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CVS Takes Best of Show in ANA In-House Excellence Awards


Molson Coors’ In-House Agency VOLT Wins First Agency of the Year Honors

NEW YORK (July 15, 2022) — CVS Health and Molson Coors’ in-house agency VOLT took top honors at the ANA In-House Excellence Awards ceremony this year, winning Best in Show and the inaugural award for In-House Agency of the Year, respectively.

The awards were presented in a virtual ceremony yesterday in which 11 other marketers and in-house agencies were awarded grand prizes in separate categories.

The Best in Show award was for a campaign called “One Step Closer COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign” that was designed to convince people to get the COVID vaccine.

“We enlisted real people to tell us their real stories and share their real wishes about what they most wanted to be able to do once they had been fully vaccinated,” according to the company’s case study submission. “Stories about what they wanted to get ONE STEP CLOSER to. Then we brought these stories to the masses via an omnichannel campaign consisting of TV, online video, social content, a TikTok challenge featuring the music duo Domino Saints, and a sweepstakes where people could win prizes themed around what they wanted to get one step closer to (cruises, travel, dating, etc.).”

Molson Coors’ VOLT Studio, the recipient of the ANA’s first In-House Agency of the Year award, was formed in 2020 and “has become the go-to creative resource for our brands,” the brewer said. “VOLT Studio is a low-cost, high-output solution that has allowed us to reduce our external agency spend across marketing by 8 percent in 2021 by bringing work in-house. In addition, tighter production controls and better utilization of VOLT Studio helped to drive our production spend down by 26 percent in 2021. These savings helped us to reduce our overall non-working expenses by 15 percent year over year while increasing the volume of content by 208 percent for the U.S. and 146 percent for Canada year over year.”

The ANA In-House Excellence Awards showcased the most creative, strategic, and growth-driving marketing and advertising campaigns created by an in-house agency team or department. Any marketing asset or project created to promote a company’s brand, product, or service that ran at any time in 2021 was eligible to enter the competition. The competition was open to anyone working as part of an internal team, whether within a client-side marketer, retailer, media company, nonprofit, or educational institution. Both ANA members and nonmembers were able to participate.

The awards featured 11 categories and included a total of 34 category winners. Each category had a total of three winners: one grand prize winner and two category winners.

CATEGORIES AND GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

  • Branded Content: Original content created to support the marketing strategy of a brand that engaged, entertained, or informed a target audience. Any creative content not viewed as “advertising” is eligible. Winner: Frito-Lay.
  • Experiential: Efforts that engaged with a target audience either live/in-person or via a virtual/on-demand experience. Winner: VOLT (Molson Coors).
  • Integrated Campaign: Campaigns that utilized three or more distinct media channels to engage a target audience with a single unified theme or message. Winner: CVS Health/Heart Haus.
  • Internal Communications: Communication initiatives in any creative format that engaged and informed employees and provided understanding of a company’s vision, goals, values, work culture, and/or DEI initiatives. Winner: Valley Bank.
  • Social Media: Best use of social media to achieve a brand or company’s marketing objectives. Winner: The Content Studio at PepsiCo Beverages North America.
  • Socially Responsible: All types of creative that directly addressed current social issues. Winner: The Content Studio at PepsiCo Beverages North America.
  • Best Collaborative Effort: A showcase for the best and most successful collaborative efforts involving in-house teams and their external agencies. Winner: The Content Studio at PepsiCo. Beverages North America.
  • Best Media Plan: Securing just the right formula for when, where, and how a target audience receives a creative message is critical. This category showcased those in-house media teams who got the formula just right. Entries in this category needed to highlight the details of the media insight, the strategy, and the media plan that was implemented. Winner: L’Oréal.
  • Significant Results: Entries in this category demonstrated with facts and figures the effectiveness of their work and its positive contribution to building a brand and expanding a business. Winner: CVS Health/Heart Haus.
  • Business-to-Business Marketing: Programs and/or campaigns that targeted external business partners and decision-makers. Winner: HP Inc.
  • Out of Home: Any type of marketing effort that reached a target audience outside of their home. Open to all formats (kiosks, billboards, sidewalks, mass transit advertising, digital display boards, etc.), in all out-of-home environments, including parks, shopping malls, and airports. Winner: Propel (Swoop) and OLIVER.

JUDGING
ANA In-House Excellence Award judges are client-side marketers, agency executives, and in-house agency professionals. The candidates are screened by the ANA and are assigned to judge entries from the categories in which they have expertise. Main round judges evaluate the submissions on three key factors: strategy, creative execution, and results. An exclusive Grand Jury of 16 executive client-side ANA members was assembled to select this year’s In-House Agency of the Year and Best in Show winner.

A full list of the winners can be accessed here.

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ABOUT THE ANA

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) accelerates growth for marketing professionals, brands, and the entire industry. With a mission to shape the future of marketing, the ANA sets the agenda for the industry, connecting its members to unparalleled expertise, industry-leading resources, and an influential global network. Representing over 1,600 companies — including 1,000+ client-side marketers, 600 marketing solutions providers, and 20,000 brands — ANA members collectively influence $400 billion in annual marketing spending. By championing the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda and the CMO Growth Council, the ANA drives actionable change, empowers marketers, shapes the marketing ecosystem, and delivers exceptional experiences at every touchpoint. Since 1910, the ANA has been setting the agenda for industry transformation. It enables marketers to advance their ambitions, make better decisions, and create lasting impact for their organizations and the industry.

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