We are very proud to announce that LG won two awards last week at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards ceremony in London, UK. LG won Manufacturer of the Year as well as the new Chocolate BL40 being crowned Most Stylish Phone.

2009 has been a pivotal year for mobile phones with customers wanting, more than ever before, handsets that fit in with their lifestyle. With many manufacturers battling for a slice of the pie, the competition has been fiercer than ever before. Handsets now pack more firepower than previously possible and manufacturers are desperately trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

This environment nicely set up this year’s Mobile Choice Consumer Awards where the judges had the difficult task of choosing the winners of their various categories. Mobile Choice magazine is the number 1 mobile magazine in the UK with over 20,000 copies distributed every month to its avid readers. The magazine has been reviewing the latest mobile phones and accessories for over 10 years and has been praised for its independent, expert and unbiased advice when choosing a mobile phone.

Every year, Mobile Choice host their awards ceremony in London where the phones and services that have made their year battle it out for the chance to win one of their prestigious awards. This year has been so massive in terms of mobile phones that the magazine even decided to add three new awards to their line-up! The awards are largely judged by the Mobile Choice team, though some represent the votes of the readers both of the magazine and online. The awards are also judged by a panel that includes some of the UK’s most influential and knowledgeable technology journalists.

The awards ceremony gathers the key figures from leading manufacturers, operators and service providers in the mobile industry. The awards are seen, in the UK, as the main consumer awards within the mobile industry and therefore everyone is keen to get their hands on one of these trophies. These awards add unparalleled credibility to the phones and are recognised by customers and consumers alike.

This year LG won an incredible two awards at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards with the ‘Most stylish phone’ for the new Chocolate BL40 and the much sought-after ‘Manufacturer of the Year’.

LG is no stranger to stylish accolades, having picked up the previous three Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, and the fourth addition to LG’s fashionable Black Label Series range, the new Chocolate BL40 follows in the footsteps of the LG Secret and Shine. This year’s ‘most stylish phone’ is unconventionally tall, the handset is svelte, and its display has over the 16 million colours and a 345x800 pixel count which the judging panel proved to be “the most vibrant [they’ve] seen. Despite facing some tough competition, the LG New Chocolate BL40 is a worthy winner of Most Stylish Phone 2009. It’s almost good enough to eat”.

The most prestigious award of the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards is undoubtedly the ‘Manufacturer of The Year’ award, so when LG was named as the worthy winner, it was definitely the highlight of the night. According to the judges “LG has been up and coming for at least two years and in 2009 it has reached the top”.

The main reasons LG won this top-award is due to the fact that their devices hit every segment from entry-level to fashion-forward, high-meg camera phones to multimedia monsters. But it’s not just LG’s mainstream appeal that won: it’s also the innovation in products such as the Watch Phone and the recent new Chocolate BL40 that made it stand out as the most complete mobile manufacturer out there.

What really made LG stand out this year compared to other manufacturers is also its unique marketing strategy targeting a broader audience. The LG Buzz has been a key tool to show staff in stores how to sell our products to potential customers and making sure that retailers make the most of the support our training team gives them.

LG has equally been the first manufacturer to openly target 16 to 24 year olds with clever advertising and strategic sponsorship. For example, the Channel 4 sponsorship has ensured growing relationships with the 16-24 year olds by creating 15, 5 and 10 second creative ads on either side of the commercial break during key US and UK programming such as One Tree Hill, the Inbetweeners or Scrubs.  Both of these initiatives are two of many that LG’s innovative UK marketing team put together over the last year and the ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award would not have been a possible without their key activities targeting customers.

 “We are absolutely delighted with both of these awards, especially considering the stiff competition LG was up against. The award for handset manufacturer of the year demonstrates our commitment to constant innovation in both technology and design. As the everyday needs of mobile users continue to evolve year on year, it is fantastic to have our achievements in developing social networking, imaging, multimedia and design focused handsets recognised” says Jeremy Newing, head of marketing, LG Mobile UK and Ireland.

“The award for the LG Chocolate BL40 is testament to our targeted PR campaign which focused on the iconic heritage of the Black Label Series. By strengthening existing, and building new, relationships with key design influencers, we positioned the LG Chocolate BL40 as a true landmark in design and innovation.”