Aesop, the brand storytelling agency, has picked up its third major industry award in the form of a Best Award for its sponsorship led multimedia campaign for John Smith’s Grand National. That’s three awards in its first ten months.

Aesop’s campaign for John Smith’s

The Best Awards celebrate the most innovative and cutting edge marketing ideas from all disciplines. Organised by the Marketing Agencies Association and now in its 22nd year, the awards were judged by a panel of top flight clients and creative directors, led by Diageo global category director of advertising and ideation Simon Tilden. The John Smith’s work, which saw off stiff competition from Coca-Cola, Sony Ericsson Xperia and FedEx; is proof positive that Aesop’s brand storytelling model can be applied to sponsorship.

The campaign’s objective was to boost the ‘No Nonsense’ brand equity to racing fans. Aesop developed an important role for the brand, that of entertainer, and set about surrounding race-goers on their journey from Liverpool city centre to Aintree racecourse bars, with humorous, racing relevant messages. Creative use of ambient media—messaging on all winning horse blankets across the three days—meant that the brand values were also beamed into millions of homes through the BBC’s TV coverage.

Aesop’s campaign for John Smith’s

Aesop chief executive officer Roger Hart comments, “Leveraging the John Smith’s Grand National sponsorship like this is a unique approach. It not only drives awareness to millions of racing fans but works hard to build brand equity especially. It’s fantastic to have our work recognised by an award judged by leading clients and our peer group.”

Last June the integrated agency bagged two golds at the Institute of Promotional Marketing Awards for Scrumpy Jack and Heineken UK.