SunLife’s social media and outreach manager Sam Gillies has been named Young Marketeer of the Year while the Bristol-based insurer also beat off stiff competition from Aviva and others to win the Content Marketing prize in the Financial Services Forum Awards.
SunLife created an entertaining content marketing campaign which increased web traffic by 400% and created record engagement on social media channels. The campaign attracted coverage in the national press including The Telegraph, The Express, The Guardian and The Daily Star. 
The judges applauded the campaign, saying SunLife was “The clear winner that has set a high standard for others to follow.” They also praised SunLife for achieving a “Huge reach for a small budget and a highly-commendable return on investment.”
SunLife managing director Dean Lamble said: “I’m incredibly proud of the whole SunLife team and it’s fantastic to see the amazing work they’re doing getting such industry recognition. We want to make financial services easier and more engaging for everyone – and to do that we want to attract some of the bravest and brightest brains in the industry; people like Sam, our young marketer of the year.”
Sam Gillies was praised by the judges for his “remarkable digital knowledge”, enthusiasm and creativity. Sam was presented with his award by former England cricketer and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here winner Phil Tuffnell.
As well as the two award wins, SunLife – which won Best Internal Communications award at the same awards last year – were also commended in the social media and integrated campaign of the year categories.
The wins follow a successful few months of award-winning for SunLife – the insurer picked up the PR Week Internal Comms and Employee Engagement of the Year award last month for its Happy BirthDay campaign and was finalist for rebrand of the year in both The Drum Marketing and Awards and Money Marketing Awards.
SunLife head of brand Ian Atkinson added: “Great content – whether it’s being used to entertain or inform – can really aid brand consideration and I’m chuffed that one of our content campaigns has picked up a gong for marketing effectiveness. Right now we’re feeling very… content.”
The awards took place at The Guildhall in London on Tuesday.
