Brave Awards 2020: winners and commended

The Marketing Society awards began way back in 1985. It's been called the Awards for Excellence and Excellence Awards and, just a few years ago, had a revamp to become the Brave Awards. But it's still the same. We want the best of the best, the bravest brands out there pushing boundaries and tackling taboos - and by we I mean our judges do, led by its chair, Marketing Society President Diageo's Syl Saller.

Yet this year felt different. Normally we'd celebrate with a fancy black tie affair, a banquet, hundreds of guests, entertainment - you know, an awards show? But we couldn't this year, so we went virtual.

The night itself was hosted wonderfully by TV presenter, journalist and author Ade Adepitan MBE (kudos to Ade for helping it all go smoothly) and the winners themselves were a most worthy bunch.

So without further ado... the winners and highly commended.

Winners

Bravest Marketing Leader of the Year 2020 — Sara Bennison, CMO at Nationwide
The One to Watch 2020 — Sebastian Kroth, Brand Director: Western Europe at the Coca-Cola Company
Grand Prix (for Brand Communication) — Guinness Clear (AMVBBDO)
Bravest Team — Nationwide
Most inspirational story winners — ITV (Uncommon) for 'Britain Get Talking' and the Stroke Association (AMVBBDO)

Brand Revitalisation — Gordon's Gin (Diageo)
Creative Use of Media — Paddy Power (VCCP, Octagon, MediaCom)
Business to Business — Diageo Bar Academy
Enhancing the Customer Experience — Ovo Energy
Insight — Stroke Association (AMVBBDO)
Digital Marketing — Chelsea Football Club
Not for Profit Marketing — LADbible Group (Elvis)
Relationship Marketing — Formula 1 (Ogilvy UK)
Start-Ups — Habito (Uncommon)
Transforming Corporate Culture — ITV (Uncommon)

Highly commended

Brand Communication — Heinz (BBH) and Bodyform/Libresse (AMVBBDO)
Brand Revitalisation — TfL (VCCP)
Bravest Team — KFC (Mother)
Creative Use of Media — KFC (Mother)
Enhancing the Customer Experience — Guinness Storehouse (Diageo)
Insight — Cesar (AMVBBDO) and Bodyform/Libresse (AMVBBDO)
Digital Marketing — Dignity Funerals
Not for Profit Marketing — #Drymester (C21 Creative Communications)

And, finally, a big thanks to headline partner Accenture, and partners Unilever, Shell, Thinkbox and the Market Research Society for helping make this happen. And an additional thanks to Verizon Media, Pernod Ricard, Taylor's of Harrogate, Tesco and Sipsmith for their help and contributions to making the night just that bit more special.

Note: the feature image at the top of this page is from our 2019 awards, before the pandemic.