UK Digital Growth Awards 2021 Book of the Night

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A REVIEW OF THE AWARDS Shortlists for all 24 Categories Summaries of all Winning Campaigns Judges’ Comments for the Winners


R A E Y E H T F O E T I S B E W B 2 B T HE F INAL IST S

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Digital NRG & Care Management Systems Caredocs Slam Marketing & Lituanica Lituanica Wholesale Swanky & Saddleback Saddleback B2B The Maverick Group & DHL Express DHL Discover


SWANKY & SADDLEBACK ____ As one of the world’s leading Shopify Plus Partners, Swanky is committed to the delivery of innovative eCommerce solutions that convert. Since launching as a small Exeter-based web design company in 2010, we have evolved into a multi-location, fully-integrated agency, ranked in the world’s top 1% of eCommerce agencies. Our pace of growth evidences the success of our end-to-end consultancy and growth services. With the pandemic accelerating the shift to online shopping over the last year, we’ve seen incredible growth and ambition from clients who either want to expand their eCommerce offering or bring a brand-new product or service to market. With their end-to-end skillset, our team has gone above and beyond to provide leadingedge websites, campaigns and digital solutions that maximise opportunities for our clients and deliver outstanding results quickly. As a result, not only have our clients survived the economic challenges caused by COVID-19, they’ve flourished. For one client, our efforts increased revenue by 66% in just one quarter! Winning a UK Digital Growth Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the hard work of our team and clients in what has been one of our most challenging, yet successful, years as an eCommerce agency.

Judges’ Comments We as judges felt this entry was a clear winner, it was a great entry to read, and really gave us an insight into the company and their story, it ticked all our boxes. The accomplishments they achieved in their revenue were significant in such a short period. The traffic growth after one month of implementation lept by 704%, which was extraordinary. We also loved the detail given on the challenges that they faced and how they overcame these to see such impressive results that spoke for themselves. Congratulations!


R A E Y E H T F O E T I S B E W C 2 B T HE F INAL IST S

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Best Response Media & Temperley London Magento Commerce Cloud Implementation Digital NRG & Your Interior Design Your Interior Design JD Ecommerce & The Tank Museum Tank Museum Shop PriceRunner Adapting to consumer needs during the pandemic as a springboard for accelerating growth and relevance Swanky & Kent Brushes Kent Brushes B2C Website


PRICERUNNER ____ PriceRunner is the UK’s largest price comparison service with over 2 million products from 5,200 retailers who all deliver within the UK. As a company we assumed that being reactive and adapting to consumer needs during the pandemic could be a springboard for accelerating growth and relevance. Being recognized for the work we have done, and the results achieved is highly appreciated and motivating for our organization in continuing delivering on our goal to help consumers getting the best price on products online.

Judges’ Comments We as judges loved that they used the lesson they learnt from early in the pandemic to implement logical and useful changes to their site, including changing navigation and add in stock filtering and alerts. These were crucial components for the online shopper looking for essential items. We felt the overall results were very impressive and this showed through each readable metric. This entry was a clear stand out winner for us all as judges, remarkable work.


E C R E M M O C B2B E R A E Y E H T F WE BS IT E O T HE F INAL IST S

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9xb eCommerce & Watco watco.co.uk Cartridge People cartridgepeople.com Digital NRG & Trilogy Print Trilogy Print Quickfire Digital & The Beauty Room thebeautyroom.co.uk Slam Marketing & Lituanica lituanicawholesale.com


9XB ECOMMERCE & WATCO ____ Watco is the UK’s leading manufacturer and direct supplier of industrial strength paint, repair, and maintenance materials. Offering unrivalled customer service through personalised expert advice, products that guarantee long-lasting, high-quality results and a roadmap of product innovation based on customer needs, Watco’s mission is to simply delight their customers. Over the last 12 months, Watco and 9xb eCommerce have worked together to create a customer-focused eCommerce website watco.co.uk, that has transformed the way trade users shop on their site, allowing for easier and completely self-serviced purchasing. Features include a custom My Account area, the launch of the Watco app and rolling out a feature adoption strategy that keeps their buyers up-to-date on new tools and features that will improve their buying experience. Watco’s investment in eCommerce has driven a positive impact on traffic, conversions and revenue. And, this is only the beginning, with more updates to be launched later this year, including product Q&A’s and enhanced upsell functionality, Watco shows effortlessly why they’re a leader in their industry.

Judges’ Comments Our entire panel felt this entry was a clear winner and it really made our lives very easy in judging this category. It was a well-structured entry and it clearly showed that their hard work paid off, with great use of visuals, even without being able to share exact results, it was clear that they achieved what they had set out to. This was a well-deserving winner, congratulations.


E C R E M M O C B2C E R A E Y E H T F WE BS IT E O T HE F INAL IST S

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Astound Commerce & Halfords Digital Transformation enabled through Salesforce Commerce Cloud Best Response Media & JING Magento Commerce Cloud Implementation Best Response Media & PAUL UK Magento Commerce Cloud Implementation Best Response Media & Temperley London Magento Commerce Cloud Implementation Best Response Media & Tower London Magento Commerce Cloud Implementation Cartridge People cartridgepeople.com

Kitty & The Chuffed Store Challenger eCommerce Store Lands with a Splash PriceRunner Adapting to consumer needs during the pandemic as a springboard for accelerating growth and relevance Tidal Digital & Perfume Direct Bespoke Shopify build for perfumedirect.com Tom & Co & Topps Tiles B2C Ecommerce Website of the Year


TOM & CO & TOPPS TILES ____ Tom McCaul recalls day one of establishing Tom&Co whilst up in the French Alps. After a few black runs and a long lunch, he probably would not have thought that ten years later he would be congratulating Tom&Co’s superstar team of sixty for hitting this birthday milestone with him. It would have been ambitious, to say the least, to predict that in ten years, Tom&Co would boast a portfolio of over thirty clients, processing over £200 million in sales and hitting half a billion page views in a calendar year. It certainly is down to Tom&Co’s team who work so hard to create best in class websites, time and time again. Winning this award for the Best B2C eCommerce Website really means a lot to the team. It congratulates everyone on their hard work, validates their work and shows it is not going unnoticed.

Judges’ Comments Our panel loved this fun and engaging entry, they clearly outlined the decisions they had made and the reasoning behind these, giving us a clear insight into how they worked. They managed to create a connection between the consumer online and in-store, along with fantastic follow-up with an email, discount, and coupons, they did go above and beyond to create an award-winning user experience, a very deserving win.


E R U S I E L / L T RAV E R A E Y E H T F WE BS IT E O ____

The Judges decided not to release a Shortlist in this Category


FAT MEDIA & MAXIMUM ADVENTURE ____ Fat Media is a leading digital agency with offices in Lancaster, London, and Bristol. We work with ambitious brands to offer end to end solutions in website design and build, digital marketing, user experience, technological support and hosting, and branding and strategy. Our work with Cumbrian travel brand, Maximum Adventure has been hugely successful and continues through the extreme challenges posed by the global pandemic to the tourism industry. Winning this award is a huge honour for the team who have worked so hard on this project, a testament to their determination to make the best site possible, and proof that you don’t need a huge budget to create a stylish, user-friendly, and highly profitable website.

Judges’ Comments Our panel felt this was an excellent submission, with well-evidenced results. In what was a tough year for the travel and leisure industry, this entry managed to execute something that was highly functional, fast, fresh design, on a limited budget. Well done to these deserving winners.


S EO OF

C AMPAIGN THE YEAR (B2B) T HE F INAL IST S

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Markethinkers & Avansas Listening to The User’s Voice MediaVision & Instant Offices Selling office space during a pandemic


MARKETHINKERS & AVANSAS ____ 95% of our customers are businesses, but in the online world, we have to compete with national eCommerce giants in terms of SEO. The primary online goal of our brand is to get ahead of our competitors and to win small businesses that mostly buy their needs from B2C eCommerce sites, especially through organic searches. Although they are small businesses, they comprise the majority of the market and generate greater revenue potential. The closure of offices and small businesses due to the pandemic created a big challenge for us. Beyond losing our B2B customers, we had to compete with B2C eCommerce giants to attract white-collar employees. In the detailed competitor research we conducted, we saw that the authority of our competitors is higher than us, they have much more backlinks and their product range is wider than us. The biggest gap we saw was that detailed, responsive to users’ concerns, and unique content was not available on our competitors’ websites. Since our B2C competitors are websites that serve as marketplace concepts, they are sites that cannot create their own product content. However, we have seen that the content which is supported by market research data can make a huge difference. Winning this award is a great motivation to our entire team for what we will do in the UK market.

Judges’ Comments We loved judging this refreshing entry, they showed us clear goals and targets, alongside their honest and open approach. We like their great use of data and going direct to the consumer to ask them why they wouldn’t buy their products and using this to learn from and build content, adapting to the needs of their audience and leveraging this to their advantage, we felt it was outstanding work.


S EO OF T HE F INAL IST S

C AMPAIGN THE YEAR (B2C )

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Absolute Digital Media & QuidMarket connective3 & thortful Achieving a 1000% ROI from organic search Evoluted & OriGym Gym Closures Realise SEO Opportunities

MediaVision & Arbuthnot Latham A Digital Conversion Starcom & Trafalgar Travel Navigating through a year of no travel with SEO

Glass Digital & Dormeo SEO Campaign

Superb Digital & Hopewell Successful Pivot & Turnover Doubled at Bristol Lettings Agents

Glass Digital & Write From The Heart Small Budget, Transformational Results

The SEO Works Help House of Oak fell the competition

Global Search Marketing & Crown Tiles Brand Growth in a Pandemic


THE SEO WORKS ____ This award is a massive boost for our client and the team. They worked their socks off on this campaign, helping our client rise above large competitors and, in the process, turning them from a small family business to a multi-million pound company. The figures speak volumes, and we are thrilled to be able to toast a new Digital Growth Awards trophy to help us really celebrate the success!

Judges’ Comments The panel as a whole loved this entry, it showed great innovation and was a truly stand out entry. The team have made efforts to truly show how what they achieved was driven through their work. It was a great all-round campaign, with some fantastic results, particularly given the low retainer. Well done to the deserving winners.


PPC OF

C AMPAIGN THE YEAR (B2B) ____

The Judges decided not to release a Shortlist in this Category


GLASS DIGITAL & PLASTIC BOX SHOP ____ Glass Digital is an online marketing agency based in Newcastle upon Tyne. We offer paid search, organic search, and affiliate marketing services to clients across industries. We’re extremely proud to deliver campaigns in line with our transparency principle, which means clients are always aware how their budget is being spent and what results are being achieved. They also have the opportunity to ask questions directly to their delivery team or client manager at any time. It is fantastic to receive industry recognition for our work with Plastic Box Shop, especially knowing we were against such strong competition.

Judges’ Comments We as judges felt this entry showed us clear and impressive results. The implementation of the campaign showed us the clear level of detail that the team went into. This was a very impressive entry and deserving winners, congratulations.


PPC OF T HE F INAL IST S

C AMPAIGN THE YEAR (B2C )

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Clicky Media & Toad Hall Cottages Record Leap in Growth

The SEO Works PPC is the best medicine for New Pharmacy

Evoluted & Carmats.co.uk Building a £2million ecommerce site in 12 months using Paid Search

Somebody Digital & Apria Direct “Diving Deep to Deliver Healthy Results”

Glass Digital & Denby PPC Campaign Mediaworks & Dune London Driving Online Sales in the Face of a Global Pandemic and Decline in Industry Sales Mediaworks & Viovet Taking Advantage of the UK’s Pet Boom with Data-Driven Smart Shopping Campaign

Swanky & The Recycled Candle Company Black Friday 2020 Google Ad The Brains & Fraser Hart PPC Campaign of the Year (B2C) The Media Image & Debenhams Scaling Profitability & Efficiency Online – UK & Ireland


THE BRAINS & F RASER HART ____ The Brains has come leaps and bounds since we started trading in 2016, having grown to 1m in revenues and 28 employees. We’ve not sought recognition for our work (though recognition has been given without our applying) and we would like our staff to be recognised for the outsized effort they have put in to help the company grow so fast. Our Agency was founded by a Paraplegic man and a mixed African/white man (myself) so we see winning an award as an exciting way to show an example to other people like us that you can succeed despite anything you believe is limiting you. We’ve specialised in helping some of the most niche B2B companies achieve impressive results where other agencies have let them down. Recently we’ve produced original research into B2B psychology and developed an ingenious automated lead generation system called Leads On Tap, which has been reviewed very well as a game changer for B2B advertising. This award really helps us signal that we are officially one of the serious marketing players.

Judges’ Comments Our panel of judges felt this entry was a clear front runner, as an entry it ticked all the boxes, was well rounded and provide the perfect amount of detail. It was clear that they surpassed their targeted results, with clear KPIs, solid implementation and they managed to keep staff in jobs throughout the pandemic. The entry showed that within the last 12 months their achievements on this campaign have been phenomenal and they are truly deserving winners, well done.


H C R A E S D E T A INT EGR R A E Y E H T F C AMPAIGN O T HE F INAL IST S

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Absolute Digital Media & QuidMarket Anicca Digital & NHS Leicester City CCG Using paid media to ensure participation from “hard-to-reach” communities for NHS consultation Evoluted & CarMats.co.uk Building a £2million ecommerce site in 12 months using Search Glass Digital & Denby Introducing a Heritage Brand to New Audiences

Superb Digital & Bitcade Bristol New High Score Set for Arcade Machine Manufacturer The Brains & Harley Street Fertility Clinic Integrated Search Campaign of the Year The Growth Guys & Golfwod App Growth


ABSOLUTE DIGITAL MEDIA & QUIDMARKET ____ We’re Absolute - known internally and to our clients as the A-Team. We think of ourselves as our client’s partner, not just their agency and aim to be seen as an extension of their internal teams, reducing day-to-day pressures to enable them to confidentially focus on other areas of their business. As a creative, forward-thinking agency, we have zero boundaries and have learnt to put our egos aside. From the moment we step into the work environment, we become industry-leading creators which has enabled us to attract worldwide leading brands including Ladbrokes and Cloud Reach. We also work with large charity organisations such as the National Autistic Society and National Childbirth Trust. QuidMarket partnered with us in the summer of 2020 wanting to maintain and improve upon their existing organic visibility with the aim of driving a larger proportion of organic traffic to the site in the build-up to the peak season between December and January. As part of our service, we provided our client with site recommendations to increase quality of traffic and application numbers during this time period. Through identifying new opportunities within the market, our strategy resulted in a 81.03% increase in completed online applications. With a company-wide ambition to produce successful campaigns that achieve quantifiable results, winning Integrated Search Campaign of the Year allows us to show our current clientele and potential client base what can be achieved by our strategy led campaigns - not to mention that it is a fantastic achievement for the whole team!

Judges’ Comments As judges, we felt it was very impressive to see what this entry had achieved in the current market. This entry provided a lot of clear detail showing they set clear, specific and smart objectives, which they impressively meet. They have delivered a brilliant entry and they are a worthy winner in this category. Congratulations!


N G I A P M A C A SOC IAL ME DI EAR OF THE Y T HE F INAL IST S

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S p o ns o r e d B y

Broadplace & The Good Food Network Indulge Yourself

Mindshare UK & M&S Food A footfall success story

Cuckoo Design & English Cities Fund Valette Square Launch Campaign/Valette Square

Mindshare UK & M&S Food Re-booting customer loyalty

Embryo & ChooseMyCar Driving Conversions with Targeted Ads

The Brains & DHL Social Media Campaign of the Year

Mindshare UK & KFC The Big Comeback

The River Group for Superdrug COVID social media campaign

Mindshare UK & KFC The World’s Most Inappropriate Tagline

PriceRunner Using influencers to educate and engage followers on Instagram in the lead up to Black Friday 2020


THE BRAINS & DHL ____ The Brains has come leaps and bounds since we started trading in 2016, having grown to 1m in revenues and 28 employees. We’ve not sought recognition for our work (though recognition has been given without our applying) and we would like our staff to be recognised for the outsized effort they have put in to help the company grow so fast. Our Agency was founded by a Paraplegic man and a mixed African/white man (myself) so we see winning an award as an exciting way to show an example to other people like us that you can succeed despite anything you believe is limiting you. We’ve specialised in helping some of the most niche B2B companies achieve impressive results where other agencies have let them down. Recently we’ve produced original research into B2B psychology and developed an ingenious automated lead generation system called Leads On Tap, which has been reviewed very well as a game changer for B2B advertising. This award really helps us signal that we are officially one of the serious marketing players.

Judges’ Comments This was a stand out winner for our whole judging panel, a truly impressive entry. They presented an ambitious and challenging campaign that allowed them to roll out a product across a continent, producing genuine results. We loved the level of detail included in this entry, showing us clearly the results achieved and showing them as deserving winners. It is evident that hard work and passion went into this campaign and we are delighted to have them as our winners.


H C R A E S E R F O B E ST U S E ____ The Judges decided not to release a Shortlist in this Category


MARKETHINKERS & AVANSAS ____ 95% of our customers are businesses, but in the online world, we have to compete with national eCommerce giants in terms of SEO. The primary online goal of our brand is to get ahead of our competitors and to win small businesses that mostly buy their needs from B2C eCommerce sites, especially through organic searches. Although they are small businesses, they comprise the majority of the market and generate greater revenue potential. The closure of offices and small businesses due to the pandemic created a big challenge for us. Beyond losing our B2B customers, we had to compete with B2C eCommerce giants to attract white-collar employees. In the detailed competitor research we conducted, we saw that the authority of our competitors is higher than us, they have much more backlinks and their product range is wider than us. The biggest gap we saw was that detailed, responsive to users’ concerns, and unique content was not available on our competitors’ websites. Since our B2C competitors are websites that serve as marketplace concepts, they are sites that cannot create their own product content. However, we have seen that the content which is supported by market research data can make a huge difference. Winning this award is a great motivation to our entire team for what we will do in the UK market.

Judges’ Comments We as judges, loved the level of detail provided in this entry and the research that went into this was Cleary well thought out. They have attributed their methodology to the objectives, there was also a good use of SEO best practice in their focus on tailoring content to user intent, which is great to see. They had clear goals and have established a strategy to understand their customer & supply content-based solutions, which was reflected in their impressive results. We loved the level of growth shown and overall this was a well detailed entry ticking all the boxes, making them very worth of this accolade.


A T A D F O E B E ST U S T HE F INAL IST S

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Enjoy Digital & Valspar Colourful Connections Incubeta & Laithwaite’s Wine (Pub) Crawling Amazon for Laithwaites Success MediaVision & New Look Being fast and first to react to Covid trends Mindshare UK & M&S Food A footfall success story Mindshare UK & M&S Food Re-booting customer loyalty

Net Natives & The British Council Test, Learn, Action: How Brexit impacts European students study behaviours Somebody Digital & Apria Direct “Diving Deep to Deliver Healthy Results” Starcom & Domino’s Real Time Data Insights at the Speed of NHS Services


MEDIAVISION & NEW LOOK ____ MediaVision helped New Look deliver exceptional SEO growth in a tough covid market by creating custom software, powered by data science, that helped all teams put data front and centre. The software combined Google trend and AdWords data to create an interactive tool that highlighted key trends with statistical significance. This was used at the core by the SEO, Site Optimization and purchasing teams to unlock exceptional return on investment for the brand, delivering a 4400% return on investment.

Judges’ Comments Our judging panel felt that this entry showed great and interesting use of data, especially in how they used this to plan what they would buy in the next financial year. We loved how the entry highlighted their impressive ability to adapt and overcome the massive challenges that COVID-19 presented was and still is on the business. This was a very impressive entry and a well-deserving winner, well done!


M R C F O E S U T BES T HE F INAL IST S Mindshare UK & M&S Food Re-booting customer loyalty Tempcover Data-driven CRM Campaign Tidal Digital & Perfume Direct “The Sweet Smell of Success” Uniqodo & BT Shop Next Gen Consoles

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UNIQODO & BT SHOP ____ To say we ‘ummed and ahhhed’ over whether it was award-suicide to talk about the significant challenges we encountered with this campaign is an understatement. But the success simply isn’t apparent unless we tell the whole story. So we decided to be brave, embrace our vulnerability and humanity, and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Afterall, all good stories have a twist in the tale, and a triumph over evil in conclusion. This is the story of how we helped BT overcome their challenges of how to sell next-gen consoles to only their existing customers, at a point in time where 100% focus was on eCommerce, with all non-essential retail closed during Lockdown 2 and around Black Friday to be in time for Christmas gifting. This was a job for Uniqodo and a brilliant example of our PromotionX approach; combining advanced promotions with great customer experience onsite to deliver bigger and better outcomes for promotions. And a great showcase of how you can use codes to achieve your business objectives without the need to discount; something that we are helping to educate the market by busting the myths of promotions.

Judges’ Comments Our panel of judges felt this was a really smart strategy achieving good results which are very consistent with their values. It was refreshing to read, and we loved their and honesty in the detail making it a quirky, pleasure to read. They took a smart and strategic, with strong continuity of their ability to drive growth from a strategy that does not rely simply on mass discounting. We liked their use of technology and promotion mechanisms to help sell different value add devices to their customers, it’s evident they have great tech knowledge and they acheived fantastic results. Well done to these deserving winners.


B E ST U S E O F N O I T A S I L A N PE RSO T HE F INAL IST S

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CHS & HSBC UK Looking back on spend habits: driving engagement with HSBC UK customers Swanky & YuMOVE Homepage Based on Affinity Tidal Digital & Perfume Direct “The Sweet Smell of Success”


TIDAL DIGITAL & PERFUME DIRECT ____ The eCommerce landscape in 2020 was one of opportunity as everyone began to adjust to the new normal and online shopping surged in the UK. Whilst the potential was promising, it also posed an incredibly challenging outlook for those set on keeping ahead of the competition. More and more businesses of all sizes turned to the internet to keep their dreams alive as the lockdown took over in the UK. For Perfume Direct, this presented a conundrum - having already earmarked this year for success and assigned a heavily increased budget to online marketing, they were facing the very real prospect of being outrun by the competition as all other competing brands also put all their eggs into the online basket. Perfume Direct sent out an SOS to Tidal. Tidal stepped in to assess the situation and delivered a full-scale digital marketing solution built around a multi-channel approach. This smart new approach utilized learnings from data from a variety of sources to deliver a heavily personalised framework which unleashed extra avenues of opportunity. The campaign delivered amazing results with a crazy spike in revenue, particularly around key dates such as Black Friday and Christmas. The results of which have now propelled the brand to become a major player in the UK fragrance space. This award from the UKDG Awards recognises this hugely effective campaign run by both teams and places it in the lights where it deserves to be mentioned!

Judges’ Comments We as judges always love it when an entry gives us lots of personality and almost a story telling read! Not only was it well written, but it was also clear they had a solid strategy and clear objectives, it was evident that everything was well thought through and we loved the level of detail provided. It was nice to see endorsement from the client for the award, a really well-presented case about personalisation that achieved fantastic goals in such a short period. A great example of long-term multichannel strategy and optimization and the results really do speak for themselves. They successfully implemented and optimised a multichannel marketing ecommerce strategy which truly flourished, a very deserving win.


B E ST U S E O F N O I T A S I M I T P O N O I S R E V CON T HE F INAL IST S

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Clicky Media & YorkTest Testing and Optimising for the Ultimate Conversion Rate Health Upstream Grow Platform, Mobile User Acquisition & Engagement


CLIC KY MEDIA & YORKTEST ____ We believe that the continued success of this CRO strategy over the past 12 months is a reflection of the dedication and expertise of our team, but also of the truly collaborative partnership between client and agency. Winning this award gives recognition to all of the hard work our dedicated team does and is a celebration of our fantastic partnership with YorkTest. YorkTest’s commitment to ensuring our team were educated about allergies, intolerances, and their product offering allowed us to deliver results that simply otherwise would not have been possible. The Clicky team spent time in the Yorktest laboratories to understand what they do in order to be able to diagnose intolerances and allergies. It is from this robust understanding that we can tailor the website to deliver the best possible solution for our target audiences. The education given by the client complimented our UX & CRO expertise perfectly. The revenue achieved over the past year, and the position that YorkTest’s digital presence is in is remarkable. We have delivered several “record months” in a row. Most importantly, we have achieved and surpassed our conversion rate and revenue targets.

Judges’ Comments As judges, we were particularly impressed with the collaboration between the client and the agency. It was clear that detailed market research was carried out to gather detailed market insights, and base a well-executed strategy based on findings. It was great to see a focus on UX and multi-variant testing. The results were clear, impressive and showed a fantastic revenue increase. We felt this was a very deserving. win, great work!


D R A W A N O I I N N O V AT T HE F INAL IST S

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Airship & Toggle Axelisys Automedi, Decentralised Manufacture Beacon The Beacon Digital Marketing Analytics Platform

Shoptimised 100% Incremental Sales Siteimprove Digital Inclusion 2021

Influencity SL

Squared.io Google Ads. Automated.

MediaVision Digital Demand Tracker

Tempcover Driveaway Partnership Programme

Peak & CMOStores.com Decision Intelligence with CODI

Upstream Grow Mobile User Acquisition & Engagement Platform


AIRSHIP & TOGGLE ____ Airship is a hospitality technology company based in Sheffield with 100 combined years’ experience and knowledge working in the sector. We have a first-rate reputation and a track record of success that exceeds many of our competitors. Our clients include global brands, national names and independent cafes, bars and restaurants in towns and cities across the UK. In 2018 we launched Toggle, an intuitive eCommerce platform that is designed to overcome the challenges hospitality businesses had in setting up and selling branded gift cards and experiences online. In response to the first lockdown in March 2020 we pivoted Toggle so it could be used completely free of charge during the pandemic and included a ‘pay it forward’ option for those wanting to support their community and the NHS. Closed hospitality businesses were able to access the full eCommerce platform immediately which then allowed them to generate over £1m pre-sold online revenue in just 6 months! Winning this award would recognise the efforts of our exceptional team at Airship whose hours of work developing and deploying this platform which has not only helped our hospitality clients survive, but also grow during one of the most difficult economic times in our recent history.

Judges’ Comments It was clear that this submission was a favourite for us as judges. The entry showed that their team was agile in the face of lockdowns in the hospitality industry, pivoting their product to a free service with a pay if forward feature. This was a really useful and clever product that became crucial during COVID-19, allowing other companies struggling to generate revenue. This quick pivot and innovation make them a truly worthy winner, congratulations.


Y C N E G A P U B E ST STA RT ) d l O s r a e Y 2 ( L e s s Th a n T HE F INAL IST S HdE AGENCY Modo25 Pufferr The Growth Guys Tidal Digital xDNA Group

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TIDAL DIGITAL ____ Tidal Digital have been in operation since July 2019. Armed with nothing more than an empty bank account, a small handful of UK based clients and a dream, the three founders set to work banging their digital hammers against their digital chisels, carving out the foundations for what would turn out to be a much larger digital colosseum than they could have imagined. Fast forward 18 months, Tidal Digital have signed contracts with Rolls-Royce, partnered with the Sheik of Dubai’s billion-dollar initiative, Dubai CommerCity, taken four industry awards across two ceremonies, employ twelve staff across two countries and have clients in five out of the seven continents globally. Persevering throughout the pandemic, Tidal have turned negatives into positives. Learning tough lessons early on in client retention and adapting processes to counter the deficit and turn retention figures on their head. Rewards attained through our work are evident in the returning figures from our campaigns. External recognition through industry related awards is the cream on our cake and that is what drives us to keep innovating, gifting us the knowledge that we’re doing things right. Winning this award at the UKDG Awards s testament to the outstanding results we’ve achieved so far and pushes us to continue our quest to the top of the mountain.

Judges’ Comments We as judges always love when a winner stands out clearly and this entry was a clear front runner. They had an impressive 150% increase in revenue for the second year, which was outstanding and shows great things are to come. This start-up stood out by going across the continent and opening another office, winning new clients and now paying 12 full-time salaries, It was a lovely submission to read and showed us the time and dedication that is put into the agency, a deserving win.


R A E Y E H T F O Y C N E G A O R C T HE F INAL IST S Creative Ideaz UK Swanky

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SWANKY ____ As one of the world’s leading Shopify Plus Partners, Swanky is committed to the delivery of innovative eCommerce solutions that convert. Since launching as a small Exeter-based web design company in 2010, we’ve evolved into a multi-location, fully integrated agency, ranked in the world’s top 1% of eCommerce agencies and recognised internationally for our CRO expertise. Our pace of growth evidences the success of our consultancy and growth services. With the pandemic accelerating the shift to online shopping, we’ve seen incredible growth and ambition from clients who either want to expand their eCommerce offering or bring a brand-new product or service to market. With their expertise in CRO and testing, our specialist digital strategists have gone above and beyond to maximise opportunities for our clients and deliver outstanding results at pace. As a result, not only have our clients survived the economic challenges caused by COVID-19, they’ve flourished. For one client, our efforts increased revenue by 66% in just one quarter! Winning this UK Digital Growth Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the hard work of our team and clients in what has been one of our most challenging, yet successful, years as an eCommerce agency.

Judges’ Comments Our panel of judges thought this was a great, well-presented entry, with some well-deserved results. The panel loved seeing specifics and tangible numbers on the revenue that they reported. A worthy winner, congratulations!


Y C N E G A A I SOC IAL ME D OF THE YEAR T HE F INAL IST S Battenhall Social Allies

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BATTENHALL ____ Battenhall is a new kind of communications agency, pioneering innovative technologies, new ways of working, and providing specialised and integrated brand communications. The last year has seen record annual revenue growth of £1m, innovative new services, global expansion, and a record 49 client wins. New services, including our rapid response communications division Battenhall REACT, were launched to high-profile clients, such as the NHS, to help deal with Covid-19. And we pioneered new ways of working, such as Battenhall Total Flexible Working, which gives our team the ability to work from wherever they wish, for as long as they want. Winning this award is validation of our forward-thinking approach over the past 12 months. Instead of furloughing staff and hindering our growth plans, we pivoted 100% to a total flexible working policy, continued to elevate our services to existing clients with new offerings like our critical response team ‘REACT’, and actively went after new business that would stretch our capabilities and enable us to continue with our growth plans.

Judges’ Comments Our panel loved this entry, it was well structured, included great detail and was well structured. The diversity within this agency was admired by the panel, along with the team structure that has been put in place. There was a great focus on employee well being shown and it shows in the work produced. With a high client retention rate and constantly gaining new clients, you can see the hard work and dedication paying off, a very deserving win, congratulations!


S EO AGE NCY OF THE YEAR T HE F INAL IST S Absolute Digital Media Click Consult Creative Ideaz UK Loud Crowd Digital Marketing SEO Team at Digital NRG The SEO Works

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THE SEO WORKS ____ We are ecstatic to win SEO Agency of the year! From humble beginnings in Sheffield (South Yorkshire) we are proud to fly the flag for the North of England, working with clients internationally. We recently celebrated our 12th birthday, and to win this award is another massive milestone to mark the growth and recognition of us as a leading SEO agency.

Judges’ Comments We as judges felt this entry was a clear winner, they managed to look beyond client success and ROI while presenting their recent achievement, which was a refreshing read. This company will continue to achieve amazing things and we cannot wait to watch this happen. This was a very impressive entry and a very deserving winner of this category.


D E T A R G E T SMALL IN Y C N E G A L A T I DIG R A E Y E H T F O T HE F INAL IST S

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Aqueous Digital Blue Digital Slam Marketing Techquity The Brains We Influence

S ILV E R AWA RD The Brains

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AQUEOUS DIGITAL ____ Aqueous Digital is a family-run Digital Marketing Agency based in Cheshire, UK. We specialise in organic and paid internet search, website content strategy and reputation management. Founded in 2011, we set out with a clear vision to provide a different type of digital marketing service: a service based entirely on honesty, trust, loyalty, and collaboration (TLC), but this does not just apply to our customers, we carry this through to how we treat our employees too. Staff happiness and personal development have been at the forefront of our growth, especially during the pandemic. We have invested heavily in our training, mental and physical wellbeing, and staff benefits. Many businesses struggled during covid-19 lockdown, but we used it as an opportunity to work with people and adapt their digital marketing plans, playing our part in helping them to survive the most difficult trading conditions. Winning this award means the world to us. It ultimately provides high-profile industry recognition for all the hard work our amazing team have put into building the business. We have launched a brand new website, developed a new campaign, refined our brand and have ambitious plan to take the business to the next level. We are treading our own path to get there, because at Aqueous Digital, Search Never Sleeps!

Judges’ Comments We loved how this agency led with their purpose a nd mission and were very clear on how to create objectives around their values. We particularly loved how they really attributed a lot of their investment and measures of success to the health and well-being of their people. This really stood out to us. The detail provided throughout the submission was also impressive. Their case studies were supported by testimonials, and it was evident they have a very clear business strategy, living their values which provided us with a really convincing case, an absolute pleasure to read. This was a very impressive entry, both in terms of the growth achieved but also the focus on resolving potential issues that could inhibit further growth and planning for the future.


D E T A R G E T LARGE IN Y C N E G A L A T I DIG R A E Y E H T F O T HE F INAL IST S

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Absolute Digital Media

Mediaworks

Battenhall

MRS Digital

Click Consult

Swanky

Embryo

The Media Image

ForwardPMX

xDNA Group

MediaVision

S ILV E R AWA RD Click Consult

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ABSOLUTE DIGITAL MEDIA ____ We’re Absolute - known internally and to our clients as the A-Team. We think of ourselves as our client’s partner, not just their agency and aim to be seen as an extension of their internal teams, reducing day-to-day pressures to enable them to confidentially focus on other areas of their business. Everything we do must have a positive impact and, as an independent, full-service digital agency, we have nowhere to hide when it comes down to generating results for our clients. As such, we strive to provide personalised marketing services at a lower cost, providing businesses with even greater value for their money. This provides more flexibility, ensuring they cut through the noise. As a creative, forward-thinking agency, we have zero boundaries and have learnt to put our egos aside. From the moment we step into the work environment, we become industry-leading creators which has enabled us to attract worldwide leading brands including Ladbrokes and Cloud Reach. We also work with large charity organisations such as the National Autistic Society and National Childbirth Trust. With a company-wide ambition to produce successful campaigns that achieve quantifiable results, winning Large Integrated Digital Agency of the Year at the UK Digital Growth Awards provides us with the opportunity to show our current clientele and potential client base what can be achieved by our integrated campaigns not to mention that it is a fantastic achievement for the whole team!

Judges’ Comments Our entire panel of judges loved this entry. The tone and everything about it was refreshing to read! The summary really gave us a sense of the personality and approach of the agency and we particularly loved reading the detail on the team. There was some good detail provided through work examples and some great examples of challenges faced and how these where overcome. We also really loved the values of this agency which really shone through, a very deserving winner of this category.


M A E T E S U O IN-H OF THE YEAR ____

The Judges decided not to release a Shortlist in this Category


SWANKY ____ As one of the world’s leading Shopify Plus Partners, Swanky is committed to the delivery of innovative eCommerce solutions that convert. Since launching as a small Exeter-based web design company in 2010, we have evolved into a multi-location, fully integrated agency, ranked in the world’s top 1% of eCommerce agencies. Our pace of growth evidences the success of our end-to-end consultancy and growth services. With the pandemic accelerating the shift to online shopping over the last year, we’ve seen incredible growth and ambition from clients who either want to expand their eCommerce offering or bring a brand-new product or service to market. With their end-to-end skillset, our team has gone above and beyond to provide leadingedge websites, campaigns and digital solutions that maximise opportunities for our clients and deliver outstanding results quickly. As a result, not only have our clients survived the economic challenges caused by COVID-19, they’ve flourished. For one client, our efforts increased revenue by 66% in just one quarter! Winning this UK Digital Growth Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the hard work of our team and clients in what has been one of our most challenging, yet successful, years as an eCommerce agency.

Judges’ Comments We as a panel loved this entry and how they managed to show us the challenges they faced and how they overcame these. They demonstrated the fantastic results that they achieved and you can clearly see the dedication and effort that they have put in over the last year, a truly worthy winner, well done.



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