Havas named runner-up as 12 agency teams compete to showcase the power of trusted news brands for advertisers

Starcom has been named the winner of the 11th annual NewsBrands Ireland Power of Planning competition, with a team from Havas taking the runner-up position.

The competition brings together teams from Ireland’s leading media agencies to demonstrate how trusted news brands can deliver effective, high-impact advertising campaigns. This year, 12 agency teams took part in an intensive education day and competition at Medley in Dublin, developing a three-month media plan for a new convenience food brand using multi-platform newsbrands.

The Starcom team were: Anna McGinn, Thea Silao, Callum Monaghan, Nicole Byrne, and Caitlin O’Sullivan.They impressed the judging panel with ‘XHale‘, a new convenience food brand, with  a campaign which demonstrated a clear connection between consumer insight, creative thinking and media strategy.

Lisa Buckley, Communications & Programmes Director at NewsBrands Ireland, said:

“A huge congratulations to Starcom on a fantastic winning campaign, and to Havas on an excellent runner-up performance. The standard this year was extremely high, which made the judges’ decision particularly challenging.”

Christine Matthews, TGI Ireland, and member of the judging panel, said:

“What impressed us most about XHale was the clarity of thought throughout the entire submission. From the initial consumer insight to the final media recommendations, every element felt purposeful and connected. The team used news brands intelligently, with a strong rationale for their channel choices, and created a campaign that was both strategically robust and creatively engaging.”

Fellow judge Helen Beecher from dunhumby praised the quality and diversity of the entries, as well as Starcom’s ability to translate audience insight into a strong media strategy.

“I was delighted to judge this year’s Power of Planning competition. It was interesting to see how different teams tackled the same brief, each bringing fresh thinking, creativity and unique perspectives. What made it even more special was seeing people come together and collaborate with colleagues they may not have worked with before.”

On the winning team, she added:

“Great ideas, strong storytelling, plus elements that indicated rational thinking – such as the choice of timing for the media plan – all stood out.”

Havas, who finished as runners-up for the campaign ‘Soup Sorted’, were  highly commended by the judges for their strong strategic approach, creative thinking and use of news brands. The Havas team were: Hardik Papnai, Jack O’Donovan, Aisling Part, Jessie Leonard, and Emily Dooley.

The Power of Planning education day gives junior media planners the opportunity to hear from leading industry experts and NewsBrands publishers  before developing their campaigns. This year’s programme included insights from Heather Dansie, Insight Director at Newsworks, alongside TGI audience data and research, and opportunities to engage directly with news publishers’ media sales teams.

The competition brief challenged teams to develop a high-impact €500,000 attention strategy, demonstrating how news brands platforms  could be used to reach consumers effectively over a three-month campaign.

The Power of Planning competition is now in its 11th year and forms part of NewsBrands Ireland’s ongoing work to educate and inform the advertising industry about the effectiveness of news media.