Kiwi retailers perform well at ACA Awards

The Australasian Catalogue Association (ACA) hosted its 27th Annual ACA Awards recently highlighting a strong focus on effective marketing with the addition of new categories – Point of Sale, Customer Insights and Corporate Social Responsibility. New Zealand retailers entered in the open categories, taking on their Australian colleagues.

The event, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s prestigious Melbourne Room, was a successful evening celebrating print as a strong marketing platform across Australia and New Zealand. 

This year’s international Awards program saw New Zealand retailers go up against their Australian rivals for the first time after having their own category for the past two years.

“After two years of including New Zealand centric categories, we thought it was time to blur the lines and let our Kiwi friends compete against Australia’s finest. We are delighted to continue to showcase their brilliant content and the creative work coming out of New Zealand this year did not disappoint,” commented Kellie Northwood, Chief Executive Officer, ACA. 

New Zealand retailers came out fighting this year showing great strength in their campaigns. Kathmandu on top for the second year in a row winning the Recreation and Leisure award for ‘Camping, Outdoor Goods and Miscellaneous’. They developed a catalogue that reflected the evolution of their products for customers to explore and do more with less. The Winter Sale 2017 catalogue had a huge effect on brand recognition and store visitation from both loyalty members and new customers.

“The team at Kathmandu is honoured to receive the award for Camping, Outdoor Goods and Miscellaneous. The core of our brand is our passion for travel and adventure, and we are so proud to be acknowledged for all our hard work. We are an in-house team who cares about our output,” commented Jennifer Humphries, Advertising Manager, Kathmandu (pictured).

Duffy Books in Homes was a finalist in the Corporate Social Responsibility category ‘Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility – Diversity, Environment, Community’ for their ‘Govt Book Offer 2018’ catalogue. They developed a publication that aligned with The Alan Duff Charitable Foundation supplying free books to over 100,000 New Zealand children. Duffy Books in Homes report the results by Government researchers show a 35% improvement in reading and writing skills.

The major announcement of the evening was that the ACA will merge with two other industry Associations, APIA and TSA Limited, to form The Real Media Collective. ‘Real’ media pays homage to the physical nature of print, and ‘real’ connecting with real results, return on investment, engagement and activation.

“Well done to all New Zealand entrants. All retailers produced excellent work demonstrating the power of print marketing and how the medium can be leveraged to convey brand equity through sustainable values and strong brand dialogue. We look forward to seeing what the New Zealand retailers will bring next year for The Real Media Awards,” said Northwood.