O2 Ireland emerges as overall winner of 2013 Bord Gáis Social Media Awards

31 May 2013

Telecoms operator O2 Ireland won the Grand Prix award at the 2013 Bord Gáis Social Media Awards in Dublin last night for demonstrating the best overall use of social media. As well as the Grand Prix, O2 Ireland picked up trophies earlier in the night for Best Integrated Social Media Campaign and Best Integrated Facebook Campaign.

“This year has been a landmark year for the Social Media Awards. While only three years old, the quality of work submitted and the submissions are something we and the companies themselves should be proud of,” said Damian Mulley, founder of the awards.

“We’ve had more entries this year than the previous two years and we needed over 100 judges to go through all the material and pick the best work. There were some world-class entries this year and we look forward to what next year will bring.”

Other winners on the night included National Lottery, which has been recognised for its use of Social Media Only, while Focus Ireland took top honours in the competitive Facebook Page for a Non-Profit Organisation category.

Innovative taxi app, Hailo, took the award for Best Mobile Application, while travel advice company AA Roadwatch won the category for Best Business Blog.

Republic of Telly took home the award for Social Media Effectiveness and the Defence Forces have been awarded Best Use of Social Media by a State Body for the second time in three years.

 “Social media and digital are now central to most marketing and communication strategies,” explained Eoin Ó Súilleabháin, digital and social media manager at Bord Gáis.

“In the three years we have been supporting these awards we have seen a significant improvement in the standard and quality of entries and approach many businesses are taking to social media. We’d like to congratulate all the winners this evening,” he added.

Full list of winners 2013 Bord Gáis Social Media Awards

Facebook Page for a Business (Non Campaign)

Winner: Spin 1038

Facebook Page for a Business (owner managed)

Winner: Spin South West

Facebook Page for Non-Profit/Organisation

Winner: Focus Ireland

Integrated Facebook Campaign

Winner: O2 Ireland

Best Business Twitter account – Sales/Marketing

Winner: Blacknight

Best Business Twitter account – Support, CRM

Winner: Irish Rail

Best Business/Org Twitter Campaign

Winner: Bord na Móna Fuels @LongNightIn

Best Blog of a Business

Winner: AA Roadwatch

Video/Video Campaign (non broadcast)

Winner: Amnesty International

Online PR Campaign

Winner: Funky Christmas Jumpers

Use of Social Media by State Body

Winner: Defence Forces

Best Mobile App (Marketing except events)

Winner: Hailo

Best Mobile App (For an event)

Winner: Kilkenomics Festival 2012

Customer Care using Social Media (Integrated)

Winner: Meteor

Best use of SM for a sponsorship campaign

Winner: Electric Ireland

Innovative Use of Social Media

Winner: Tour America

Social Media Effectiveness

Winner: Republic of Telly

Integrated Social Media Campaign

Winner: O2 Ireland – Bring on the Green

Inbound Marketing/Content Marketing Campaign

Winner: Sage Ebooks Campaign

Social Media Only

Winner: National Lottery – Peggy’s Pad

Grand Prix sponsored by Bord Gáis Energy

Winner: O2 Ireland

Agency of the Year

Radical

Social awards image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com