28
Apr

UNION TOPS NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2023 STAR AWARDS

The Marketing Society Scotland has revealed the shortlist for the 2023 Marketing Star Awards, which is to be held in June this year. The annual awards event is the benchmark for marketing effectiveness in Scotland, with over 30 agencies and clients nominated. The dinner is expected to be attended by over 600 marketing experts from Scotland’s leading brands and businesses as well the nation’s top agencies. Several agencies from the rest of the UK are also named.

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28
Jun

UNION WINS TEN STARS AT 2022 MARKETING SOCIETY AWARDS

The Union topped the total number of awards won at the The Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2022. Winning a total of ten awards (2 Golds, 2 Silvers and 6 Bronzes) for seven clients, the agency demonstrated the breadth and quality of its creative output at the highly competitive event. The awards are judged by panels of independent experts; they aim to measure effectiveness of marketing investment.

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8
Jun

THE BABYLONIANS’ GUIDE TO EDI

The ancient city of Babylon served for nearly two millennia as a centre of civilisation, and we can thank them for the discoveries of the wheel, sailboat and the modern map. Star signs as we know them today also originated in Babylonian astrology, dating back to 2400 BCE. Each sign was named after a constellation the sun moved through while crossing the sky. It seems fitting that during the lead up to the Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards, we look to the stars themselves for guidance, knowledge and insight. Just as the Babylonian’s were thousands of years ago; we at Union are agents of change.

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30
May

‘LOVE ME!’ WAIL THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTERS OF INTEGRATED DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS

Flirting with pretension, some marketers describe themselves as storytellers.  Advertisers, professional influencers, PR pros, videographers and SEOs have all said it.  It’s a lofty claim, but is it accurate?  Advertising campaigns must be fantastically creative and compelling but also commercial.  Our work, art, science and efforts push towards a goal, or we must look again at the brief and bill. So, we’re no Mary Shelley, and we’re not publishing anonymously just to get the story told.  After the optimistically hoped TV campaign budget failed to materialise, Shelly never grudgingly made a 15-second social media cut of a novel, and I doubt Shelly thought much about distribution and media channels. But we do make Frankenstein monsters.  Often, that’s tragic, but it does not need to be that way; later on, I’ll quickly discuss some artificial people who found love.

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8
Apr

UNION GROUP COMPANIES NOMINATED FOR 23 MARKETING STAR AWARDS

Union Group companies; The Union, Union Direct and Union Data, have been nominated for 23 awards for the upcoming Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards. The awards have been the litmus test for marketing effectiveness and creativity for the last 15 years in Scotland. The Union was named Agency of the Year in 2021; however this year’s 23 nominations is a record for the agency. The nominations are in 13 categories; across a total of ten different clients. The breadth and depth of recognition, even at this stage, reflects both an intensely busy 2021 for the agency but also the wide set of marketing services the agency offers clients.

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19
Aug

A RAFT OF NEW BOARD APPOINTMENTS AT THE UNION

The Union has promoted four of its senior management team to the boards of its businesses. This is the first time new Directors have been appointed for many years and represents a planned approach to succession, as well as a careful development the Union Group of businesses. Louise Killough, The Union’s Client Services Director, is appointed to the board of Union Advertising. Louise has been with the agency for over 16 years, and now leads the agency account management team. She also leads on client development and the agency’s financial performance. She has considerable client experience across many sectors, including Scottish Government, Quality Meat Scotland, VisitScotland, Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS), Scottish Enterprise, Reebok, Warburtons and Highland Spring.  Louise also sits on the Marketing Society Scotland committee.

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19
Jun

THE UNION’S 2021 STAR AWARD WINNERS

The agency was named Scotland’s Agency of the Year 2021 at the Marketing Society Star awards based on a strong set of award-winning entries. The Union won four Golds, one Silver and one Bronze at the awards event. Here we summarise the winning entries across four of our clients.

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18
Jun

THE UNION IS AGENCY OF THE YEAR 2021

At last night’s Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards The Union was crowned Agency of the Year 2021. This is the fourth time the agency has achieved this recognition, previously winning in 2010, 2015 and 2017. The agency also won three Gold awards, one Silver and one Bronze. An entry for the Scottish Government’s Parent Club marketing won Gold in the Digital Strategy category. Also for the Scottish Government, the campaign to tackle period inequality and discrimination won a Gold in the Marketing in Society category. 

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23
Oct

UNION WIN FOUR MARKETING SOCIETY STAR AWARDS

The Union won four awards at the 2020 Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards last night. The awards recognise the best-in-class marketing campaigns of the previous 12 months. The agency picked up a Gold and a Silver for Scottish Government – Nursing Recruitment, and two Bronze awards; one for Sterling Furniture and the other for the National Libraries of Scotland.

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12
Apr

UNION NOMINATED NINE TIMES FOR 2020 MARKETING STAR AWARDS

The Union has been nominated nine times for the 2020 Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards, the annual celebration of the best marketing work in Scotland. Five Union clients have been selected. The National Library for Scotland, Sterling Furniture, Children’s Hearings Scotland, Scotland Starts Here and The Scottish Government have all been shortlisted by the judges, in a total of than seven categories.

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14
Jun

UNION SCOOPS SEVEN STARS AT 2019 MARKETING SOCIETY AWARDS

The Union won a total of seven Star Awards at the annual Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards, held in Glasgow on 13th June. The agency won a Gold for Len’s Self Storage in the Retail category and four Silvers – Brand Scotland (Digital Strategy and International Marketing), Loch Ness by Jacobite (Tourism, Leisure and Sport) and Food Standards Scotland (Public Sector), as well as a Silver and Bronze for National Confidential Forum (Marketing in Society and Marketing Planning). The awards resulted in the agency being the second most awarded on the night, out of around 30 agencies nominated. The Union has now won 33 Star Awards in the last four years, demonstrating consistency in delivering highly effective campaigns and quality of output. The agency was also nominated in the Agency of the Year category for the eighth consecutive year, with Louise Killough, Client Services Director nominated in the Inspirational Agency Leader category. Liam Beisty from The Union was nominated for Rising Creative Star and Emily Hall for Rising Agency Star.

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22
Jun

UNION ENJOYS STELLAR EVENING AT STAR AWARDS

The Union team enjoyed a great evening at the 2018 Marketing Society Star Awards, held at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh. The awards is the equivalent of the Scottish marketing community’s Oscars – with over 500 guests attending from across a wide range of the agency and client companies. We were delighted to pick up six awards on the evening. Our entries for Scottish Government (Parent Club) and Historic Environment Scotland won Gold, whilst these clients also picked up Silvers, with another Silver going to Sterling Furniture. A Bronze was awarded to Union Direct for Scottish Widows. Three other entries were nominated: for Food Standards Scotland and Police Scotland.

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13
Jun

HUGH BURKITT ON UNION’S AGENCY OF YEAR ACCOLADE

Hugh Burkitt, Global Ambassador and former CEO of the Marketing Society, explains why The Union was named Star Agency of the Year at last week’s Marketing Star Awards in Glasgow. The Union won 5 Golds, 4 Silvers and 5 Bronzes at the awards, which was attended by over 500 industry professionals. The agency last won the Agency of the Year accolade in 2015.

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13
Apr

UNION AND UNION DIRECT SHORTLISTED FOR 2017 STAR AWARDS

Nominations for the 2017 Marketing Star Awards have been released and The Union, together with sister company Union Direct, have been nominated a staggering 19 times in total, the highest number of nominations for any agency. The awards, run by the Marketing Society, are Scotland’s premier marketing event, recognising marketing effectiveness across numerous categories.

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10
Jun

STARRY NIGHT FOR THE UNION AT MARKETING AWARDS

The Union enjoyed another good night at the 2016 Marketing Star Awards, held at a dinner in Edinburgh last night. Over 550 guests gathered for the premier event in the Scottish marketing calendar. The Union won a Gold, four Silvers and two Bronze awards across a number of clients.

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16
May

UNION LEADS THE WAY WITH 15 STAR NOMINATIONS

The Union has secured 15 nominations for the 2016 Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards. Categories nominated in include Brand Development, Integrated Marketing, Marketing Planning (x2), Digital Strategy, Advertising (x2), Cause Related & Charity, Public Sector (x3), Tourism Leisure & Sport (x2) and Retail.

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30
Jun

UNION NAMED AGENCY OF THE YEAR 2015 AT MARKETING AWARDS

The Union was delighted to be named The Marketing Society Scotland’s ‘Agency of the Year 2015’ at the Marketing Star Awards. The award was made at a packed dinner in Glasgow, with around 500 industry guests present.

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1
May

UNION WINS TWO MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARDS FOR QUALITY MEAT SCOTLAND

The Union picked up two prestigious new awards at the inaugural Marketing Excellence Awards 2005. The agency entered two papers on behalf of Quality Meat Scotland, the organisation responsible for marketing Scotch meat products in the UK. The Scotch Pork campaign won a Strategic Excellence award for Best Customer Insight, beating 5 other finalists.

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