Coca-Cola Bags ADVAN Awards for Marketing Excellence

It was a harvest of awards for beverage giant, Coca-Cola Nigeria, as it took home five awards for Coca-Cola and 5Alive Pulpy at the Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Awards for Marketing Excellence 2016, which held in Lagos last weekend.

The ADVAN Awards for Marketing Excellence is Nigeria’s most prestigious award to recognise and celebrate outstanding creativity and impact in brand marketing and activation as well as to reward marketing professionals who have made a significant mark in the profession.

The company’s flagship brand, Coca-Cola, clinched the award for ‘Best Digital & Social Media Marketing Campaign’ of the year for its inimitable Share a Coke II campaign, which has set a high benchmark for brand advertising and consumer engagement.

Coca-Cola also clinched the ‘Best Experiential Marketing Campaign’ Award for the Copa Coca-Cola grassroots youth football tournament, which set a record with 3, 000 matches played by 60, 000 teenage footballers drawn from 3, 000 schools across 32 towns and cities in the country. The grand final match at Onikan Stadium in Lagos featured an epic performance by one of Nigeria’s most famous football stars, Austin Jay JayOkocha who, disguised as an aged janitor, wowed the crowd with a display of football artistry and sent it into a frenzy as he dramatically shed the makeup and costume to reveal himself.

The brand capped the wins as runner up for the ‘Brand of the Year Award’, while its sister brand and new juice offering, 5Alive Pulpy won the award for the most innovative brand. 5Alive Pulpy also emerged as runner up for the ‘New Brand Revitalisation Award’.

Speaking on the development, Patricia Jemibewon, Marketing Director at Coca-Cola Nigeria said: “These multiple awards represent a gratifying reward for our unrelenting commitment to engage, excite and inspire consumers in unique ways with our marketing initiatives while refreshing them with their favourite beverage brands.

“At Coca-Cola, we are always seeking the most engaging and memorable ways to connect with our consumers and keep our brands where they belong – atop their hearts and minds,” she added.

The 2016 ADVAN award ceremony follows from last year’s complete overhaul of the award categories, judging criteria, selection process and a team of judges that comprising some of the finest minds in the marketing profession in Nigeria to ensure a transparent process. Marketing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Franco Maria Maggi, was the Chairman for this year’s awards.