IGDS WDSS AWARDS 2024

The two IGDS WDSS awards were conducted on 12 September 2024 in Berlin, during the Official Dinner at Adlon Kempinski.

‘World’s Best Marketing Campaign by a Department Store’

This award has been recognizing since 2015 the importance of marketing campaigns for department stores, their role in increasing brand equity, reputation, and trust, and ultimately, in building the store brand to create footfall and connect with new and current customers. Kaubamaja, from Estonia, is the winner of the ‘World’s Best Marketing Campaign by a Department Store’ 2024 for its “Uues Kuues’ campaign - the first of its kind - blending artificial intelligence with human creativity. Jury Chairman Adrien Seugé, Chief Marketing Officer Omni-Channel of L’Oréal’s Luxe division handed over the trophy to Erkki Laugus and Britta Ratas, respectively CEO and Marketing Director of Kaubamaja, pointing out that the jury had been very impressed by their innovative approach and their bet on digital transformation. In her acceptance speech, Britta Ratas, Marketing Director of Kaubamaja said, “We really wanted to be the first ones in Estonia’s local market to create an AI-collaborated campaign and get familiar with new opportunities of this technological innovation. Having the background of being a tiny nation in Europe, this award means the world to us and we are beyond grateful!” The first finalist was the ‘This is How We Do It’ festive campaign by Woolworths, South Africa, with a simple yet excellent slogan and theme song, that added a freshness and sense of humour. The 2nd finalist was the ‘Silly Monsters’ campaign from Galeries Lafayette in Doha, Qatar, with unique visuals, and vivid storytelling to create a memorable store experience.

Jury Members: Dominique von Matt, Advisory Expert of Jung von Matt; Paolo de Cesare, former CEO of Printemps; Hiroshi Onishi, former CEO of Mitsukoshi and Vice President of Japan Airport Terminal; Jury Chairman Adrien Seugé, Chief Marketing Officer Omni-Channel of L’Oréal’s Luxe division.

This award is sponsored by    

World's Best Business Partner to Department Stores

Launched for the first time in 2018, the award honours the fruitful partnerships and successful cooperation between department stores and their global business partners. It was judged solely on a voting basis and was conducted in two rounds, the first one inviting department store executives from around the world to nominate their best business partners, the second one asking them to rank their top-3 preferred candidates from the shortlisted finalists. Form the votes collected, Rituals was declared the winner of the ‘World’s Best Business Partner to Department Stores’ 2024 award, a company that has “built a strong reputation and has garnered praise from department stores all over the world for product innovation, easy and great cooperation, a strong focus on ESG, great adaptability and consistent performance”, as quoted Michael Ganci, Senior Vice President of NuOrder by lightspeed who conducted the laudation. In his acceptance speech, Raymond Closterman, CEO of Rituals spoke of the humble beginnings of the brand, thanking all the people that made it possible – including De Bijenkorf that first gave them a chance when they were a small brand. The first finalist was L’Oréal, a stable of well-known brands with innovative ideas, strong product pipeline, and a dynamic and engaged management team. The second finalist was Bestseller, a family-owned fashion company that was founded in 1975 in Denmark, with a solid foundation and strong partnership to department stores.

This Award is sponsored by   

Winners and finalists of the IGDS WDSS Awards 2024 in Berlin

From Left to Right
Lars Pedersen, Regional Director at Bestseller ; Adrien Seugé, CMO Omni-Channel at L'Oréal Luxe ; Raymond Cloosterman, Founder and CEO of Rituals ; André Maeder, IGDS President ; Unisha Singh, Head of Marketing, Special Ocassions & Africa at Woolworths ; Kevin Gerard Pender, General Manager of Galeries Lafayette, Doha ; Britta Ratas, Marketing Director at Kaubamaja ; Erkki Laugus, CEO of Kaubamaja ; Michael Ganci, SVP at NuORDER by lightspeed.