11th December, 2018
DDB Lagos emerged the biggest winner at the 2018 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) awards, which held on Sunday at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos.
The event, which had as its theme: “Future Forward”, is organized annually by the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) as a platform for the recognition of creativity and innovation in the industry. The awards had eight categories: Outdoor/Poster, Press, Digital and Mobile, Radio, Television, LAIF Campaign, Special Category and LAIF Grand Prix.
DDB claimed six gold, four silver and nine bronze medals. The agency was also awarded the Grand Prix award for winning the highest number of gold medals.
In terms of actual number of medals won, Insight Publicis won the highest with 24 medals- five gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals. Other big winners on the night included X3M Ideas with five gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals; SO&U with four gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals; Culture with three gold and two bronze medals; Noah’s Ark with one gold, eight silver and 11 bronze medals; Up In The Sky with one gold, five silver and four bronze medals; Etu Odi with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals; and BBDO with one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
TBWA got four silver and three bronze medals; 7even Interactive won three silver and four bronze medals; 141 Worldwide garnered two silver and three bronze medals; Leo Burnett claimed two silver and one bronze medal; while DIJO and LTC Advertising got one silver and one bronze medal respectively.
Also rewarded were IMS, who got one silver; and Caritas and Stream Media who won one bronze each.
Ikechi Odigbo, AAAN President, described the LAIF Awards an important event in the advertising industry because they promote professionalism.
“LAIF is committed to promoting professionalism and creative excellence within the brand industry. It reflects one of the ways we reward the great work we do all through the year. LAIF gives us an opportunity to give ourselves a pat on the back.”
Michael Zylstra, the chief juror, said some of the works assessed were of topmost quality and reflected the Nigerian environment.
“If I have to, by way of explanation, explain the works that caught our attention and would be awarded tonight was the work that really resonated from a Nigerian perspective and had local insight. It was executed in a way that couldn’t be done in any other country,” he said.
Zylstra, who is the Chief Strategy Officer of South Africa’s Dentsu Aegis Network, said creative Nigerian works will soon gain recognition at international advertising awards if the current level of quality is sustained.
He also thanked his fellow jurors for the professionalism exhibited while assessing the entries.