Advertisers honour creatives as year ends

X3M Ideas emerged the biggest winner at the 2019 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards, which held on Saturday at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos. The event, which had as theme ‘Tori Tori of LAIF: Our Stories to the World,’ is an annual event organised 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 seven categories: Outdoor/Poster, Press, Digital and Mobile, Radio, Television, LAIF Campaign and LAIF Grand Prix.

X3M Ideas won three gold, two silver and five bronze medals. The agency was also awarded the overall Grand Prix award for its animated TV commercial, “DStv Step Up and Boost”.

In terms of number of medals won, Noah’s Ark had 21 medals, comprising five gold, six silver and 10 bronze medals.

Other big winners on the night included DDB Lagos with three gold, four silver and seven bronze medals; SO&U with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals; ISOBAR with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals and BBDO with two gold, one silver and five bronze medals.

7even Interactive won one gold, six silver and four bronze medals; Ogilvy Nigeria got one gold, four silver and one bronze medals; Leo Burnett claimed one gold, three silver and four bronze medals; TBWA/CONCEPT garnered one gold, one silver and six bronze medals; Up In The Sky and Yellow Black went home with one gold, one silver and one bronze respectively, while IMS got one gold and one bronze.

Also awarded were Adeptus with one silver, Onewildcard with three bronze, Culture, Fuel Communications and Image and Time got two silver respectively; while Bluebird, Explicit and FCB-DP Partnership won one bronze each.

The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) President, Ikechi Odigbo, described the LAIF awards as an important event in the advertising industry as its rewards professionals for their ingenuity throughout the course of the year.

He stated that the numerous entries from agencies continue to motivate LAIF Management Board and AAAN to organise the award annually.

According to Odigbo, “LAIF is our own unique way of reporting the paid work we do through the year and it’s also our own way of celebrating the creative heroes behind the great brand stories being told daily on the pages of our newspapers, on TV, online and offline.

“If there is one thing I can say about the LAIF Awards, it’s that the entire ceremony has been about sacrifice, sacrifice and sacrifice. Sacrifice by the agencies who remain dedicated and continue to work hard to churn out these entries, and the LAIF board, which continues to ensure the award is held every year.”

The president congratulated the LAIF Management Board led by the Vice President of AAAN, Steve Babaeko, for braving the odds to organise the event. He assured the audience that LAIF Awards would be expanded to include “new, exciting chapters” in subsequent editions.