MOST CONTAGIOUS / AWARD WINNERS

Contagious' co-founder and editorial director, Paul Kemp-Robertson said: 'The Most Contagious Awards are a natural extension of our annual Most Contagious report, and our way of acknowledging the best creative ideas that we believe deserve our recognition. At Contagious, we have a highly talented editorial team that is exposed to excellent work from all around the world. Their job is to identify stuff that resonates and breaks new ground. For the awards, we have selected emerging companies, exciting technologies, innovative design and truly original stories that capture the essence of contagiousness: visionary thinking, sublime craftsmanship and creative narratives that people feel compelled to talk about and share.'

The Most Contagious Purpose Award was presented by Sir John Hegarty to Safaricom for Daktari 1525, along with agency Squad Digital, Nairobi. Safaricom was praised for acting as an NGO, giving its customers the opportunity to connect directly with doctors and receive advice around the clock, a valuable resource for a country with a ratio of one doctor per 10,000 people.

Most Contagious Technology went to Google's Project Glass, which showcased the opportunities for wearable tech in an exciting and engaging way, creating widespread aniticipation for the device. Nick Parish, Contagious' editorial director, North Americas, says: ''Glass feels like a device that's much more advanced than its time, a slice of the 23rd century when we've just entered the 21st.'

Conference speaker Richard Seymour presented the Most Contagious Design Award to Heatherwick Studio for its iconic Olympic Cauldron. In addition to the magical visual impact it added to the Olympics opening ceremony when all eyes were on London, the design of the Cauldron is about fundamentally about people coming together in unity.

Audi City claimed Most Contagious Retail prize, along with its agencies Razorfish, SapientNitro, Designit, RTT and Valtech. Audi reengineered the concept of a car showroom, by using brilliant digital technology  to save valuable showroom space in capital cities. The interactive  touch points in the store allow consumers to virtually view vehicles in real size on HD screens.

The Most Contagious Story of the Year was awarded to the epic Red Bull Stratos / Mission to the Edge of Space (Red Bull Media House, Riedel Communications, Wuppertal, Flightline Films, Las Vegas, 3G Communications, Glen Burnie). This is the epitome of brand-funded innovation and was by far and away the most audacious idea to be featured in Contagious.

The Small But Perfectly Formed Company Award was presented to the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The programmable mini computer that can easily be wiped and rebooted was praised for its incredible success in terms of sales, the impressive community that has grown around the product and the potential it has to enable people to bring their ideas to life.  

The Audience Award, voted for on the day at Most Contagious 2012, went to Raspberry Pi.

Simon Wylie Contagious' CEO says: 'Most Contagious, whilst ostensibly a review of the year, is in fact a look ahead to the future.

By identifying the outlying trends and themes to have emerged providing an in depth analysis of how these will impact the year ahead, Contagious allows the industry to focus on what is important and assess the impact that change will bring to the industry, to people and society as a whole.

I'm proud that Contagious has been able to partner with Fleishman Hillard to bring Most Contagious to life and I am looking forward to doing so with them again in London and New York in 2013.'      

Dave Senay, CEO of Fleishman Hillard added: 'The Most Contagious awards not only showcase the extraordinary work of brands and people who are stretching the boundaries of creativity and innovation in marketing. They also show how the creative mind is driving transformational change in business and society based on principles of purpose, value and authenticity. For that reason they deserve to be carefully studied as well as celebrated.'

Nominations
Purpose / Renault MOBILIZ, Safaricom Daktari 1525, Tata Docomo BloodLine Club
Technology / Baxter (Rethink Robotics), Google Project Glass, Leap Motion, Nike FuelBand, Ouya (Boxer8)
Design / ABSOLUT Unique, Cooled Conservatories (Wilkinson Eyre), Disney D-Tech Me, Olympic Cauldron (Heatherwick Studio), Tesla S
Retail / Audi City, Magazine Você (Magazine Luiza), Topshop Unique, Neiman Marcus NM Service App
Small But Perfectly Formed / Dollar Shave Club, Hiut Denim, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Sir Richard's, Percolate, Who Gives a Crap

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