AANA announces finalists for each of the Great Australian Marketing Awards categories for 2014

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Screen Shot 2014-03-20 at 8.43.24 am.jpgThe AANA has unveiled the finalists for each of the Great Australian Marketing Awards (The GRAMAs) categories.

Says Sunita Gloster, AANA’s CEO: “In its inaugural year we have received some outstanding ideas and marketing prowess entered. It is with great pride that the AANA can shine the spotlight on Australian marketing achievements on a global stage.”

The jury panel was comprised of members of the AANA board, Stephan Loerke, managing director of the World Federation of Advertisers and chaired by Nigel Marsh from The Leading Edge. The AANA GRAMAs are a key component of elevating Australia’s marketing profession both locally and on a global stage.

The winner for the three GRAMA awards will be announced at the Cocktail Party to officially open Global Marketer Week at the Museum of Contemporary Art on 25 March, 2014. David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5 will be the guest speaker.

The Awards are sponsored by strategic research company The Leading Edge, Starcom MediaVest Group, Suncorp Group and Vegemite.

Finalists for Great Australian Marketing Talent in a global/regional role:

Greg Creed, CEO Taco Bell YUM Restaurants International

Creed who completed his Marketing degree in Queensland, was appointed to CEO of Taco Bell in early 2011, after serving as president and chief concept officer for Taco Bell Corp, the US’s leading Mexican -style quick service restaurant chain. As head of Taco Bell, he is responsible for driving overall brand strategy and performance of the business in the US and internationally. Creed has a long association with YUM Restaurants since 1994 when he was chief marketing and interim GM for KFC and Pizza Hut Australia.

Leanne Cutts, President and Managing Director Japan Mondelez International

Cutts is a veteran in the FMCG industry and has held significant roles across Asia with Mondelez, and GSK. In all these roles Cutts has driven extraordinary growth of the relevant categories as well as leading consumer insights and analytics, and driving marketing excellence. She has been active in challenging markets – India, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Most recently she was instrumental in the most successful FMCG campaign for Mondelez in 2013 – the new launch and category entry of Stride Gum into China. Cutts has a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University and started her career at Unilever.

Nick Law, Global Chief Creative Officer R/GA

Law a Sydney boy, is arguably the most successful digital creative director in the world. He and his team at R/GA, have helped brands integrate their software into media campaigns. R/GA has worked with Nike to bring the highly successful Nike+ and FuelBand brands to the market.

Finalists for Great Australian-conceived product/service which has achieved major international success:

Fruit Ninja by HalfBrick

In 2009, HalfBrick conceived and developed Fruit Ninja which is one of the most legendary mobile games of all time – it is the number two top downloaded app of all time on the iPhone. The game set a benchmark for success that was to be emulated and used as inspiration for thousands of fellow developers. In 2012, Halfbrick was named the #2 game develop in the world by PocketGamer with the majority of its revenues from the US and Asia. New Fruit Ninja projects are continually in the works, created entirely by Australian talent.

McCafé by McDonald’s Australia

McCafé was originally born in Melbourne in 1993 after a licensee on Swanston Street decided to make the most of the passing trade. It is still the only nation-wide cafe chain that originated in Australia. Since the 1993 launch, the brand has taken off and now operates in over 32 countries around the world including the USA. Australian Charlie Bell, the first non American and youngest person to hold the position of global head of McDonalds was the driving force behind the expansion of McCafe.

UbK by Kimberly-Clarke

U by Kotex was born after the local team at Kimberly-Clarke looked at a new way to market and sell feminine care products and Kotex in particular to young women. What started as a local Australian project to replace one staid brand with another has grown into a global brand and is now distributed in North America. The Australian team challenged the status quo and is so doing, revolutionized the way brands in femcare talk and connect with their audience globally.

Finalists for Great Australian-conceived marketing campaign which has gone global:

Share a Coke for the Coca-Cola Company

The success of the Share a Coke campaign needs little explanation as it has rolled out globally to the UK, Europe, Brazil and markets in Asia. In 2013, it was launched in 20 countries with a further 60 in the planning stage. The campaign created in Australia is touted as the biggest (non asset) campaign for the company in over a decade.

Devil’s Cut Launch for Beam Global

The campaign was to introduce a new premium bourbon to the world market by sharing the story of how the product was made. The launch strategy was developed in Australia with the simple message that the product was made by simply twisting the barrel to squeeze out the Devil’s Cut. The campaign which reinvigorated the brand, also captured the imagination of new global markets and is now exported to the US, Germany and NZ.