Professional creative community The Loop triumphed over industry heavyweights to win ‘Best Enterprise’ at the recent Australian Interactive Media Industry Awards (AIMIA).
The 17th annual ceremony, attended by over 600 industry leaders, took place on Cockatoo Island in the Sydney Harbour.
AIMIA vice president Peter Bray used the event to praise structured innovation in the Australian digital industry.
“Innovation is rarely an accident. The great innovative companies have two things in common. Firstly, they have managed to structure the process of innovation. Secondly, the culture of innovation is bought into at the very top levels. Without these two elements, innovation fails,” he said.
“Space for innovation needs to be held sacrosanct inside organisations, and it is digital that is best placed to lead innovation in the communications industry going forward.”
Despite being only 15 months old, Bondi-based start-up The Loop opened a can of whoop you-know-what on fellow ‘Best Enterprise’ nominees including Clemenger BBDO, BCM, IdeaWorks, and MYOB.
The Loop, which has established itself as *the* web destination for recruiting creative types, was nominated in three of the 26 categories including ‘Best Enterprise’, ‘Best Classifieds’ and ‘Best Use of Social Media, Word-of-Mouth or Viral’.
Founded by former MTV Directors Matt Fayle and Pip Jamieson, The Loop boasts profiles for over 10,000 Australian creative professionals working across advertising, design, TV, publishing, digital media, animation, film, music, marketing, sales, and entertainment. Punters use the site to network, collaborate, and find work.
Included in The Loop’s 1100 local and global clients are ABC, SBS, Ogilvy, Network Ten, Austereo, McCann, Sydney Opera House, and Foxtel.
Mr Fayle said of the awards evening: “Attending the AIMIA Awards was an insane evening. As a start-up we were honoured to be nominated, but to win is an incredible affirmation of what we’ve achieved. Most importantly, it shows the potential of the site.”
AIMIA CEO John Butterworth said winning an ‘Amy’ helped to breed confidence within Australia’s digital industry and beyond.
“Clearly the winners themselves get a confidence boost from being rated best in class by their peers but winning an Amy has a ripple effect, not just within the digital industry itself but in the broader business community, building confidence by creating reference points for a variety of business sectors as they grapple with digital.”
