The Media i Awards, recognising media sales excellence, were announced last night at an awards ceremony in Sydney.
Voted by peers, the Media i Awards acknowledge the important role media sales representatives play in the continual pursuit of media advertising excellence.
Introduced in 2011, the Media i Awards are the only awards dedicated to recognising the contribution of media owners.
This year more than 2,000 media agency professionals voted across three categories:
• National Sales Team of the Year
• Sales Team of the Year by Market (NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia & South Australia)
• Sales Person of the Year by Category by Market (NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia & South Australia)
Nine was the most awarded media company on the night receiving seven awards followed by News Corp Australia with five awards, Nova Entertainment with four awards, and MCN & Bauer with three awards apiece.
Val Morgan Cinema was presented with the National Sales Team of the Year award by MFA CEO Sophie Madden and Mark Lollback, board member of the Media Federation of Australia and CEO of GroupM Australia & New Zealand.
Charles Parry-Okeden, CEO Media i, spoke at the ceremony of the importance of collaboration between media agencies and media partners:
“These awards not only recognise the professionalism and excellence of sales individuals and teams, but the success they achieved for clients in collaboration with media agencies.”
Chris Winterburn, managing director Media i, added:
“We are extremely proud of tonight’s event. The response from our finalists has been overwhelming reinforcing the significance of this initiative to sales teams and individuals across the country. We would like to congratulate all of tonight’s winners on their fantastic achievement.”
Run by Media i, the awards are sponsored by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), and supported by category sponsors Carat, Initiative, IPG Mediabrands, KWP! Media, Posterscope, PHD, Starcom, The Media Store, UM, Vizeum and social media sponsor OMD.
2017 Individual Winners
Sales Representative of the Year Magazines
NSW – Rachel Smith, Pacific Magazines
VIC – Demi Martello, Bauer
QLD – Jess Cuerton, Bauer
SA – Brad Barber, Fairfax Media
WA – Nicky Simpson, Bauer
Sales Representative of the Year Newspapers
NSW – Simon Daly, Fairfax Regional Media
VIC – Luke Doolan, News Corp Australia
QLD – Janice Batzloff, News Corp Australia
SA – Candice Arthur, News Corp Australia
WA – Cindy Henderson, News Corp Australia
Sales Representative of the Year Outdoor/Cinema
NSW – Annaliese Pedavoli, Val Morgan Cinema
VIC – Ben Peel, oOh! Media
QLD – Louise Nicholls, JCDecaux
SA – Maddy Lewis, oOh! Media
WA – Phil Dada, APN Outdoor
Sales Representative of the Year Radio
NSW – Jade Randall, ARN
VIC – Christiana Brenton, Nova Entertainment
QLD – Chris Reid, Southern Cross Austereo
SA – Matt Russell, Nova Entertainment
WA – Megan Beard, Nova Entertainment
Sales Representative of the Year Digital
NSW – Nathan Turnbull, Nine
VIC – Laura Rolfe, Yahoo7
QLD – Georgia Falloon, MCN
SA – Imran Khalil, Nine
WA – Ryan Gower, West Australian Newspapers
Sales Representative of the Year Television
NSW – Lauren Beach, Nine
VIC – Hamish Ward, Nine
QLD – Chris Raes, Seven
SA – Alexa Borak, Nine
WA – Karen Papalia, MCN
2017 Teams Winners List
NSW – News Corp Australia
VIC – Nova Entertainment
QLD – JCDecaux
SA – Nine (Digital)
WA – MCN
2017 National Sales Team of the Year
National – Val Morgan Cinema
Photo: The Val Morgan Cinema team with their award