A 19-year story of category leadership for Lurpak and a lager that hit £1bn in five years both paid back, and the IPA judges agreed.
Carat came away from this year's IPA Effectiveness Awards with two wins. Alongside Wieden+Kennedy London and Arla, we took Gold for Lurpak. Alongside Ogilvy UK and Molson Coors, we took Bronze for Madrí Excepcional.
The IPA Effectiveness Awards run every two years and hold the toughest standard in our industry. Winning isn't about whether the work looked good or got talked about. Agencies have to prove, to a panel of technical judges and senior marketers, that the work made money for the client. This year 46 papers from 43 agencies made the shortlist, representing more than £2.5bn of marketing spend.
Lurpak: Gold
How Lurpak led a category for 19 years, by thinking outside it
Butter is a category where most people buy on autopilot, and where own label and cheaper brands sit on the shelf right next to you. Lurpak has stayed at the top for nearly two decades by refusing to act like a butter brand. It doesn't talk about spreadability or price. It talks about cooking, and about the people who care about what they cook.
That kind of consistency is rare. Brands get bored of their own advertising long before customers do, and the temptation to change direction every few years is hard to resist. Lurpak resisted, and this Gold proves that sticking with a strong idea pays off.
Madrí Excepcional: Bronze
You don't need history, to make history: How Madrí Excepcional became a £1bn brand in 5 years
Molson Coors and Madrid brewery La Sagra launched Madrí Excepcional in October 2020, in the middle of a pandemic with pubs shut. In the 'world lager' category, brands usually lean on decades of heritage, and Madrí had none. Five years on, it's the UK's second-biggest world lager brand and passed £1bn in annual sales last year.
It got there by selling a feeling, the soul of Madrid, rather than a backstory. Madrí shows that a new brand can earn a place in a crowded category very quickly, as long as it knows exactly what it stands for.
Mike McCoy, UK President, Carat, said:
"Effectiveness is the only award that measures what our clients care about. These two papers tell very different stories. One is about holding your nerve for 19 years, the other about building a £1bn brand from nothing in five. Both came from long partnerships where the client, creative agency and media team trusted each other with the strategy. Congratulations to everyone at Arla, Wieden+Kennedy, Molson Coors and Ogilvy UK."
Effectiveness is the standard we hold ourselves to. If you want your marketing measured the same way, get in touch.
