Thomson Holidays campaign wins IDM BPA Diamond

The top prize for the 2008 Institute of Direct Marketing Business Performance Awards has been won by WDMP Communications and CreatorMail with their client Thomson Holidays.

Thomson Holidays' hugely successful campaign delivered more than GBP1 million extra sales in one month alone.

Silver was awarded to Rapier for Virgin Media and Bronze went to OgilvyOne Worldwide for BT Business.

Mike Colling and Co/Whitewater were Highly Commended for their work for RSPCA.

The winners were announced at the IDM BPA Gala Dinner last week where the awards, sponsored by DQM Group, were presented by comedian Paul Thorne.

Of the winning entry, the BPA judges said: "This year's Diamond Award winner is a classic example of data segmentation, marrying what is essentially a very simple but effective creative idea with great use of personalisation.

"It was engaging and well put together, and was one of the few mailings you'd actually like to receive.

"What's more, it was clear how the campaign could evolve and get stronger; yet perhaps the most attractive thing of all was that it did not depend on the size of the budget - this sort of work is within the reach of all direct marketers".

Of the 2008 award scheme, IDM Managing Director Derek Holder added: "The IDM Business Performance Awards are not simply a beauty parade - entries have to demonstrate a long-term, strategic and sustainable contribution to the business, be convincingly argued and factually substantiated and show an excellent appreciation of the pertinent marketing issues.

"This year, we were particularly impressed with the standard of entries for the Diamond Award, while the individual awards - the Facets - attracted a huge number of submissions that reflected excellent work in terms of strategy, planning and execution".

The winners in full are as follows.

THE DIAMONDS (sponsor: DQM Group).

BPA DIAMOND WINNER The direct marketing programme judged to have made the most outstanding strategic contribution to overall business success in 2008 is: Client: Thomson Agency: WDMP/CreatorMail Campaign: Personalised customer direct marketing campaign.

SILVER WINNER Client: Virgin Media Agency: Rapier Campaign: The launch of Virgin Media.

BRONZE WINNER Client: BT Business Agencies: OgilvyOne Worldwide Campaign: BT Business Total Broadband.

HIGHLY COMMENDED Client: RSPCA Agency: Mike Colling and Co/Whitewater Campaign: Home for life.

THE FACETS Awarded in recognition of excellence in a specific marketing discipline.

DIRECT - Acquisition Winner: COI and DfES / CMW Campaign: Active Kids; Runner-up: RSPCA / Mike Colling and Co/Whitewater Campaign: Home for life.

DIRECT - Retention Winner: Thomson / WDMP Campaign: Personalised customer direct marketing campaign; Runner-up: Evening Standard / HHandS Campaign: Eros rewards card launch.

DIRECT - Creative Winner: Royal Mail / Proximity London Campaign: Chocolate Letter; Runner-up: Tourism Ireland / Mabox Campaign: The Dream Reward.

DIRECT - Innovation Winner: The Army / TequilaLondon Campaign: Pathfinder; Runner-up: Royal Mail / Proximity London Campaign: Mr Complete.

DATA - Customer Insight Winner: Help the Aged / Tangible Data Campaign: Mobilising supporter and performance insight to maximise Raffles income; Runner-up: LV= / Occam Direct Campaign: Dynamic Database - a profitable dynamic partnership.

DATA - Targeting Winner: Barnsley Primary Care Trust / Dr Foster Intelligence Campaign: Barnsley Healthy Breathing Campaign.

DATA - Best use in B2B Winner: Rapid Racking / Blue Sheep Campaign: Blue Sheep delivers the pathway to success.

DIGITAL - Acquisition Winner: Cushman and Wakefield / Concep Campaign: Cushman and Wakefield Knowledge Center; Runner-up: Alliance and Leicester / Greenlight Campaign: Alliance and Leicester natural search campaign.

DIGITAL - Retention Winner: Scottish Widows / Scottish Widows in-house Campaign: Scottish Widows adviser extranet - Becoming easier to do business with; Runner-up: Barclays / Dare Campaign: Woolwich Intermediaries Fantasy Leagu.

DIGITAL - Branding Winner: The Carphone Warehouse / CHI and Partners Campaign: X Factor challenge; Runner-up: Cadbury / CMW Interactive Campaign: Cadbury's Creme Egg - Goo play.

DIGITAL - Creative Winner: The Carphone Warehouse / CHI and Partners Campaign: X Factor challenge; Runner-up: The Army / Publicis Modem Campaign: One Army recruiting.

Back to top