Alistair Campbell may not be everybody's favourite media personality, but he managed to sweet-talk his way into the affections of Dublin's advertising community last night.

Tony Blair's former spin doctor told nominees at the Advertising Effectiveness (AdFx) awards that "some of the best people" he had worked with in his political life had been advertisers. "You only need to look at the eye-watering spend in the US elections to know that advertising really matters in campaigns," he observed. "Part of the answer for the economic recovery is going to come from the creative industries, and advertising is at the heart of that."

The happiest faces in the Mansion House last night included those behind campaigns for Supervalu, Cadbury, the ISPCC and the HSE. The agency DDFHB was awarded the Grand Prix for its work on the "Say Hello to the new Supervalu Range" campaign. Other winners included Ogilvy Dublin, Cawley Nea\TBWA, Target McConnell, Owens DBB and Publicis Dublin.

Tania Banotti, chief executive of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI), which organised the biennial awards, said all of the shortlisted campaigns reflected the creative strength of the Irish industry.The €300 million Irish advertising sector directly employs 4,500 people.