The winner of the supreme award at this year’s Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards, brand design agency Designworks, is also responsible for the look and feel of the Deloitte/Management magazine Top 200 campaign (see page 32).
“Michael Crampin and the creative team at Designworks have succeeded in creating an exciting concept for the awards to mark their 21st year,” says Brenda Ward, editor of NZ Management.
Designworks won Vero the award for design thinking that’s had transformational effect on the business performance of its clients, says Sarah Trotman, managing director of Bizzone, which has run the award for six years, for excellence in services to SMEs.
Other 2010 award winners were Kerridge and Partners, Telecommunications Dispute Resolution, UniServices, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, EECA, Life Care Consultants and Enable Networks. Business commentator Rod Oram took out the BDO Individual award.
Prime Minister John Key congratulated the winners at gala dinner at the Auckland Town Hall, joining more than 500 business leaders.
The awards are supported by foundation sponsor Vero, BDO and NZ Management magazine. Previous supreme award winners include MYOB and The National Bank.
“The bar is set high,” says Mike Watson, CEO of the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation, which evaluates the awards.“The winners are the organisations that are able to demonstrate sustained results over time. Excellent business support assists New Zealand businesses to build capability and capacity.”
As well as being the Vero Supreme Award winner, Designworks also won the BDO Business $5 to $10 million Turnover Award, beating off finalists Video Pro and Digital Island.
Designworks Group CEO Sven Baker said: “We are fundamentally change agents who deal directly at board and CEO level to understand business imperatives, and then work with clients to identify market space that they can credibly own, and then how they can gear their business around that space to deliver upon their promise. We are able to do this through rigorous process which combines leading design thinking with top creative. Put simply – ‘informed intuition’.”
Ultimately, he says, the company provides clients with clarity as to how they can compete. This has resulted in several of its clients growing through the recession, with some exploring new market opportunities, and one whose business model has been completely flipped on its head with great success.
Designworks likes to take ‘background adviser’ role, working with clients to resolve business issues, to create new direction and then an implementation plan, often also engaging the services of partner agencies.
The winners were:
Vero Supreme Award, Designworks
BDO Business Less Than $5 million Turnover Award One on One, Kerridge and Partners
BDO Business Less than $5m Turnover Award One to Many, Telecommunication Dispute Resolution
BDO Business $5 to $10m Turnover Award, Designworks
BDO Large Business Award, UniServices
BDO Not for Profit Award, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce
BDO Government Award, EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority)
BDO Education Provider Award, Life Care Consultants
BDO Regional North Island Award, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce
BDO Regional South Island Award, Enable Networks
BDO Individual Award, Rod Oram.
