The Bottom Line Business Awards 2026

Summary

The Bottom Line Business Awards 2026 – Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

In this lively annual episode of The Bottom Line, host Evan Davis gathers an eminent judging panel to hand out the unofficial “Bottom Line Business Awards” for 2026. The episode’s goal is to reflect on the most notable highs and lows in UK business over the past year, celebrating innovative achievements, brilliant marketing, and spectacular disasters. The three categories under debate are:

• Business or Business Person of the Year
• Marketing Moment of the Year
• Business Disaster of the Year

Three industry leaders serve as judges: Nicola Hodgson (Deputy President of Tech UK), Sir Peter Bazalgette (former ITV chair and creative industries leader), and Edwina Dunn (data pioneer and co-founder of dunnhumby).

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Meet the Judges (01:15–08:16)

• Nicola Hodgson (02:55): Spent decades in tech with giants like Siemens, Microsoft, IBM. As Deputy President of Tech UK, she represents a trade body with 1,300 members from major names to SMEs.
  • Notable personal moment: recounts an early motorcycle mishap—scattering belongings across the M4 during rush hour (03:36).
• Sir Peter Bazalgette (04:20): Former ITV chair, champion of creative industries, sits on various public sector boards, including the Department of Education.
  • Self-effacing humor: “My wife asked me [what I do] the other day.”
  • Famously brought "Big Brother" to the UK (“my proudest boast”) (05:03).
• Edwina Dunn (05:18): Data science pioneer, co-founded dunnhumby (Tesco Clubcard). Spearheads “The Female Lead,” a data-powered platform promoting female stories to inspire future generations. Connects with 9 million women daily (07:44).
  • Quote: “Girls largely identify with mothers and grannies and aunties and they aren’t able to name either female politicians or, you know, female authors, female billionaires, female business owners.”
  • On her platform: “It becomes a communication platform, a publishing platform, but also... a data and analytical platform.” (08:05)

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Category 1: Business/Business Person of the Year (08:14–18:23)

Nicola Hodgson’s Nomination: Genomics PLC

• Oxford-based biotech firm, spun out from Oxford University by Prof. Sir Peter Donnelly.
• “He’s taken math and genetic science and developed that into population scale preventative healthcare technology.” (09:00)
• Polygenic risk scoring—set to be rolled into the NHS by 2035, with the potential to prevent 45,000 heart attacks and strokes annually and add £43bn to UK GDP over 10 years.
• “A combination of data management, AI, genetics... all... coming together to help individuals with better health outcomes.” (10:08)

Edwina Dunn’s Nomination: FloHealth

• Women’s health app, tracking hormone cycles for 77 million monthly active users, aiming for personalized healthcare for women (51% of the population).
• “It’s a big step towards personalised healthcare for 51% of the population.” (11:40)
• Based in London but global in reach—recently added Mandy Ginsberg (match.com fame) to the board (12:08).
• Noted past controversy over data management, settled out of court (13:19).

Peter Bazalgette’s Nomination: Ricardo Mendes, Takeiva

• CEO, lead of drone startup that became a UK tech unicorn (worth >£1bn) in 2026.
• Applications: civil (wildlife, wildfires), defence (Ukraine surveillance), and part of a growing tech cluster in Swindon.
• “If that’s what our new Prime Minister has in mind when he talks about reindustrialising Britain, ... we might actually see some durable growth in the economy.” (14:44)

Panel Discussion & Decision

• Peter and Nicola both favor Genomics for transformative health impact (“Most lives affected in a positive way” – Sir Peter, 17:10).
• Edwina laments women-focused innovations rarely win recognition or funding, noting only 2% of women startups get funding (17:23).
  • Quote: "Women never win the vote or the funding and that’s why only 2% of women startups get funding."
• Ultimately, consensus goes to Genomics, with honorable mentions for Flo Health and Takeiva (18:23).

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Category 2: Marketing Moment of the Year (18:35–25:14)

Edwina Dunn’s Nomination: Cadbury’s Alzheimer’s Ad

• Touching advert showing a daughter brings her father chocolate, triggering bittersweet memories—addresses loneliness and Alzheimer’s.
• “It’s very gentle... a simple way that people can reach out to someone else and it doesn’t have to be words.” (19:34)

Peter Bazalgette’s Nomination: Currys’ “Beyond Tech Spectations” Campaign

• Humorous and surreal TV/online ad series highlighting staff expertise, including accessibility (deaf/partially sighted customers), produced by AMV BBDO.
• “It’s funny, it’s human. It bucks the conventional wisdom that high street shops are in great difficulty... Curry’s share price has trebled since 2024.” (20:40)
• Jury admired how it revitalized perceptions of in-store retail.

Nicola Hodgson’s Nomination: KitKat Heist Campaign

• Real-life theft of 400,000 KitKats between Italy and Poland spurs Nestlé to lean in with humor:
  • “They made a joke the thieves have taken the tagline rather too seriously and made a break for it.” (22:31)
  • Launched a “stolen KitKat tracker,” fake security escorts, huge online engagement (2.2 million tracker uses, daily views up from 1M to 29M), and inspired copycat campaigns by other brands.
  • Swept Cannes Lions awards.
• Peter queries whether it drove sales, not just laughs (23:39).

Panel Discussion & Decision

• Edwina and Peter debate between creativity (KitKat) and business impact (Currys).
• Ultimately, the panel names Currys as winner for effective brand building and tangible impact on retail fortunes (25:14).

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Category 3: Business Disaster of the Year (25:14–33:47)

Peter Bazalgette’s Nomination: BrewDog

• Scottish craft brewer, once worth £1–2bn, collapsed into administration, sold for £33 million.
• Crowdfunding investors wiped out, accusations of toxic workplace, stopped paying living wage, and lost reputation.
• “They pioneered 0.5% no alcohol beers... Punk Ale's got eight hops in it. And, you know, so they had a lovely product and I’m rather sad about it.” (26:45)

Nicola Hodgson’s Nomination: The Louvre

• Series of disasters in 2025–26: 100m EUR jewel heist, resigning director, burst pipe near Mona Lisa, staff walkouts, and ticket fraud scandal.
• “If you add to that... for me, I think that delivers an outstanding nomination.” (27:53)

Edwina Dunn’s Nomination: L’Oreal Urban Decay & OnlyFans Scandal

• L'Oreal uses influencer Aria Kitzia (OnlyFans creator and “mattress actress”) in Urban Decay campaign.
• Backlash due to mismatch with brand’s family-friendly image and large youth following.
• “Their defense is that our brands have diverse ranges of talent who represent many facets of creative expression.” (29:50)

Evan Davis’ Suggestion: TG Jones (High Street Rebrand)

• WH Smith’s struggling high street arm rebranded as TG Jones, failed to gain traction, required restructuring.
• “It looks like a rather corny pastiche of W.H. Smith and it hasn’t worked. A really interesting case of trying to do something but destroying value in the process.” (30:33)

Panel Discussion & Decision

• Between BrewDog and TG Jones—judges note both as “total meltdowns.”
• Nicola: “I could go with TG Jones on the basis that... none of us are aware of the rebrand.” (32:48)
• Edwina shares a humorous disaster at the Louvre: “A rat ran over my foot” (33:04).
• Ultimately, the panel awards BrewDog for the scale of the collapse and investor losses (33:47).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Genomics, prevention in healthcare:

  • “What we ought to have is a health service based on prevention, not cure. And this is a massive step in the right direction.” – Sir Peter Bazalgette (10:27)

• On women in business and data:

  • “Women never win the vote or the funding and that’s why only 2% of women startups get funding.” – Edwina Dunn (17:23)
  • “The level of investment in women’s health is really small. Most drugs are developed not for women from the get go.” – Nicola Hodgson (13:04)

• On advertising’s role:

  • “It’s very easy to be taken in by the entertainment value... but they’ve got to work.” – Sir Peter Bazalgette (23:59)

• On BrewDog’s downfall:

  • “It took on far too much debt. It got way beyond itself. There were reports of a toxic workplace, plus reputational damage when they stopped paying the living wage.” – Sir Peter Bazalgette (25:43)
  • “A great product and a great brand that has managed to go adrift.” – Evan Davis (33:58)

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Segment Timestamps

• 01:15 – Introduction to judges
• 08:14 – Business of the Year nominations
• 17:10 – Decision on Business of the Year
• 18:35 – Marketing Moment of the Year nominations
• 25:14 – Marketing Moment decision
• 25:14 – Business Disaster of the Year nominations
• 33:47 – Disaster of the Year decision

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Winners’ Roll

| Category | Winner | Honorable Mentions | |---------------------------|--------------|-------------------------------| | Business of the Year | Genomics | FloHealth, Takeiva | | Marketing Moment of Year | Currys | KitKat, Cadbury’s | | Business Disaster of Year | BrewDog | TG Jones, Louvre (honorary) |

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Tone & Conclusion

The conversation is witty, self-aware, and insightful, with a blend of industry expertise, personal anecdotes, and honest debate. The judges are unsparing but fair, candidly acknowledging both Britain’s business triumphs and recent stumbles.

Evan Davis’s closing remark sums up the episode:

"Our winners are the disaster of the year, Brewdog. Our marketing moment of the year is Currys and our business of the year is Genomics. Worthy winners all, I think it’s fair to say."

Listeners leave with a panoramic view of the UK’s current business landscape—innovative, striving, sometimes stumbling, but always evolving.

Transcript

[Evan Davis]

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[Evan Davis]

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Bottom Line. It has extra nuggets of conversation that you won't find in the Radio 4 version and our gift to you for being such a loyal listener. And if you enjoy it, you might want to check out other episodes we've made, like one on Chaos Management. Do Fewer Rules make for Better Workplaces? That was from October last year. Or one on cyber attacks. What really happens when cybercriminals hold a business to ransom? That was from June last year. But for now, this is the last program in our series before we take a summer break. And you know what that means. It is time once again for the Bottom Line Business Awards. It's a chance for us to look back at the highs and lows of the past year in business. These awards entirely unofficial of course. No trophies, no black tie ceremony, no prize money. Just the satisfaction of earning the approval or disapproval of our judges. Here's how it works. We have three categories. Business or Business Person of the Year, Marketing Moment of the Year and Business Disaster of the Year. We have three judges who will each nominate one contender in each category. They're not allowed to nominate their own business. We'll hear the case for each nominee, debate the merits and reach a consensus. And if we can't, I as chair, will cast the vote and decide on the winner. So let us meet our eminent judges and first up is Nicola Hodgson, who's actually spent decades in the tech sector, building in a very impressive career with senior jobs at some very big names. Siemens, Microsoft, IBM. And among them, you're also Deputy President of Tech uk. What is that?

[Nicola Hodgson]

Actually, Tech UK is the leading tech sector trade body and works to make sure that the tech sector can grow and businesses can start and scale in the uk and then to make sure as a country that we can adopt technology and make the best of it.

[Evan Davis]

So who are your members at Tech UK?

[Nicola Hodgson]

We have about 1300 members. Everyone from the very big. The names that everyone would think of all the way to about half members are SMEs, tiny companies.

[Evan Davis]

I also see that you're actually outside of work, a motorcyclist, is that right?

[Nicola Hodgson]

Indeed, yes. Only in the summer.

[Evan Davis]

Fair weather, friend. No, Very, very sensible. What happened on the M4?

[Nicola Hodgson]

Oh, well, in my early days as a biker, my husband and I decided to go on a trip to World Ducati Weekend in Italy. With tens of thousands of Ducatis. We set off for from Hungerford area on the M4 Monday morning rush hour and all new kit. My husband was in front of me and the panniers came off the back of his bike, which held our tent and all of our belongings and promptly got picked up on the front of a lorry and scattered the entire contents all over the M4 at rush hour. 7am brought the motorway to a halt and we had to change plans, lo and behold.

[Evan Davis]

Next up is Sir Peter Bazalgette, former chair of itv, longtime investor in digital startup companies. Also you were chair of the Arts Council England, in fact, Peter, so you're a big, big cultural figure. What are you actually doing?

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Now, that's a very good question. My wife asked me that the other day. No, I'm on a few public sector boards. I've just been chairing the Creative Industries Council, developing creative industry policy growth for the sector. I'm on the board of Department of Education. I chair a small children's animation company, chair a book prize, a few things to keep me off the streets.

[Evan Davis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The biographies of you, Peter, always have you as the person who brought Big Brother to the uk.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Surely not.

[Evan Davis]

Is that actually true? I feel like there must have been other people involved in a decision like that.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

About 5,000 other people. Yes, I did bring it. I didn't create the show, it was a Dutch show, but I brought it to the uk. Therefore, some people say fantastic. And other people, particularly the Daily Mail side, live in infamy. And they once elected me one of 10 worst Britons. My proudest boast.

[Evan Davis]

Right, look, my third judge today is entrepreneur Edwina Dunn, co founder of dunnhumby, which you may not have heard of, but it's a very interesting company. It was the data company that pioneered the Tesco Club card in this country. And in a way, Edwina, you've been described as a sort of pioneer of data science, the ability to really manage data to create value for companies. What first drew you to that particular line of work?

[Edwina Dunn]

Well, I suppose I landed in a very good place for my first job job. I joined an American software consultancy back in the 80s and it was just full of very clever techies and they were building simulation models and I suppose I just absorbed this and data became, well, as we have heard, the new oil, as my partner Clive Humby once said. And at the time, it was very hard for technology to cope with the way in which data was increasing. So I learned my skills there using census data, which doesn't sound very interesting, I know.

[Evan Davis]

No, no, it's not as interesting as scattering clothes across the M4, but honestly, it's a lot more important. It's incredibly, incredibly important. But you're also involved in this thing called the female lead, and I don't know what that is exactly, but you'll tell us.

[Edwina Dunn]

So, throughout my career, and I've had a fantastic career, all I were men in the positions of leadership and power and good for them. But I wondered why women were not celebrated in the same way. You know, we still hear about Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale. I couldn't really understand why we're still learning about brilliant women who were long gone and why we weren't celebrating women today. Why does that matter? It matters because girls largely identify with mothers and grannies and aunties and they aren't able to name either female politicians or, you know, female authors, female billionaires, female business owners, okay?

[Evan Davis]

So the job is to promote, if you like.

[Edwina Dunn]

The job is actually we have 9 million women in our community, so we connect with 9 million every day, okay? And so it becomes a communication platform, a publishing platform, but also, very importantly for me, a data and analytical platform.

[Evan Davis]

Okay?

[Edwina Dunn]

So we can work out what women need and want.

[Evan Davis]

Okay. And sell to them. I mean, a little bit of selling,

[Edwina Dunn]

because that's what makes the world go round, right?

[Evan Davis]

Nothing wrong with that. Now, look, let us dive into our first category today, which is Business or Business Person of the Year. You're each going to nominate one and we'll come to an agreement over which is our winner. And Nicola first, tell us your nomination.

[Nicola Hodgson]

My nomination is Genomics. And Genomics is a privately held company in the uk, developed by CEO Professor Sir Peter Donnelly, Oxford based company. Oxford based, winner of the Tech UK President's Award this year for the economy.

[Evan Davis]

Okay, so now this is a company that was formed as a spin out from Oxford University by four leading scientists, including Sir Peter Donnelly.

[Nicola Hodgson]

What I really like about his really rigorous science. So he's taken math and genetic science and developed that into population scale preventative health care technology. So in the 10 year plan for the NHS last year, something called polygenic risk scoring is to be rolled out by 2035 with the potential to save 45,000 heart attacks and strokes a year. And overall, the test has the potential to contribute 43 billion pounds to UK GDP over 10 years.

[Evan Davis]

So tell me the product. I really want us to understand the product. Exactly.

[Nicola Hodgson]

So the company uses machine learning and something called a polygenic risk score, which basically looks at the genetic variations across someone's DNA, gives them a risk score, and then that creates the possibility that they can manage their health throughout life, particularly identifying diseases that might occur later. And also opens more of the possibility for bespoke medicines for particular individuals. So really, really exciting science.

[Evan Davis]

Absolutely huge area. So it's a sort of combination of data management, AI, genetics. It's a nexus of all those bits

[Nicola Hodgson]

of all of those coming together to help individuals with better health outcomes, those bits of technology.

[Evan Davis]

Comments on the other two of you. Do you know of this company, Genomics?

[Edwina Dunn]

Yes, I do. I mean, it's good work and in fact, not a million miles away from my nomination.

[Evan Davis]

We'll get to that in a minute.

[Edwina Dunn]

Absolutely no, but it's good work.

[Evan Davis]

Peter, any thoughts on this?

[Edwina Dunn]

Yes.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Fantastic. Because the whole of our health system has been based on cure rather than prevention. And it's dominated by surgeons and others who like to have lots of money spent on their toys. Again, for cure rather than prevention. And what we ought to have is a health service based on prevention, not cure. And this is a massive step in the right direction.

[Nicola Hodgson]

100%.

[Evan Davis]

Okay, genomics, let's get a second nomination. Edwina, this is yours. Let's hear yours.

[Edwina Dunn]

Yes. So I'd like to nominate FloHealth, which is a woman's health app. Today it has something like 77 million monthly active users and it's essentially tracking women's hormone balance, which means that it opens our eyes to the fact that women, for example, are only fertile for three to four days a month, whereas for men it's 24,7. And to help them track that balance and understand how to avoid getting pregnant, how to become pregnant and kind of what's happening in their bodies. It's a big step towards personalised health care for 51% of the population.

[Evan Davis]

Where is the company based? It is absolutely enormous and clearly has global reach. Obviously the 77 million is not in the UK. But it's London based.

[Edwina Dunn]

Correct? It is London based. I mean, it is a pretty international company. It's got offices in Amsterdam, Delaware and Lithuania. It is run by men. So here is a female.

[Evan Davis]

It is so interesting. Oh, you must be so disappointed.

[Edwina Dunn]

I am. But the good news is that they have brought onto the board a very brilliant woman, Mandy Ginsberg, who's an American businesswoman and she's famous for starting match.com so her understanding of big consumer apps that are very much interest driven and community active, I think that would be a good step.

[Evan Davis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Well, I'm probably not allowed to even comment on this, but I will. You say it helps women prevent pregnancy, but it also helps them get pregnant. And I'm really interested in the latter category because arguably we're not having enough babies in this country and particularly with the burden of an aging population, we need more babies, actually. So this could be quite dynamic.

[Edwina Dunn]

Thank you. Yes.

[Nicola Hodgson]

Data that can help women take control of their own health in whatever way, is fantastic. And the level of investment in women's health is really small. Most drugs are developed not for women from the get go. So I really like the scale and the scope of it.

[Evan Davis]

I think this company did have some issues around data management because you could see the potential for using the data you have about women, whether they're looking to have children or avoid having children, whatever the way they're using the app. And you could market that data. And they were accused of it, but I think they did settle out of court. I think some kids.

[Edwina Dunn]

Yeah, I think they did have a bit of a wake up call on that and settled. But as you say, not.

[Evan Davis]

Not admitting liability to any kind of misdeed. This has got a real data theme, this program. It's extraordinary how it's all dated. Peter, tell us your nomination.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Well, data's sort of pretty important in my nomination too. I'm nominating Ricardo Mendes as Business Boss of the Year, who's the CEO of Takeiva, which has gone from being a tiny drone startup in Portugal to becoming a unicorn here in the UK in 2026. A unicorn, meaning it's worth more than a billion pounds. They say we are leading the future of AI driven autonomy across civil and defense missions. Actually what that means is for instance, surveillance in the Ukraine. Secondly, protecting maritime wildlife. Thirdly, tracking Canadian wildfire. So it has a civil application. It's part of a high tech defense cluster in Swindon and it's just announced plans to invest 400 million more in the UK and create up to a thousand jobs making drones or designing and making drones. But it does so in different countries in Portugal and France as well. And I was going to say, Evan, that if that's what our new Prime Minister has in mind when he talks about re industrialising Britain, in other words high tech clusters, then we might actually see some durable growth in the economy.

[Evan Davis]

Okay, any thoughts? Drones, very, very fashionable for a business award. Any thoughts on Takehiva and Ricardo Mendez?

[Nicola Hodgson]

We like a unicorn and I think it's fantastic to see that level of growth around the tech clusters. So yeah, I think as you say, I'm personally more in favour of things that save lives.

[Edwina Dunn]

Yeah, I mean my only concern would be that a company can be saving lives in one country today and then the investment, the technology then gets swapped to the other side later on and it's really hard to manage that on a global scale.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Is that an argument for not investing in defence though?

[Edwina Dunn]

Well, that would be naive. Not to invest. What I'm really saying is it's a tricky one, isn't it? Because you know, one day it can be brilliant and then the next day they're the enemy. And I suppose this is what citizens end up worrying about.

[Evan Davis]

It's not all defense though. As you were saying, no drone technology has civil unknown and these are drones

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

that they're more about surveillance.

[Evan Davis]

Now just to let you know, last year's winner of this category was Rolls Royce, which had had an absolutely stonking share price surge. We've had slightly less well known names than Rolls Royce nominated here. Other suggestions that have been made to me were Goal Hanger, which is the Gary Lineker associated company that makes podcasts, which has been listed as good. One of the fastest growing private companies in the Sunday Times ranking. So Goal Hanger, mate. Rest is politics, Rest is history. Rest is football, is extremely successful, enviably successful podcast producing company. And the other one was Wave. Wave is not to be confused with Waymo, which is the Google one. Wave is a self driving car software developer and it's actually really a very, very promising startup. Now I mean, come on, who should we give it to? I've named two. I'm very happy with your suggestions. All Great suggestions. Does anybody want to kind of come in and say what our consensus should be?

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

I'm going to do a reverse ferret. And back. Nicola. The most lives affected in a positive way.

[Evan Davis]

Massively important. Edwina, are you happy if we give it to you?

[Edwina Dunn]

I can see that it's legitimate. I can understand the vote. The trouble is women never win the vote or the funding and that's why only 2% of women startups get funding. Women don't get any testing in the medical field because there's too much concern about pregnancy. So a little bit disappointed if again, it goes to something for everyone versus something for 51% of the population.

[Evan Davis]

It's really hard, isn't it? Because I don't want to say let's award it it to the woman's one because it's nice to. I want it to go to the best one, really. Nicola, you've heard the case, you are a woman, so you are sensitive to these issues. Tell us which one you would like it to go to. I'll leave the choice to you.

[Nicola Hodgson]

I'm a big, big fan of women's health, but on the basis you're affecting 100% rather than 51, I'd go with Genomics.

[Evan Davis]

So our winner, best business is Genomics, the Oxford based genomics company. But with special acknowledgement to the flow app, Edwina. And to all of that.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

And honourable mention.

[Evan Davis]

Honourable mention as well to the. Yeah, actually, it could have gone any way actually on that discussion. But anyway, we can't spend too long on each category. Right, next one is Marketing moment or Marketing initiative of the year. And this time you start. Edwino, which do you suggest?

[Edwina Dunn]

I thought really hard about this. There have been some fantastic adverts, but the one that stuck in my memory was a very simple one from Cadbury's, where they were supporting Alzheimer's. And it's a scene where a daughter brings her father a bar of chocolate. It's a very simple move. It's laid there with no words, nothing. And then what pops into his memory is that he's had this before and that the funny thing is that no one's ever really understood that he doesn't like nuts, but his daughter bought him one with nuts every year. It's very gentle. The reason I like it is not just that Alzheimer's is such a terrible and crippling disease, but because we also have a loneliness epidemic at the moment. And I love the way the sad advert identifies a simple way that people can reach out to someone else and it doesn't have to be words. It can just be a gesture as simple as a bar of chocolate.

[Evan Davis]

Okay, so, very nice ad. There's been some debate in the Bottom Line office about whether it's in date because I think it might have actually originated more than a year ago. We're not picky about these things because we don't have rules.

[Edwina Dunn]

Oh dear.

[Evan Davis]

We just make the rules up as we go along, so it doesn't matter. But we will bear in mind that it might be slightly out of business.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Well, we can vote for marketing moment of last year.

[Evan Davis]

I should say the marketing moment of last year actually went to Gregg's and it was for a waxwork sausage roll, which was felt to be a very good marketing moment. Peter, what's your nomination this time?

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

I'm nominating the high street retailer Currys for the marketing moment of the year. And it's their TV ad campaign which they broadly called Beyond Tech Spectations. It's a series of humorous and surreal ads about their in store staff knowing their onions well. And this particular version, which is recent, is called Back in the Game and it had their customers literally glued to widescreen TVs in their quest to enjoy the World cup with medical attention on hand to try and solve the problem. And lest I should find myself not nominating something with any social aspect as you wisely have, Edwina, I want to fight back here because earlier in their same campaign of Beyond Tech Spectations, they won an action award for something called Sigh of Relief featuring deaf and partially sighted customers. And the agency, by the way, is AMV bbdo. Now why do I like it? It's funny, it's human. It's a great brand builder about service. It bucks the conventional wisdom that high street shops are in great difficulty. Actually, Curry's share price has trebled since 2024 and it's been a great success for their up until very recently. Their CEO, Alex Baldock, who's just stepped down to go and run Boots, where I hope he can bring some of his Jo of Evre to that highly functional retail experience.

[Evan Davis]

I have to say the ad, the particular one I watched from that campaign, which was essentially customers paralyzed by the choice in the shop and the Curry's emergency services go and help them specify what TV they need, is an extremely good ad. Do either of you remember it at all? Do you? No. No. It's amazing how these days it's very possible for some really great campaign to pass half the population by. It is unlike of yore.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

It's also promulgated online and on social media as well as tv.

[Evan Davis]

Nicola, what's your nomination? Marketing moment of the year.

[Nicola Hodgson]

I picked the KitKat heist and I don't know if any of you saw that, but thieves stole more than 400,000 KitKats.

[Evan Davis]

They really did steal them.

[Nicola Hodgson]

They did steal them. And the KitKats were on the way between Italy and Poland and instead of playing defensively with it, Nestle played along. And so they made a joke that the thieves have taken the tagline rather too seriously and made a break for it. And they launched a stolen KitKat tracker, engaging consumers and letting anyone check the veracity of their KitKat.

[Evan Davis]

Bought a KitKat, you could look up the batch number and see if it was on. You could look it up.

[Nicola Hodgson]

And then they even staged fake security escorts for KitKat trucks in Toronto. The result was fantastic. 2.2 million tracker engagements, jumping daily views from 1 to 29 million. And then lots of copycat rig from other brands like kfc, Ryanair and Domino's. So it sweeped the board at the Cannes Lions Awards, including a PR Grand Prix. And I really, really like it because it's just bringing humor to an actual crime.

[Evan Davis]

Personally, I think we've got a winner, but I mean, do either the other two of you? It seems to me that really is the most brilliant market.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

May I just ask a question? Do we have any data or do we know whether it actually worked as an ad? Because what I am arguing is that the Curry's ad is really worked. The company has really driven in store service and trebled their share price. Did it sell more KitKats?

[Nicola Hodgson]

Gosh, you know, I didn't check that. Well, it's a very good point because,

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

you know, it's very easy to be taken in by the entertainment value, which is clearly very high and creative, but they've got to work.

[Evan Davis]

Yeah. Who are we going to give the award to? I mean, it's a very good one, the KitKat one. They knock some Kit Kats.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

You're very taking him by glitter, aren't you?

[Evan Davis]

It was just very, very clever making something out of her. I think we can rule Edwina's sorry set. I think probably it's gonna be between Currys and KitKats, but because I'm ruling yours out on the date point, I think you should choose between curries and KitKat. And I'm gonna go with whatever you choose.

[Edwina Dunn]

Oh, dear. Do you know, I mean, from enjoyment and impact, KitKat. But Peter's right, advertising is there to recover Retailers, brands that are struggling and reinvent them. That sounds incredibly clever. And if it really had that sales impact, that is not small, that is a massive saving for a struggling high street. So I am torn because my sort of logic goes, peter.

[Evan Davis]

Well, let's go, Peter.

[Edwina Dunn]

Yeah.

[Evan Davis]

Do you know, let's call Curry's the Marketing Winner of the Year. I'm so grateful and it was a very nice campaign. Now, look, we come to Disaster of the Year. This is an important category where we can talk about things that have gone wrong. Last year's winner, just for you to know, Thames Water, and I think everyone can see that was a worthy winner. Let us hear nominations for Disaster of the Year and it's your turn to start, isn't it, Peter? Come on, then. Disaster of the Year.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

I'm nominating Brewdog, the Scottish brewer, which at its peak was worth between 1 and 2 billion. And it went into administration this spring and was sold for 33 million. 220,000. Investors, many of whom had been recruited via crowdfunding, were wiped out. It took on far too much debt. It got way beyond itself. There were reports of a toxic workplace, plus reputational damage when they stopped paying the living wage and they project themselves as a very modern employer. And then simply the craft beer market itself became saturated, which they'd made so many strides in. Listen, I think all of this is a great pity. Can I just say, craft beers are fantastic. The former CEO, James Watt, they pioneered 0.5% no alcohol beers. They call it Punk Ale. I've got some in my fridge at this very moment, which was a technological breakthrough because you can enjoy beer, a hangover. And Pankale's actually got eight hops in it amongst them Cascade Citra, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvan. And, you know, so they had a lovely product and I'm rather sad about it.

[Evan Davis]

It was a disaster story and it has been a disaster, because when we talk about disasters, we do have to give the companies, if you like, a right of reply. Just in terms of that toxic workplace accusation. James Watt, who you mentioned did acknowledge some failings and apologize, but denied claims of any inappropriate behavior or abus power that had been documented in a BBC investigation. It became a household name and it has spectacularly gone wrong there. So it's certainly a worthy nomination. Nicola, what's your nomination?

[Nicola Hodgson]

So I'm nominating the Louvre in October

[Evan Davis]

last year, the Louvre in France. Paris.

[Nicola Hodgson]

The Louvre, Paris. And in October last year, there was a heist in which Thebes stole somewhere in the region of 100 million euros in crown jewels. The whole thing took around seven minutes. Very impressively done with only a stolen mechanical lift and a balcony. If you add to that a resigning director, a berth pipe near the Mona Lisa, staff walkouts and a separate ticket fraud scandal, then for me, I think that delivers an outstanding nomination.

[Evan Davis]

Has been a very bad year for the Louvre and that heist. It was pretty well daytime, certainly questions asked, you know, at all levels of French society about what had gone wrong at the Louvre. Yeah, a sad one. Edwina, what are you going to nominate for this category?

[Edwina Dunn]

So I am going to nominate the l' Oreal Urban Decay campaign, which was headed up by US influencer Ari Kitzia. She's an only fans creator and I think the technical term is she's a mattress actress.

[Evan Davis]

And so, yes, indeed, when they connected with her, did they know she had that sideline or.

[Edwina Dunn]

It's hard to imagine they didn't. What they knew was that she had so many followers and of course many young ones.

[Evan Davis]

So she was an influencer with a side, if you like, another job on Onlyfans. So they weren't going to her for the OnlyFans, they were going to her for her normal makeup tips and such like that.

[Edwina Dunn]

Exactly. But part of her influence was that wider ecosystem. So there she is, highly influential, clearly very attractive young lady, and she's speaking to young girls about the need for skin care and makeup.

[Evan Davis]

What goes wrong here or what happens as a result of that.

[Edwina Dunn]

In this case, there's a big backlash because there is enough worry about what youth is doing on social media. And suddenly this brings to the fore a global respected brand with a very strong, clear customer charter about being good for society and putting forward the science and all of those things. And suddenly they kind of push that all to the side, go on this rather sort of clumsy campaign. And then their defense is that our brands have diverse ranges of talent who represent many facets of creative expression.

[Evan Davis]

Yeah. So it was Urban Decay, the brand partner with Aria Kitzia, and they said her authentic style and distinctive artistry with makeup aligned with the brand's commitment to diverse creative talent. Anyway, certainly eyebrows raised at a connection with someone who's also making quite a bit of money on the only fans and against the kind of corporate principles as well. That's a not bad selection of business.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

I'm rather.

[Evan Davis]

I actually wanted to nominate a different one and I think mine's better than yours, so. But you're the judges, I'm just the casting boat. So mine is TG Jones. Now, this really Comes out of WH Smith, is split in two. Half is sold and to be put under a new name. The half that remains are at airport stations. WH Smith and the High street one. Different ownership, different name. And they chose a name and a blue fascia that rather resembled W.H. smith, but was T.G. jones. And it hasn't worked. And they've had to be restructured just in the last month or two. And I don't think anybody knows what TG Jones is, other than it looks like a rather corny pastiche of W.H. smith and it hasn't worked. A really interesting case of trying to do something but destroying value in the process. Let's add mine to the conversation. You go, come on, who should win this one? I like the Louvre story, Nicola, but I actually, it's a French public sector organization, so let's not make it the Louvre. It's not businessy enough. Let's take it down to those other three. TG Jones, Brewdog and Laureals.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

I guess what I'm looking for is a total meltdown and I think Brewdog is one, but to be fair, Evan, I think TG Jones is another. And why on earth they bought everybody new with WH Smith, that their successful retail outlets were the ones in airports that had very high footfall and good margins and everything else and they couldn't get the High street to work. And TG Jones bought the bit that didn't work. Now, I don't know what they thought. I don't know what they thought.

[Evan Davis]

They probably paid a price for it, which they thought they could.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Yeah, but it was just in a downward spiral. I mean, what is the shop for?

[Edwina Dunn]

What does it sell?

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

But we don't buy newspapers anymore.

[Evan Davis]

No problem.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Sells a meal deal at lunchtime, you know, with a sandwich and a packet of crispy.

[Evan Davis]

The question what does it sell? Actually is often asked of W.H. smith as well.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

But you make impulse purchases at the airport and they do quite well there and they sell bits of electronics and other stuff. You know, it just works the format railway station. So I am very torn between the two. I wonder what my colleagues.

[Evan Davis]

Yeah, let's say it's between those two.

[Nicola Hodgson]

I could go with TG Jones on the basis that we all sit around this table and none of us are aware of the rebrand. I'm sure we pass them every day. So I quite like that. It's High Street.

[Evan Davis]

Come on, Edwina, you get well, final choice. I'm going to go where you go, Edwina?

[Edwina Dunn]

Well, I was going to add that I went to the Louvre last year and I walked into security and a rat ran over my foot. So.

[Evan Davis]

A rat ran over your foot.

[Edwina Dunn]

That scarred me for quite a while.

[Evan Davis]

Definitely an honorary mention for the Louvre.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

Okay.

[Evan Davis]

I'm only trying not to make it the Louvre because it isn't really a British business and it's just nice to make it a bit more businessy. But definitely, definitely that wins.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

Rodent disaster. Absolutely.

[Edwina Dunn]

I mean, it was a disaster for me. Ice cream, which everyone found very funny and was not good for my reputation. But there you go.

[Evan Davis]

Who should we give it to though, between TG Jones and BrewDog? I mean, they are both worthy winners actually.

[Edwina Dunn]

Yeah, it's a really difficult one, I think. Let's go with Brewdog.

[Evan Davis]

Do you know, I think we should go with Brewdog. I think it was worth discussing TG Jones, but BrewDog will go with Brewdog, Peter. I think so.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

On account of the eight hops in their punk ale.

[Evan Davis]

A great product and a great brand that has managed to go adrift. So our winners are the disaster of the year, Brewdog. Our marketing moment of the year is curries and our business of the year is genomics. Worthy winners all, I think it's fair to say. Judges, thank you so much for the work you put in, the thinking you've done and the nominations you've made. We'll leave it there. Thanks then to Nicola Hodson, Deputy president of Tech uk, Peter Bazalgette, former chair of itv, Edwina Dunn, co founder of Dunn Humby, and thank you all for listening. The podcast was produced by Nick Holland and Sally Abrahams. It was presented by me, Evan Davies and is a BBC long form audio production for Radio 4. Do leave a review or a comment if your podcast provider allows it. It helps others find out about the show. We do always welcome feedback, so email us with your own comments. Bottomlinebc.co.uk. christmas 1988.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

A plane takes off from Heathrow Airport. 38 minutes later, everyone on board is dead. A Libyan man, Abdul Basa Al Megrahi, is convicted of murdering 270 people. But that's not the end of the story.

[Evan Davis]

Almost four decades on fresh evidence and a new trial. I'm Miles Bonner.

[Sir Peter Bazalgette]

In this podcast I'm delving into a world of extremist groups, mysterious intelligence agents and global Politics. From Radio 4, this is Intrigue Lockerbay.

[Evan Davis]

Listen first on BBC Sounds.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

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