Jonnnie Walker strolls off with three IPA awards

Johnnie Walker's "Keep walking" campaign last night won a trio of gongs at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards.

The global campaign, which produced total sales growth of 48% for ailing whisky producer Johnnie Walker over eight years, picked up the grand prix, a gold award and a special prize of best international multimarket.

The ad's creators, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, won the effectiveness company of the year award at last night's event, held at the Hurlingham Club in London.

The agency also took a further gold award for its KFC campaign, a silver for its Audi ads, and a bronze for its work on Cadbury's Biscuits.

The "Keep Walking" campaign has run in more than 120 markets over eight years, with more than 50 TV adverts and more than 150 print adverts, with Johnnie Walker racking up incremental sales of $2.21bn (£1.4bn) over the period.

"The longevity and global effect of this campaign made a great impact. It was particularly impressive to see existing iconography and brand heritage used as the basis for a revitalised and universal campaign; this is a powerful message for all marketers," said Sir John Sunderland, chairman of the IPA judges and former chairman, Cadbury.

BBH created the "Keep Walking" campaign in 1999 after research revealed that the most power demonstration of masculine success was not material wealth but a thirst for self-improvement.

"A man was judged a success not by where he was, but where he was going," BBH research found.

"The universally recognisable brand icon of 'The Striding Man' was resurrected from the brand's history to forge a deep connection between the universal human desire to progress and the Johnnie Walker brand," the IPA said.

The rebranding of UKTVG2 as Dave, the "Home of Witty Banter", won Red Bee Media and UKTV a gold award. The revamp attracted an 8 million viewers and generated payback of £2.99 per every £1 spent.

Media agency MindShare won silver for their joint campaign with Ogilvy Advertising for Dove's "Big Ideal" campaign, which used women of all shapes, sizes, ages and races to project a more accessible notion of beauty. The campaign generated £38m in sales revenue and payback of $3 per every $1 spent.

Mediaedge:cia won a bronze award for its campaign with WCRS and Incentivated for Cabwise to reduce the number of sexual assaults and rapes committed by illegal minicab drivers by one third.

Five gold awards, 10 silver awards, eight bronze awards, and nine special prizes were presented at the ceremony run by the IPA, which represents advertising and media agencies.

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