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Tuesday the 1st November... and time for Elliott and I to brave the black-tie dress code, head to the Park Lane Hotel and join VCCP for the prestigious IPA Effectiveness Awards 2011.

Here, some of the brightest minds in advertising congregate to find out who’s injecting the wow-factor into channel planning, who’s spawning the most inspirational creative ideas, and ultimately who’s making an annual budget of £2.5m or less work the hardest.

Having helped compile VCCPs paper ‘From repellent to compelling: How Jungle Formula took the sting out of summer’ we were keen to see how we stacked up against the competition.  We have the privilege of being part of a fantastic agency (and client!) team, and had already basked in the warm glow of an extremely successful campaign.  Success is its own reward, no? Well yes, but if you are interested in awards too then read on...

To give you a little background: Jungle Formula is the number one insect repellent brand in the UK and has been around for 20 years.   The brand has experienced steady growth, but largely due to increased overseas travel. 

It was clear following sales results for the first part of 2010 that the brand would suffer unless something was done.  However, the category has never had any significant ATL spend and we faced a plethora of challenges, from the fall in holidays abroad (particularly the ‘right’ holidays to sufficiently tropical destinations) to the challenge of justifying a significant price premium (around 26% higher than market average)

The campaign had a modest budget of £470k, but TV was identified as the most appropriate channel for creating impact, and VCCP created the fabulous creative: ‘Jungle Boogie’, impactful, memorable and fun. 

Having experienced decline in 2009, Jungle Formula volume sales grew by over 5% in 2010.  What’s more, this uplift was entirely driven by the second half of the year (after the campaign broke) representing a dramatic recovery from a poor H1.  Value sales growth was even more striking, with a year on year leap of 15%.

So...all in all a compelling case study, but how would it stack up against the likes of Aquafresh Kids, McCain Wedges and Fiat?

Following the three course meal (most of which remained on my plate due to a severe case of butterflies) Jeremy Vine stepped onto the stage to kick start the proceedings.

We were over the moon when our entry was read out as the winner of a Silver award, and as I joined Sophie from VCCP and Louise from Omega Pharma on the stage there was something fabulously ‘Charlie’s Angels’ about the moment.  Girl Power!

As the case study rolled on-screen, a quote from one of the judges passed entirely over my head in the excitement of the moment.  Having dug it out online I thought it warranted inclusion.  After all, Jungle Formula is a pharmacy brand, and who knows pharma better than the goliath that is Boots (Elizabeth Fagan, Executive Marketing Director at Boots to be precise) who commented ‘This case study is proof that an FMCG brand with a low budget can reposition itself in a difficult market, taking its competitors on in a very effective way’.

Well that’s worth a glass of bubbly or two.  Here’s to our fantastic partnership with VCCP and Omega Pharma, who are a pleasure to work with, and an even greater pleasure to win with!