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The agency triumphed in the ‘Best Use of Content', ‘Best Communications/Entertainment Platform' and ‘Best Localisation' awards taking three of the five shortlisted entries in the final category.

The ‘Best Use of Content' was awarded for Mindshare's groundbreaking work for Unilever's Dove brand in the Chinese version of popular series ‘Ugly Betty'.

Programming featured product placement of Unilever brand Dove to translate the message of ‘Real Beauty' to the brand's target audience of 20-35 year-old women.

The series was launched last September on China's most popular entertainment broadcast network - Hunan Satellite Television gaining a hugely impressive 73m viewers an episode. It is now firmly placed as one of China's most popular programmes.

Andrew Meaden, CEO of Mindshare North Asia, said: "Ugly Betty has provided Unilever with a mass, but truly integrated content offering that stretches from TV to the internet with a powerful yet cost effective communications solution. We are very happy to have run this from start to finish for Unilever and we anticipate that Ugly Betty will be the first of many such content campaigns in China."

Mateo Eaton, Partner in Mindshare's Invention Group in Hong Kong, said "This award validates the value that brand-integrated content brings to consumers, but also proves that it does what it is designed to do - increase awareness, drive deeper communications and, ultimately, positively affect sales.

"Unilever has always been very forward thinking and has accepted content as a regular part of their advertising portfolio and we are thrilled to partner with their brands in these endeavours."

In the ‘Best Communications/Entertainment' category Mindshare picked up the award for its work on fellow Unilever brand Ponds and an Indonesian campaign entitled ‘Miracle of Love'.   

The campaign was backed by the production of a free CD of music specially commissioned by Mindshare, on behalf of Ponds, from legendary Indonesian composer Addie MS for his wife Meme on their 20^th wedding anniversary.

Entitled Miracle, the album was given away instore as part of a Ponds promotion and a ‘Miracle of Love' concert was organised in Meme's honour.

More than 1,000 people attended the concert and a special one hour celebrity packed section of the concert was broadcast on Indonesian television, achieving huge brand awareness for Ponds.  

The final winning campaign was for Unilever's Axe Dark Temptation, which was one of three shortlisted entries and beat competition from McCann Erickson and Lunch Communications to take top spot in the category.

Axe Dark Temptation was based around a brief that men should be as "Irresistible as Chocolate" to women.

In France 200,000 guys received "chocolate nibbles & licks" from girls on social networking site Skyrock.com.

Wrapping huge Axe posters in foil and gradually peeled back daily to reveal Dark Temptation reflecting in-store work targeted the Axe audience in Romania.

Belgium added to a national obsession, creating a luxury chocolate love tokens to pass on.

Online virals in the UK included "pulling professionals" that challenged UK guys to test their pick-up power with women armed only with a bar of chocolate.

Portugal tempted guys in confectionary aisles to seize the moment, buy chocolate, seduce girls, and win a visit to a specially created ‘Chocolate Pleasure Mansion'.

Nick Waters, Leader, Mindshare EMEA, said: "Axe Dark Temptation is a wonderful example of taking a strong central idea and adapting it to resonate locally across the region.

"Unilever is doing a great job building clear communication platforms for its brands which have the flexibility to connect with people in many different countries.  We feel this is a strength Mindshare can bring to all our international clients, and are pleased to have been shortlisted three times in this category."

Adam Gerhart, Global Account Director on Team Unilever at Mindshare, said: "This award is a testament to the collective strength of market and agency collaboration. Unilever's work is all about central teams developing big ideas and local teams acting on those ideas to make them bigger. We're thrilled Mindshare played such an integral role in amplifying the campaign."

The awards were presented at the Palacio de Congresos in Valencia.

Ends

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