Dublin Zoo wins Grand Prix; Breakingnews.ie wins award at 'Sockies'

We're delighted to announce that Breakingnews.ie has won a prize at the Maximum Media Social Media Awards.

We triumphed in the "Use of Facebook by a Media Organisation" category at 'The Sockies' in the RDS this evening.

[comment] Photo: Ben Keenan[/comment]

Dublin Zoo won the Grand Prix, one of three awards they got at the ceremony.

More than 400 companies and organisations entered the awards this year with 650 attending at the RDS tonight.

A special award was given out on the night to the Yes Equality social media team.

Special award and standing ovation at the #sockies15 for the team behind he @YesEquality2015 campaign! #YesEquality pic.twitter.com/T0fXGoeZ9S

— Denise O'Donoghue (@deniseodonoghue) June 3, 2015

Speaking at tonight's event Niall McGarry, Founder and CEO of Maximum Media, said the calibre of entries at this year's ceremony is testament to the huge investment brands are making in reaching their target audience online.

He said: “All good businesses today understand the importance of digital marketing and effective social media to build their brand. It’s not just about being present on these platforms, it’s about creating an impact and engaging with users which all tonight’s winners have done. At Maximum Media we pride ourselves on having the largest social media following of any publisher in Ireland and are delighted to sponsor tonight’s event to reward those teams that invest as much in their social strategy as we do."

Other winners on the night included An Garda Síochána for their uses of social media, Aer Lingus for their use of Facebook, SPAR Ireland for Facebook, Littlewoods Ireland for a campaign on Twitter.

Lidl won for In-House social media team.

Agency of the Year went to Radical Media and other companies that won include 98FM for Best Videos and RTÉ's Republic of Telly for their use of Snapchat.

In the new category for Instagram, the website LovelyBeards.com won, which is a website dedicated to beards of all shapes and sizes.

Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club won for Zero Budget social media campaign.

This is the 5th year of the Social Media Awards, known as "The Sockies" and it is organized by Mulley Communications.

The full list of winners is:

1. Use of Facebook by a Small Business (In-House team managed)

HairyBaby.com

2. Use of Facebook by a Medium+ Business (In-House team managed) – Sponsored by Strata3

Aer Lingus

3. Use of Facebook by a Business/Brand (Agency Run)

SPAR Ireland

4. Use of Facebook by a Media Organisation

BreakingNews.ie

5. Use of Facebook by a Non-Profit/Organisation

Dublin Zoo

6. Best Business Twitter account – Agency Run

Littlewoods Ireland

7. Best Business Twitter account – In-House Run – Sponsored by Kantar Media

AA Roadwatch

8. Best Non-Profit/Organisation Twitter account

Dogs Trust Ltd

9. Best Business Twitter Campaign

AIB GAA

10. Best Mobile App

World Rugby – Laws of Rugby

11. Best Use of Instagram

LovelyBeards.com

12. Best Blog of an SME

Chill Insurance

13. Best Use of Social Media by an SME – Sponsored by Blacknight

Two winners

Micro SME - Cuckoo Events

Medium SME - Tour America

14. Best Use of Social Media by State Body – Sponsored by SENSORPRO

An Garda Síochána

15. Customer Care using Social Media (Integrated)

Electric Ireland

16. Best Experimental Format (Vine, Whatsapp, Snapchat)

RTE Republic of Telly

17. Best Video/Video Campaign (non broadcast)

Dublin’s 98FM – 98FM Best of Dublin Awards

18. Best use of Realtime Marketing

Aviva Stadium Ireland vs. England

19. Zero Budget Social Media Campaign

Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club – Faces behind the Purple & Gold

20. Best Integrated Social Media Campaign – Sponsored by Cloud90

Dublin Zoo – Dublin Elephants

21. In-house Team of the Year

Lidl Ireland

22. Agency of the Year

Radical

23. Grand Prix

Dublin Zoo