Stella scoops eight gongs for website at New York awards

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 21-Apr-08, 12:20

LONDON - Stella Artois has scooped eight Gold World Medals for its new site, including Best Consumer Targeted Website, at the New York Festivals Innovative Advertising Awards.

The clutch of awards taken away by Stella is the most any nominee has ever picked up at the annual awards.

Three aspects of the site were acclaimed by the judges, including 'La Bouteille', a short film created especially for the site that also ran in traditional slots on television.

'Le passage', an interactive narrative about the development of the brand's brewery in Leuven, Belgium, as told by its founder, also brought acclaim.

The website was created by a multi-national team from Lowe Worldwide's agencies in Stockholm, London and South Africa.

It was first launched in September 2007 and has since experienced a 10-fold increase in visitor numbers compared to its previous incarnation, with each site visit averaging almost six minutes -- well above the industry average of 45 seconds.

Neil Gannon, global brand manager for Stella Artois, said: "We are delighted to be recognised by such a high-profile group for the site we have developed and are so proud of. This only adds to the success and feedback that we've seen from the online community.

"We would like to thank the industry for recognising Stella Artois' vision and innovation -- we think our work is one of the first steps in the future of immersive websites."