A creative team based in Northern Ireland has helped an Australian agency win one of the advertising industry’s most prestigious awards, more than 17,000 kilometres from home.
Creative Director Tim McAllister and copywriter Mike Fleming, both based in Co. Antrim, are the creative team behind Original Tasmanian Timber, a campaign by independent agency Bennett that won an Effie in the Long-Term Effects – Product category at the Australian Effie Awards in Sydney on Friday 9 October.
The Effies are recognised worldwide as the benchmark for marketing effectiveness, with programmes in more than 125 markets. Unlike creative awards, they are also judged on hard evidence that the work grew a business. Advertising Council Australia chief executive Tony Hale commented that entrants must “prove the causal link between the creative work and the results. That rigour is why the Effies are respected here and recognised as arguably the toughest test of ad effectiveness in the world.”
This year’s Australian programme drew a record 144 finalists, and Bennett was one of only two winners in its category. It shared the winners list with global networks including Ogilvy, Publicis, BBDO. Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA.
The Effie is the campaign’s seventh national award, while Bennett was named Australian Marketing Agency of the Year in 2023 and has been a finalist twice more, including this year.
Tim designed the Original Tasmanian Timber brand when the campaign began eight years ago, turning Tasmanian Oak, a hardwood used in flooring, joinery and furniture, from an unbranded commodity into a recognizable and desirable choice for specifiers and architects. It now leads its category across Australia.
Together, Tim and Mike developed the launch ad campaign and podcast series and when supply changes in the Australian hardwood market left many professionals believing the timber was hard to get, their availability campaign turned that around.
The results, tracked through independent research since 2018:
- Awareness among architects, designers and builders rose from 79% to 99%
- Consideration rose from 71% to 96%
- The share who use Tasmanian Oak most often more than doubled, from 21% to 55%
Claire Bennett, founder and CEO of Bennett Agency, said:
“People are often surprised that our creative team is based in Northern Ireland. Tim and Mike are phenomenal, and this Effie shows that world-class creative talent isn’t bound by geography. Tim created this brand at the very beginning, and together they’ve given it the ideas it now owns. We’re a small team, but we’re mighty.”