DANI Awards Hailed as Another Major Success

The annual DANI Awards celebrate the success of digital and creative industries across Northern Ireland.  This year welcomed an unprecedented number of entries to each of the 20 award categories.

The colourful and energetic ceremony took place on Friday 13th of April in the rarefied surroundings of Whitla Hall at Queen’s University Belfast. The theme of the evening was far-eastern inspired and kicked off with fan dancers and a dragon dance throughout the packed venue. Founder of the DANI Awards, Naomh McElhatton, took to the stage to warmly welcome everyone for their support.

The sell-out event, sponsored by Diamond Recruitment, featured the stunning Scissor Sisters Ms. Ana Matronic as the guest host who introduced each of the award categories.  One by one digital companies were welcomed to the stage to pick up their awards.

Winners of the night were as follows:

Best SEO Campaign – Polemic Digital and The Sun

Best Digital Ad Campaign – Queen’s University Belfast and Search Scientist

Best Social Media Campaign – Babocush and Digital 24

Best Multi-Channel Campaign – Smarts Communicate

Best Lifestyle, Fashion & Beauty Blog  – The Style Edit UK

Best Food, Drink & Travel Blog – Down The Hatch NI

Best Business & Tech Blog – Catalyst Inc

Best Campaign in Retail  – Target Dry and Loudmouth Media

Best Campaign in Travel, Tourism & Hospitality  – Galgorm Resort & Spa

Best Campaign in Education –  Queen’s University Belfast and Search Scientist

Best Campaign in Healthcare – Analytics Engines

Best Campaign in the 3rd Sector  – W5 Odyssey and Eyekiller

Best B2B Campaign – Electric Ireland NI and The Tomorrow Lab

Best In-House Team – Kukoon Rugs

Best Website of the Year – PropertyNews NI

Best App of the year – PBNI and Sugar Rush Creative

Innovation in Digital – Sport Changes Life and Velocity Worldwide

Agency of the Year – Fathom

Other awards handed out on the night acknowledged individuals who have excelled within Northern Ireland’s digital landscape showing evidence of their contribution and ambition.  The DANI Award for ‘Best Young Digital Person’ went to Emma Gribben of Digital by Emma and for ‘Digital Business Person of the Year’ the award went to Gavan Wall of The Wall Group NI.

A diverse range of excellent brands were represented on the night including DANI Awards 2018 title partners Diamond Recruitment, plus sponsors Fujitsu NI, Deloitte, SMART NI, The She Said Club, Global Skills Horizon, Corvus, Abbey Centre,  OBBI Solutions, Centre for Democracy & Peace Building NI, First Stop Solutions, Fleet Financial, Ulster University, Virgin Media, Bespoke Communications, Love PR, Airporter, BSC NI, GCD Technologies and Schneider Electric.

DANI’s Naomh McElhatton commented: “With an unprecedented number of entries for DANI Awards 2018 and a sell-out event, this year was a massive success.  We want to thank every company and person who entered, as well as our DANI judging panel who dedicated their time to carefully evaluate and analyse each of the entries.

“A massive congratulations to all our winners and to our finalists in what was an extremely competitive year for our awards.”

Naomh added: “We could not let this night go without acknowledging all our sponsors – we thank-you for all your continued support in helping to make The DANI Awards such a major event.”