Fresh Success for North East Ideas Company
Newcastle-based company Different has put the region firmly on the creative map by scooping four major industry awards.
At last Thursday's Fresh Awards, in Manchester, Different was awarded two golds and two bronzes for several of their projects for regional organisations.
The gold awards were presented for Best TV Commercial and Best Commercial Under £20,000. Different's 'Midas' campaign for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service won in both of these categories.
The campaign entitled 'Fireworks and Bonfires ruin Lives in a Flash' combined TV and radio advertising with a range of educational outreach activities targeting young people and parents, encouraging them to attend organised fireworks displays. The campaign resulted in an 80 percent year on year reduction in injuries and a 31 percent reduction in attacks on fire staff.
The two bronze gongs were awarded in the Outdoor Poster category, for Different's Bonfire Night poster campaign for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, and Ambient Execution category, which recognises non-standard work such as advertisements on grocery receipts, in toilet cubicles or within artwork, for an NHS campaign.
The Fresh Awards have been running for five years and are highly regarded in the industry for recognising outstanding creativity for companies based outside of London. This year over 200 companies from across the UK entered the awards.
The judging panel is made up of well known industry representatives such as the chairman of the Fresh Awards, Bill Bungay, who is also a partner at Beattie McGuiness Bungay, and leading names from production companies such as Hat Trick and organisations such as the BBC.
Different currently employs around 40 people at its headquarters on Ravensworth Terrace in Newcastle and the company also has a base at Soho Square in London.
Clients include national brands such as Superdrug, Ariel, AOL and Penn State Pretzels and North East-based organisations including One NorthEast, Newcastle International Airport, Barker and Stonehouse and Barbour.
Chris Rickaby, a director at Different, said: "This year's award attracted a record number of entries so we are incredibly proud of our team's achievements. We are fortunate at Different to benefit from the expertise of some of the best emerging creative talent in our industry and it is this that has helped us put the North East's creative sector on the map at these awards.
"The campaigns which picked up the awards were hard-hitting and very well received by the organisations involved but, above all, created a real impact with measurable results. We're now looking forward to expanding and growing the business in the North East as we grow nationally."
Different's 'Fireworks and Bonfires ruin Lives in a Flash' campaign also scooped the Best Integrated Campaign category at this year's Chartered Institute of Public Relations Excellence awards in London on September 15th.
The CIPR Excellence Awards illustrate the best of the public relations profession.
