Transform Awards Europe announce 2014 winners

SIMON SMITH – 8 MAY 2014

Now in its fifth year, the Transform Awards is the industry’s definitive celebration of excellence in rebranding and brand repositioning. This year’s awards exemplified the maturity and success of the European creative industries through a strong, diverse shortlist and standout winners.

The awards were distributed at a gala dinner hosted by author, PR extraordinaire and ex-political aide, Alastair Campbell. The event, held at The Brewery in London, featured the distribution of 29 award categories, including the award for ‘Best overall visual identity’ and the ‘Grand Prix’ award celebrating excellence in brand transformation.

This year’s award winners were of an excellent standard. Gold winners include English National Ballet and The Beautiful Meme for ‘Best use of a visual property,’ mBank and BNA who won ‘Best corporate rebrand following a merger or acquisition’ and Tenner for Young Enterprise and Bladonmore for ‘Best visual identity from a charity, NGO or non-profit.’

Abhinav Kumar, chief communications & marketing officer at Tata Consultancy Services, and Transform judge, has this to say about 2014’s award entries:

“There were several absolutely excellent entries this year, which is testament to the quality and growing prestige of the Transform Awards. There were several notable entries from companies like Unify, Eurostar, English National Ballet, Lloyds Bank, Allegion etc. One in particular that stood out for me was from the law firmSchillings (Agency: Goosebumps).”

The highly coveted ‘Best overall visual identity’ and ‘Grand Prix’ awards went to Eurostar and The Clearing, and ITV respectively. Eurostar transformed itself from a functional, characterless brand to an identity that inspires adventure and fun. It took home four gold awards and one bronze trophy on the evening. ITV’s rebrand was similarly successful – it achieved a smooth, cross-channel implementation of a huge scale rebrand that was innovative both creatively and strategically – and garnered six golden butterflies. Stef Brown, marketing consultant for On Pointe and Transform judge, says,

“The stand out entry for me was ITV – a stunning sucess story that should be text book reading on how to rebrand.”

Liz Foggitt, publishing and events manager at Cravenhill Publishing, says,

“Your brand is your reputation so it’s important to get it right. Tonight has proven that everyone on the Transform Awards shortlist got it spot on. The winners of the Transform Awards are leading the way in brand development and communications. Congratulations to all the winners – every one of you is setting the standard of what brand communications should be.”