a very worthy winner. The only creative to previously win this award is Matt Nankirvell.

Since becoming an official Rare copywriter, Mullins has gone from strength to strength. His work has been highly awarded over the last 12 months, including receiving his first PADC gold skull and Best of Year at the Campaign Brief Awards for the Transperth “Distraction Is Never Funny Around Buses” campaign.

Marketing Executive of the Year – This inaugural award was won by Louise Kaminskis from Bedshed. Kaminskis has played a key role within the small team that manages Bedshed’s retail activities across the nation. That this has been successfully achieved utilising exclusively Western Australian resources is both a testament to the marketing abilities of Kaminskis and her team, and is a practical demonstration of the capacities and resources within the local communications industry.

There were 10 Creative Awards handed out earlier in the night. This year’s Best of Year creative award winners were:

Television Commercial – Anglicare WA ‘The Cold Campaign’ (Wunderman Thompson)

Television Campaign – Kleenheat ‘Not Thinking About Gas’ (The Brand Agency)

Radio Single – Plico ‘Renewed’ (Nova 93.7)

Radio Campaign – West Australian Ballet ‘Dracula Comes To Crown’ (Wunderman Thompson)

Press – Anglicare WA ‘Home For The Holidays’ (Wunderman Thompson)

Out of Home – Road Safety Commission ‘Shadows Of Summer’ (The Brand Agency)

FTG – The Avocado Collective ‘Typeface with a Heart’ (Block Branding)

Online Film – RSCO ‘Moto Mannequin – Helmet’ (The Brand Agency)

Digital Media Campaign – St. John ‘GP Recruitment’ (303 MullenLowe)

Integrated Campaign – Anglicare WA ‘The Cold Campaign’ (Wunderman Thompson)

For full coverage of winners and the finalists in all categories get the printed edition of the Campaign Brief Awards magazine. Email Mina on perth@campaignbrief.com