MLA’s Australia Day lamb advertisement “Richie’s BBQ” has won the prestigious 2015 Mumbrella TV Ad of the Year.

The timeless advertisement featured the late Richie Benaud inviting notable guests such as Captain ‘Cooky’ Cook, Ned Kelly, hungry explorers Burke and Wills, Ita Buttrose and Sam Kekovich to his Australia Day lamb barbecue.

It won after a poll of more 41,000 viewers and was created by the Sydney agency, The Monkeys, named as the Creative Agency of the Year at the 2015 awards before 900 people at Sydney’s casino and hotel The Star.

The MLA lamb campaign was also highly commended in the Ad Campaign of the Year category at the Mumbrella Awards. This category was won by Coca-Cola’s Colour Your Summer campaign, which also took out the Media Campaign award.

The Mumbrella win for “Richie’s BBQ” follows its success at the 2015 Australian Creative Excellence Showcase (ACES) Awards that recognise outstanding creativity in screen advertising.

Industry accolades for MLA’s recent domestic marketing campaigns have also been recognised globally at the recent New York Festival, a highly regarded international creative award show, where the “You’re better on beef” campaign was a finalist award trophy. It is one of only three ads from around the world to receive this honour each year.

The “Richie’s BBQ” Australia Day campaign initiated a 35.3 percent sales lift versus the weekly average for the week preceding Australia Day and generated more than 850 pieces of media coverage reaching a cumulative audience of over 69 million people. This makes it one of the most successful Australia Day campaigns on record, MLA said. In conjunction with the Spring Lamb campaign, these campaigns have delivered $3.99 of value for each $1 of investment.

MLA’s new “You’re better on Beef” campaign was also nominated in the Mumbrella TV Ad of the Year category. MLA’s domestic marketing team was also a finalist in the ‘Marketing Team of the Year’ category.

‘Richie’s BBQ’ is one of MLA’s most successful

MLA Consumer Programs marketing manager Andrew Howie said the Richies BBQ ad is one of MLA’s most successful Australia Day campaigns on record in 10 years of campaigns.

“Our objective is to not only ensure that we drive lamb demand, but equally to continue to foster Australia’s love affair with lamb.

“In conjunction with last year’s Spring Lamb campaign, these campaigns have returned $3.99 of value for each $1 of investment,” he said.

MLA Central Marketing general manager Lisa Sharp said recognition for both beef and lamb ads, underpinned MLA’s whole body of work.

“We are delighted to receive these accolades from industry, particularly going up against some of the best in the business, and with a significantly smaller budget.

“For MLA, what matters most is driving demand for red meat in Australia,” she said.

“We will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of effective marketing programs that deliver returns for producers and right across the industry.”

Source: MLA, Mumbrella.“>