Printers recognised at Real Media Awards

The 29th Real Media Awards celebrated excellence in letterbox marketing, publishing, direct mail, point of sale, and marketing efficacy across Australia and New Zealand. The virtual ceremony was held yesterday, 10 December.

IVE Group, Ovato and Press Print Solutions customers took home Major Awards in the 2020 Real Media Awards, with Eckersley Print Group, Rawson Print Co, Southern Impact, Spectrum Print (NZ) and Taylor’d Press receiving finalist and winning recognition for category awards.

The Real Media Awards recognise excellence in brands, retailers, creatives, agencies, printers, and distributors alike. While this year’s was a virtual event, previous years see 700 attendees with printers, retailers, marketers, agencies, designers, and distributors coming together to celebrate the campaigns they have achieved together.

The Real Media Collective (TRMC) CEO Kellie Northwood said the collective is an example of the industry coming together – brands, agencies, retailers, printers, publishers, and distributers celebrating the work they create in partnership.

“Despite a difficult year with many working from home, agencies, retailers and printers operating virtually to bring campaigns alive delivered some incredibly impressive innovation and The Real Media Awards are a testament to this success and a great reflection of our collective philosophy,” Northwood said.

The diversity of printers recognised for their achievements demonstrated companies of all size delivering excellence across quality, creativity, and execution to drive results from print and celebrate the power of print marketing throughout the year.

Agency of the Year was awarded to BMF with their suite of Aldi work with Ovato. Finalists included Medium Rare Content Agency, Earl Street Creative and Our Agency who all showcased exemplary positioning, content development and multi-channel exploration throughout the pandemic.

Northwood said throughout this year, the agencies, designers, and printers that were able to leverage from their marketing foundations and pivot were those who achieved most success.

“The entries this year showcased a terrific exploration of creativity, content and innovation not seen in previous years – to all the printers, who despite the most difficult circumstances, your entries demonstrated that you remained a trusted partner with your clients and regardless of a global pandemic you stood up and shone this year, I congratulate you all,” Northwood said.

Earl Street Creative won the Judges Choice award with over 40 judges selecting the ‘Fenwick, Kew’ property publication printed by Press Print Solutions as the best of the year. Two well-regarded Australian brands were recognised for Fashion with winning trophies, R. M. Williams for Karlu Karlu Autumn Winter 2020 and Hard Yakka for their 2020 Catalogue.

The Real Media Awards are watched by industry, retailers, brands, agencies and designers across Australia and New Zealand.

During her opening executive address, Northwood articulated that the Australian and New Zealand print media sectors are high-employing industries delivering powerful and effective marketing solutions. She also outlined the environmental, social and effectiveness credentials of print media. This aligns with the collective’s campaigning for Australian Made, NZ Govt lobbying on letterbox and the Future of Mail and the Industry Insights series challenging brands misleading statements about paper and print credentials.

Northwood said the industry is well regarded by consumers.

“Our industry is strong and as a media channel, print is highly effective, accessible for all citizens with the largest audience reach (20.4M Australians and 3.9M New Zealanders) of any other channel,” she said.

“The Real Media Awards has celebrated, despite a difficult year, the success of our industry and all that we do, and I congratulate every entrant, finalist, and winner. Your work is a testament to your team and your companies.”