Frontend at the forefront in Digital Media Awards

The mood down at the DoubleTree by Hilton was one of confidence last Friday, as 600 industry insiders gathered in Dublin to celebrate another year of innovation and growth.

Confidence and laughter, in fact, as Oliver Callan got his hands on the mic. The Nob Nation funnyman lampooned Enda Kenny, Michael D, Louis Walsh, Eamon Dunphy and the usual suspects in hilarious fashion. When things finally settled down again at the 2015 Digital Media Awards it didn't take long to establish that Ireland's digital media scene is in pretty good shape these days, as scores of world-class companies and projects competed in a vast array of categories.

If innovation is the benchmark then Dublin design agency Frontend.com have it cracked. They took a concept that's been around for generations – the humble milkman – and revolutionised it for the 21^st century, in partnership with dairy giant Glanbia.

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Best Public Life: Temple Street Foundation – ICAN. Annette Small, Arlene Hanratty.

Their MyMilkman.ie project is a revelation: customers across Ireland can find a milkman and manage orders and payments through the app. Meanwhile, milkmen can maintain customer accounts, deliveries and payments through the separate back-office interface and the Doorstep app. The result is greater flexibility for customers and significant time and cost savings for the milkman.

As is often the case with the power of digital media, somehow something that feels like it's been around forever has been reinvented. The Frontend team deservedly took home Best Design/Art Direction, Best Use of Mobile – along with the coveted Digital Media Awards Grand Prix.

Newcomers Wolfgang Digital also came away with a formidable haul of DMA statuettes. Big data is all the rage at the moment, and the Wolfgang Labs project helps to make sense of it all. A series of their digital marketing studies have featured in outlets such as Forbes and Moz, and an impressed panel of judges awarded them the Big Data Award, Best Company Using Digital and Best Agency (sponsored by breakingnews.ie).

Best Integrated Digital Campaign (sponsored by Ad2One) and Best Brand Using Digital went to the HSE You Can Quit campaign, driven by creative agency Carat. The aim was to offer public information and support in an engaging and non-judgemental way, whether through www.quit.ie or social media networks.

Digital on the agenda

It was 'lucky 13' for Ashville Media Group's Digital Media Awards team this year, defying the unluckiest of numbers to make the 13^th running of the awards a success. "The 2015 DMAs saw a 40 per cent increase on entries, which shows that agencies and companies alike have put digital on their agenda," explains Tracey Carney, Event Director. "It also shows that the DMAs are the awards that agencies want to win."

So congratulations to Presentation College Carlow, encouraging the next generation of digital natives with the curriculum, teaching and resources, and what the school called "the skills and education needed to participate meaningfully in an increasingly global, technological and online world". For that, they are Digital School of the Year sponsored by The Educational Company of Ireland.

On the less serious side of things, Best Use of Social Media sponsored by Kantar Media went to HB Ice Cream (Unilever), whose New/Slang (PSG Communications)-driven project raised a smile. Their #HBGoodbyeSerious ploy broke through a noisy summer for brands in a campaign of fun and silliness.

Swedish furniture icons IKEA called upon a media strategy created by Vizeum to get their message across in a variety of channels, including their online social community. Their IKEA METOD Kitchen entry impressed the judges as well as the customers, and earned them the Best Retail Campaign gong sponsored by JCDecaux

The year ahead

It's been a strong year, then, for digital media in Ireland. But what does 2015 hold? Before the event, the judges identified priorities such as the need to make sure that everything makes sense on mobile devices, the vibrancy and innovation of the gaming sector, and – of course – content. The current trend is towards short and sharp pieces of content: witness the rise of Vine and Snapchat, and Twitter's recent introduction of 30-second video clips.

To Frontend.com, and the winners of the 23 other categories at this year's DMAs, their awards recognise excellence in communication, as well as business success in a home-grown but world-class sector in Ireland's bubbling digital economy.

No doubt they've already started on work that will raise the bar even further at next year's Digital Media Awards which open for entries in August 2015 at www.digitalmedia.ie

2015 Digital Media Awards Winners List

Best Agency sponsored by Breakingnews.ie

Wolfgang Digital

Best App

WorldWorldBand

Best Brand Using Digital

HSE: You Can Quit

Carat

Best Company Using Digital

Wolfgang Digital

Best Design / Art Direction

[ MyMilkman.ie ]

[ Frontend.com ]

Best Innovation sponsored by Accenture Digital

Tinder Sex Trafficking Awareness Campaign

eightytwenty

Best Innovation in Financial Services

AIB Tablet Banking

AIB

Best Integrated Digital Campaign sponsored by Ad2One

HSE: You can Quit

Carat

Best Integrated Entertainment / News Service

3 Player

TV3

Best Integrated Media Campaign sponsored by The Irish Times

Liberty Insurance Hurling & Camogie

Mediaworks

Best Public Life

Temple Street Foundation

ICAN

Best Retail Campaign sponsored by JCDecaux

IKEA METOD Kitchens

Vizeum Ireland

Best Search Marketing Campaign

SuperValu Smart Data, More Profit

Starcom

Best Startup Using Digital

Twiznight

Best in Travel & Tourism

Emirates - Rhythm of Dubai

Havas Media

Best Use of Creative Technology Development

Red Bull Cliff Diving

ZOO. Digital

Best Use of Mobile

[ MyMilkman.ie ]

[ Frontend.com ]

Best Use of Social Media sponsored by Kantar Media

#HBGoodbyeSerious

New/Slang

Best Use of Video

Temple Street BOD

ICAN

Best Website / Microsite sponsored by .ie Domain Registry

Man on Bridge

El Zorrero Films

Big Data Award

From The Wolfgang Lab

Wolfgang Digital

Blogger of the Year

Melanie Murphy

Digital School of the Year sponsored by The Education Company of Ireland

Presentation College Carlow

Student of the Year

Andrejs Rubenis – Fulfil the Dream

Best in Digital Learning sponsored by DCU

Canavan Byrne Training and Management Solutions

Canavan Byrne Ltd

Grand Prix

[ Frontend.com ]