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Unilever dominates Smarties mobile marketing awards, Mindshare wins network of the year

Having dominated the shortlist, Unilever has emerged as Asia’s top brand at mobile marketing by winning marketer of the year at the Smarties Awards, claiming metal in most categories.

Out of 21 categories at the Mobile Marketing Association-organised show, the owner of brands such as Dove, Magnum and Rexona won 14 awards, including golds for innovation, brand awareness – both by media agency PHD India – and most engaging creative, by PHD China.

The ‘best of the best’ campaign went to Australia for the ‘Game on’ idea for carmaker Kia, which let consumers use their phone as a tennis racket to virtually return a serve from the world’s fastest server, Sam Groth, from their TV, live. The agency was Mnet.

Media agency Mindshare, which handles Unilever and other award-winners Mondelēz and Star India, was named agency network of the year in mobile. Mindshare’s Indonesian operation won agency of the year.

Mindshare’s Asia chairman and CEO for emerging markets group Ashutosh Srivastava, who was president of the judging panel, said in a press statement that he hoped to see a “creative evolution” in the industry in the coming years, as marketers become “more fearless” in their approach to mobile. “Innovative creative work is the only way we can harness the full potential of the mobile medium,” he said.

The winners list in full:

Award Category Gold Silver Bronze
Brand Awareness Hindustan Unilever / PHD India KIA / MNET Coca-Cola Japan Company – Fanta / UM
Unilever – Cornetto / PHD China
Lead Generation / Direct Response / Conversion N/A Unilever – Rexona  / Mindshare Malaysia Unilever – Wall’s Ice Cream / Mindshare Malaysia
Unilever – Zhonghua / PHD China
Product / Service Launch Unilever – Citra / Mindshare Indonesia & InMobi Nivea / OMD Singapore & Airwave Unilever – Axe / Mindshare Indonesia & InMobi
Promotion Mondelēz China / Isobar China Coca-Cola Japan Company – Fanta / UM Star India Pvt Ltd / Mindshare India
Relationship Building/ CRM Red Cross / MRM//McCann Genki Sushi Hong Kong Limited / Cherrypicks Limited N/A
Merries Baby Diaper / Dentsu Thailand
Cross Media Integration KIA / MNET Unilever – Dove / Mindshare Vietnam Mondelēz China / Carat China
Mobile Website N/A N/A McDonald’s Corporation / Mobext Philippines
Messaging N/A Red Cross / MRM//McCann Adani Wilmar Limited / Neo Ogilvy India
Location Based Coca-Cola / Japan – Georgia / Dentsu Inc. N/A Unilever – Wall’s Magnum / Mindshare Malaysia
Innovation Hindustan Unilever / PHD India Coca-Cola Greater China / Isobar China Red Cross  / MRM//McCann
Mobile App Coca-Cola / Japan – Georgia / Dentsu Inc. KIA / MNET Merries Baby Diaper / Dentsu Thailand
In-App Advertising – Gaming or Other N/A N/A Procter &Gamble – Gillette / MediaCom
Unilever – Wall’s Ice Cream / Mindshare Malaysia
mCommerce N/A McDonald’s Corporation / Mobext Philippines PayPal / PHD & Airwave
Best Brand Experience in Mobile Rich Media N/A Unilever – Citra / Mindshare Indonesia & InMobi Unilever – Vaseline Men / Mindshare Indonesia & Vdopia
Most Engaging Mobile Creative Unilever – Zhonghua / PHD China Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia / Mobile Embrace’s 4th Screen Advertising Australia Unilever – Citra / Mindshare Indonesia & InMobi
Unilever – Vaseline Men / Mindshare Indonesia & Vdopia
Enabling Technology Company of the Year in Mobile Mobilewalla
Publisher/Media Company of the Year in Mobile Facebook
Best in Show KIA “GAME ON”
Agency of the Year in Mobile Mindshare Indonesia
Agency Network of the Year in Mobile Mindshare Asia-Pacific
Marketer of the Year in Mobile Unilever

This is the second year of the APAC Smarties, with the number of entries – which came from 15 countries in the region – up 40 per cent on last year.

Rohit Dadwal, MD of Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific, said: “The SMARTIES Awards are our way of recognizing key players that are doing their part for the industry. We hope by sharing their campaigns and stories, we can inspire marketers to make full use of what is in the palm of their hands: mobile.”

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