Bank of Ireland was named overall Grand Prix winner at the National Social Media Awards, aka The Sockies 2023.
The theatre at Liberty Hall in Dublin on Thursday night (11 May) was a scene of jubilation as social media teams and agencies working across the broad gamut of Irish social and economic life via the canvas of social platforms from TikTok to Facebook, Twitter and Instragram celebrated a year of creativity.
The magic created by long-time team Damien Mulley and host Rick O’Shea that extends back to the Irish Blog Awards almost 20 years ago continued in its hallmark effervescent style of a raucous student’s union party belting out banger tunes and flinging crisps and chocolate to a giddy audience.
Organisations from IDA Ireland to Dogs Trust Ireland and the Irish Defence Forces celebrated wins alongside Spórt TG4, Burkes Bus and Dingle Sea Safari, to name a few across 44 categories. Brennan’s Bread even picked up a gong for its use of the Metaverse.
The Bank of Ireland social media team was shortlisted for five categories and won two for its work on Fraud and on Pensions.
However, the end of the night was unexpectedly marked by the team winning the Grand Prix for Best In-house Social Media Team and named the overall Grand Prix winner for 2023 across all industries and categories.
The winning team includes Aisling Lavelle, Eoin McGirl, Conor O’Shea, John Kennedy, Laura Byrne, Heather Dawson and Nicky O’Donovan-Ryan, reporting to Bank of Ireland’s head of Brand Operations and Strategic Projects Rob Hyland, and supported by Thayla Goulart, social media manager at Oliver.
Winners at The Sockies 2023:
Here is the full list of winners of the Sockies 2023:
Facebook Small Business
- Bronze: The O’Brien Press
- Silver: Dingle Sea Safari Ltd
- Gold: Clever Little Handies
Facebook State Org
- Bronze: Crawford Art Gallery
- Silver: Houses of the Oireachtas
- Gold: Irish Defence Forces
Facebook for a Brand
- Bronze: Daybreak Ireland
- Silver: EBS
- Gold: Dogs Trust Ireland
Twitter State Body
- Bronze: Irish Coast Guard
- Silver: Irish Defence Forces
- Gold: Houses of the Oireachtas
Twitter for a Brand In-house or Agency Run
- Bronze: The O’Brien Press
- Silver: Dogs Trust Ireland
- Gold: TG4
Instagram Small Business
- Bronze: True Beauty
- Silver: The Cool Food School
- Gold: Her Sport
Instagram State Body
- Bronze: University College Cork, Library
- Silver: Houses of the Oireachtas
- Gold: Irish Defence Forces
Instagram Brand
- Bronze: Her.ie
- Silver: Daybreak Ireland
- Gold: Catch Chocolate
Instagram NGO
- Bronze: Belong To
- Silver: Spunout
- Gold: Dogs Trust Ireland
Best Use of Instagram Stories and Reels
- Bronze: Toyota and Forogie
- Silver: Crawford Art Gallery
- Gold: Spórt TG4
TikTok Campaign
- Bronze: McSport
- Silver: Club Drinks
- Gold: Three Ireland
TikTok Strategy: Brand
- Bronze: University of Limerick
- Silver: Centra Ireland
- Gold: Koka Noodles
TikTok Strategy: SME
- Bronze: Crosshaven Computers
- Silver: Kash Beauty
- Gold: Burkes Bus
Best Use of the Metaverse
- Winner: Brennans
Video Campaign: Public Body
- Bronze: Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
- Silver: University of Limerick
- Gold: Road Safety Authority
Video Campaign: NGO
- Silver: Spunout
- Gold: IMART and Fuller Marketing
Video Campaign: Business/Brand
- Bronze: Her Sport
- Silver: Hotel Woodstock
- Gold: Bank of Ireland
Video Campaign: Agency Run
- Bronze: Dublin Zoo
- Silver: Tayto
- Gold: Mace
Social Media Strategy: SME
- Bronze: Murphys Ice Cream
- Silver: Clever Little Handies
- Gold: Dingle Sea Safari
Social Media Strategy: State Body
- Bronze: Houses of the Oireachtas
- Silver: Irish Defence Forces
- Gold: Central Bank of Ireland
Social Media Strategy: NGO
- Bronze: Spunout
- Silver: BelongTo
- Gold: Sexual Health Centre
Social Media Strategy: International Markets
- Bronze: Summer at UCD
- Silver: Dingle Sea Safari
- Gold: IDA Ireland
Social Media Campaign: Non-professionals
- Silver: Snorkelling Ireland
- Gold: Val Robus
Social Media Campaign: LinkedIn
- Bronze: Aviva
- Silver: IDA Ireland
- Gold: Central Bank of Ireland
Social Media Strategy for Events
- Bronze: Focus Ireland – Shine A Light Night
- Silver: Murphy’s Ice Cream
- Gold: IMART and Fuller Marketing
Social Media to drive eCommerce
- Bronze: Wavemaker / Invention and FLYEFit
- Silver: McSport
- Gold: National Lottery
Use of Social Media by a Financial Org
- Bronze: Bank of Ireland
- Silver: Central Bank of Ireland
- Gold: EBS
Best Content Creation Studio In-house
- Bronze: EZ Living Furniture and Dogs Trust Ireland
- Silver: Central Bank of Ireland
- Gold: AIB
Best Content Creation Studio (Agency)
- Bronze: Lorg Media
- Silver: Brouder Marketing
- Gold: Fabric Social
Best Social Media Advertising Team – Agency
- Bronze: Sing! Digital Marketing
- Silver: Core
- Gold: Javelin Advertising
Best Social Media Advertising Team – In-house
- Bronze: McSport
- Silver: Central Bank of Ireland
- Gold: Franchise Direct
Best Sponsorship Collaboration
- Bronze: Bank of Ireland at All Together Now
- Silver: MACE Right Options – A Walk with Johnny Sexton
- Gold: Londis – Ireland’s Fittest Family
Best Paid Campaign Sales
- Bronze: McSport – “We Messed Up” Sale
- Silver: Failte Ireland – Discover Ireland and Visit Dublin campaigns
- Gold: Glenveagh – The Batman of the housing crisis
Best Paid Campaign Awareness
- Bronze: Aviva – ‘If Money Talks, What’s Yours Saying?’
- Silver: Focus Ireland – 2022 Christmas campaign
- Gold: Bank of Ireland – Stop, Think, Check
Best Multi-platform Campaign (In-house)
- Bronze: SPAR Community Road Trip
- Silver: Dogs Trust Ireland – Puppy Farming is a Life Sentence
- Gold: AIB – AIB’s Pledge to Do More
Best Multi-platform Campaign (Agency)
- Bronze: Daybreak – Werewolf Hunt
- Silver: An Post – Digital Stamp
- Gold: Kia Motors Ireland SG2 Niro campaign
Best Multi-platform Campaign for events/cause (Agency)
- Bronze: Foras na Gaeilge – Creidim Ionat
- Silver: IMART and Fuller Marketing
- Gold: Sport Ireland – It’s my Time
Best In-House Team
- Winner: Bank of Ireland
Best Small Agency
- Winner: Fabric Social
Best Agency Large
- Winner: Core
Grand Prix
- Winner: Bank of Ireland
