Winners of the 2015 European Search Awards were announced Wednesday evening at a ceremony held in Berlin, Germany. The European Search Awards are a showcase of the world’s best search marketers delivering real results in European countries.
The list of winners features many established brands and agencies, as well as a number of innovative companies and young search professionals to keep and eye on.
Notably, Christina Malcolm of iProspect took home Young Search Personality of the Year; Bas van den Beld was awarded European Search Personality of the Year, and Wolfgang & Unicef won the coveted Grand Prix award.
gold & glitter goes out to all the #eusearchawards winners in #berlin tonight, one momentum of TwentySix! #SpringTime pic.twitter.com/LJ39WdF2V1
— Dominik Johnson (@dominik_johnson) April 22, 2015
Other top awards included:
- Searchmetrics for Best SEO Software Suite
- DeepCrawl for Best Search Software Tool
- OMD UK & Royal Caribbean for Best SEO Campaign
- Honorable mention to our contributor Rocco Baldassarre for being shortlisted for Young Search Professional of the Year
Rocco Baldassarre with News Writer Matt Southern
For more, you can view the full list of winners here!
The competition to earn one of these awards grows year after year, and you can tell how much it means to earn one by gauging the reactions of winners and the party-like atmosphere around the tables.
The award ceremony itself was a fantastic outing. having been fortunate enough to attend the 2014 US Search Awards this past October, I had some basis for comparison going into last evening’s event.
It’s safe to say the Search Awards brand of events keeps raising the bar while setting new standards for other events in this industry.
The view from the conference hall at Hilton Berlin
Held at the luxurious Hilton Berlin in the heart of Germany’s capital, it was not a hard sell to gather everyone in attendance, whether shortlisted or not, as was evident by the large and lively crowd.
Mel Carson of Delightful Communications kept the energy levels high and got the festivities off to a start by issuing a challenge. Given Tuesday’s news, the challenge was to go the whole evening without saying mobile, or else take a drink. With the complimentary beverages flowing, this lasted all of two seconds.
Getting the evening started
After a well prepared three course meal it was time for the awards. A highlight this year was the emphasis on not just the winners, but the rationale behind why they won.
A video package was aired before the ceremony featuring the judges’ input on what they look for when assessing Search Awards entries. The consensus was clear: make sure the results can be measured, and that they match the objectives.
Following this theme, a short clip was aired after each award where a judge would give his or her input on why the particular winner was chosen for that category. It was this kind of attention to detail that really made the event shine from an audience perspective.
The night was capped off with live entertainment and a crowd that was happy to stick around and network until the wee hours of the morning.
After an evening of valuable networking, great food and entertainment, and celebrating with top industry pros — I can certainly recommend attending the European Search Awards when they’re in Paris in 2016.
For more photos from the event be sure to check out State of Digital’s recap as well.
