Effective use of Partnerships and Sponsorships winners announced for Warc Media Awards 2019

Tim Hortons' The Away Game campaign. Image supplied.

Campaigns for global brands including Axe, KFC and Nescafé, and local brands such as Interac in Canada, Puck in the UAE and Zhonghua in China, are among the winners of the Effective Use of Partnerships and Sponsorships category of Warc's Media Awards 2019, a global case study competition recognising communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results.

A total of 14 winners - one Grand Prix, two Golds, six Silvers and five Bronzes - have been awarded in this category which showcases how collaborations with third parties, including native advertising and sponsorships, have helped brands meet business goals.

The jury, chaired by Unilever's Carrie Timms, vice president of global media, also awarded three Special Awards for particular areas of expertise:

• Successful Sponsorship Award - for the best example of a brand effectively aligning itself with, for instance, an entertainment property or a sporting event.
• Effective Native Award - for the best example of a native campaign that helped a brand meet its business objectives.
• Collaboration with an Influencer Award - for the most effective partnership with an influencer appropriate for the target market.

The Grand Prix and Successful Sponsorship Award has been awarded to PHD UK and Fuse for #ThisIsOurTime, a campaign for Volkswagen-owned auto brand Skoda UK, which leveraged its cycling heritage and sponsorship of the Tour de France to promote conversations about gender inequality in the sport.

The content-led campaign told the story of Donnons des Elles au Velos J-1, an all-female cycling team put together to ride the entire Tour de France course the day before the men's race, shining a light on both the achievements and challenges of women's cycling.

Content of the low-budget campaign was seen by more than 10 million people in Britain resulting in the UK government asking Skoda to participate in a Parliamentary review on gender equality.

Commenting on the Grand Prix winning campaign, jury member, Rachel Lorenzon, head of partnerships at the7stars and co-author of the 2018 Grand Prix for Suzuki Ignis, said:

It's the sort of work you wish you'd done. The way they activated the insight was incredible, every single touchpoint was thought about, and the content was so great they could repurpose it for TV.

Grand Prix

• #ThisIsOurTime · Skoda UK · Volkswagen Group · PHD UK, Fuse · United Kingdom + Successful Sponsorship Special Award

Gold

• The Away Game · Tim Hortons · Zulu Alpha Kilo · Canada, United States
• Boca vs. River - The match of the century · Axe · Unilever · Initiative · Argentina

Silver

• Project Nemo - Take Dirt to Give Dirt · Omo · Unilever · Mindshare Vietnam, Click Media · Vietnam
• Music Festival Activations · Live Nation x Carlsberg · Carlsberg Foundation and Carlsberg Shareholders · Live Nation Experiential · United Kingdom
• Save The Cows · Puck · Arla Foods · FP7 McCann Dubai · United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia + Effective Native

Special Award

• Jump on the Wagen · Volkswagen · PHD · Canada, United States
• Colonel KI · KFC · Yum China · Mindshare · China
• Bounce 2.0 Campaign · 5 Gum · Mars Wrigley · MediaCom China · China

Bronze

• Infallible over Hotpot · L'Oréal · Mindshare China · China
• Luo Tianyi · Nescafé · Nestlé · Mindshare · China + Collaboration with an Influencer Special Award
• Espresso Stopover · Sting · Sunstory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage · Mindshare Vietnam · Vietnam
• How Zhonghua Shone Through · Zhonghua · Unilever · PHD China · China
• Earning Curve · Lifebuoy · Interac · Interac Corps.· Zulu Alpha Kilo · Canada, United States

More information on the 2019 Warc Media Awards - Effective Use of Partnerships and Sponsorships winners, as well as the winners of the other three categories, Effective Channel Integration, Best Use of Data and Effective Use of Tech, is available here.

The Grand Prix and Special Awards' winners across all four categories share a $40,000 prize fund.

The 2020 Warc Awards recognising in excellence in Social Strategy, Innovation, Brand Purpose and Content Strategy, are currently open for entries until 12 February. Entry is free.