The Gala event was hosted by Edinburgh Comedy Award winner, Russell Kane. Roxy Velvet entranced the audience with her aerial burlesque performance; and musician Alex Winston entertained the crowd into the night with her bedazzling, other-worldly vocals.
Tim Faircliff (pictured), Chairman of the Association of Online Publishers and General Manager, Consumer Media, Thomson Reuters says, “We’ve had an amazing night here at the Roundhouse, with a full-house of publishers, agencies, suppliers at our largest event to date - it is a fitting tribute to our celebrating the first decade of the AOP Awards. Our aim is to bring our members together, and I’m proud that the event continues to be a showcase for innovation in the digital publishing industry.”
To mark the AOP Awards’ 10th year anniversary, a new overall prize, awarded by the judges, was introduced. This year Future Digital was awarded the AOP Grand Prix. Future Digital also won Digital Publisher - Consumer category.
Telegraph Media Group was the most-awarded publisher with four accolades: with the award for Innovation for its “How Should I Vote?” application; also Digital Advertising Sales Team. And TMG also picked up the award for Ad Operations Team in association with AdMonsters – a new category introduced this year. Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor of Telegraph Media Group beat off stiff competition from 12 other shortlisted nominees to win Digital Editorial Individual category.
Dennis Publishing picked up two awards for Commercial Partnership for Dennis Lifestyle Division & Tron and Video On Demand category with Dennis Publishing Film Unit.
Global Radio also snapped up two awards for Use of Mobile for Global Radio Android Apps in association with Sony Ericsson; together with Cross-Media Project for “Mini but Mighty” with Sony Ericsson.
Haymarket Business Media was awarded Digital Publisher – Business; and Haymarket Consumer Media won the second new category introduced this year: Product Team for Autosport.com.
In the popular categories of Website, Centaur Media was awarded for Marketing Week under Website – Business; with Associated Newspapers picking up Website – Consumer for Mail Online. While for Editorial Teams,
IPC Media received Editorial Team – Consumer for Goodtoknow.co.uk and UBM Medica was awarded Editorial Team Business for Chemist+Druggist;
News International was awarded in Launch category with The Times & Sunday Times Digital Subscription Product;
ITV’s “Got the Cross-Platform Factor!” won Research & Insight Project;
Admeld received Ad Technology Platform award;
Magicalia won Independent Publisher for the second year running.
The judges Highly Commended the following companies/entries:
Launch – Red Online/Hachette Fillipacchi
Video on Demand – IPC Video/IPC Media
Website Consumer – Techradar.com/Future Publishing & CNET.co.uk/CBS Interactive
Ad Operations Team, in association with AdMonsters – Guardian News & Media
Website Business – Farmers Guardian
Editorial Individual – Patrick Smith, Editor & Chief Analyst, TheMediaBriefing.com
Cross Media Project – Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference & Telegraph Create/Telegraph Media Group.
FULL LIST OF ALL 19 CATEGORY WINNERS of AOP Digital Awards 2011
GRAND PRIX - Future Publishing
To mark AOP's 10th year anniversary, a new overall prize was awarded by the judges additionally to a winning entry.
Judges’ Comments: "Future Publishing has had an outstanding year in digital, significantly shifting the dial across all their sites and assets. They set a great example to other companies that you don't need mega budgets to transform your business, just an entrepreneurial and consistent attitude to new media across the organisation."
Launch
Winner: The Times & Sunday Times Digital Subscription Product - News International
With its stated aim to ‘charge a fair price for quality journalism’, this launch brought together the best creative brains of NI’s business to find ways to show off its content in innovative new digital products. The impact of NI’s move to charging for online content is still being felt across the industry – might the launch of the Times & Sunday Times Digital Subscription Product prove pivotal to the future of online publishing and journalism?
Judges’ comments: “A gutsy move, uniting the whole company together in a single vision, resulting in a beautiful end product.”
Editorial Team - Business
Winner: Chemist+Druggist – UBM Medica
C+D’s seven-strong editorial team has taken a 152-year-old news weekly for pharmacists and turned it into an award-winning, multi-platform B2B brand at the heart of its industry. The result is a case study of how an editorial team can adapt to the challenges of 21st century publishing.
Judges’ Comments: “Chemist & Druggist's editorial team's passion for their subject shines through. They've taken a dusty print product and made it vibrant and relevant in the digital age.”
Editorial Team - Consumer
Winner: goodtoknow.co.uk – IPC Media
Goodtoknow.co.uk editorial is a small team working across six content channels to produce up to the minute articles, galleries and video all in Goodtoknow’s mass-market mum friendly tone, with a sharp eye for best practice SEO and user experience. 2010 was the year goodtoknow.co.uk launched a magazine off the back of the website to create Goodtoknow Recipes – a monthly food title.
Judges’ Comments: “This team has taken a unique, content-driven approach to targeting a mass demographic. With a strong reader understanding, they have leveraged existing content and built on it. Judges were impressed by the team's spinning a print magazine out of an online product and the variety of revenue opportunities explored.”
Research & Insight Project
Winner: ITV’s “Got The Cross-Platform Factor!” - ITV
A research project to address ITV’s principal business challenge - how to win a bigger share of consumers’ finite media time profitably in a multi-platform world. Its approach blended qualitative and proprietary quantitative research with syndicated data along with continuous collaboration and dialogue between client and agency. .
Judges’ Comments: “Insight and process methodology that is being extended across other ITV brands and new product development. A compelling mix of innovative research approaches.”
Commercial Partnership
Winner: Dennis Lifestyle Division & Tron – Dennis Publishing
This partnership brought together a bespoke TRON interface with Daft Punk backing soundtrack, a 3D video introduction and a stand-alone TRON magazine iPad App available to download through the iTunes App Store. Throughout the campaign, readers were never more than one click away from booking tickets to see the TRON: Legacy, entering an exclusive competition or buying the video game TRON: Evolution.
Judges’ Comments: “Over-delivered on its brief, with highly effective cross-platform results, and leading to an ongoing partnership.”
Digital Advertising Operations Team – in association with AdMonsters
Winner – Telegraph Media Group
The Telegraph Ad Operations team had an outstanding year, leveraging a strong partnership with digital sales to achieve record annual revenue. With a passion for the industry and the Telegraph brand, underpinned by its ‘commitment to delivery’ strategy focusing on client service and innovation, the team’s performance was acknowledged in the latest IPA survey (September 2010), overtaking previously strong competitors in key ad operation areas.
Judges’ Comments: “TMG ad operations stood out among the other teams with a commitment to innovation, collaboration with sales, impressive execution metrics and embracing new technologies”
Product Team
Winner: Autosport.com - Haymarket Business Media
In 2010 Autosport.com cemented its status as the UK’s leading motorsport website with its best ever year online. It grew its audience, introduced a suite of new products and transformed its profitability. Its small product team is making big strides in micropayments, charging for content and launching commercially successful new products and apps.
Judges’ Comments: “It's clear that the Autosport.com product team are passionate about their brand and this is reflected across all platforms. The team contributed excellent monetisation ideas, with a committed approach to design and audience engagement, producing phenomenal results. A great example of joined-up thinking.”
Innovation
Winner: How Should I Vote? Application - Telegraph Media Group
The Telegraph made electoral history in 2010 with 'How Should I Vote', an application which aligned voters with the parties whose policies they were closest to. Acclaimed as an election triumph and the best designed, most user-friendly and most authoritative quiz of its kind, 'How Should I Vote' educated and entertained more than a million users on the Telegraph site and Facebook.
Judges’ Comments: “A great creative idea, well executed, and massively popular, resulting in the most successful ever ‘article’ in the Telegraph's online history.”
Cross-Media Project
Winner: Mini but mighty with Sony Ericsson – Global Radio
Believability in Sony Ericsson being a credible app provider and viability of the Xperia X10mini handset to deliver these apps were both key to this project. Capital FM and Xfm presenters - alongside Global Radio talent - introduced audiences to the apps and the handset itself though a series of vodcasts on each station’s website, with the campaign culminating in an unique ‘mini’ live event with a ‘mighty’ band performing in a secret location, with clues to the location given out exclusively via the app to encourage not just download but actual use..
Judges’ Comments: “Telling a compelling story, through a wide variety of touch points, this project used technology amazingly well with a small team over a short lead time.”
Video on Demand
Winner: Dennis Publishing Film Unit – Dennis Publishing
From video-based creative solutions for major advertisers to contract video for blue chip companies leading to licensing deals, to record video views, and innovation in advertising, 2010 was a year of exceptional results for Dennis Publishing's Film Unit..
Judges’ Comments: “Innovative, made money and looks like they had fun doing it!”
Digital Advertising Sales Team
Winner: Telegraph Media Group Digital – Telegraph Media Group
Clients praise the TMG Digital Sales Team for their multiple touch point proposals, an approach centred around how brands can engage with Telegraph users, for leading the way with video and social media, for being quick to respond, and for knowing how their other channels work together to maximise their offering and deliver innovative solutions.
Judges’ Comments: “The judges were impressed with the TMG Digital Ad Sales Team's strong revenue performance, coupled with innovation in many areas, ringing client endorsements and effective integration with operations.”
Use of Mobile
Winner: Global Radio Android Apps in association with Sony Ericcson – Global Radio
To encourage not just downloads of the new station apps but use of them, clues to the location of a ‘Mini but Mighty’ secret gig with Scouting for Girls were given out exclusively via the App. As Sony Ericsson sponsored content, this enabled Sony Ericsson branding – and promotion for their handsets – to be delivered across not only their handsets but also those of competitor brands.
Judges Comments: “Well executed campaign that delivered for listeners and the client. Very creative execution that clearly engaged a global radio audience.”
Digital Editorial Individual
Winner: Emma Barnet, Digital Media Editor, Telegraph Media Group
Emma has made The Telegraph’s Technology channel a must-read destination for breaking news, and has helped shift coverage from feature-led to breaking news-led, ensuring the beat became a priority for the newsroom. Through her efforts, The Telegraph has shifted from being known as a leader at implementing technology, to an editorial authority on the topic.
Judges Comments: “Emma has achieved high profile in the sector, delivering strong growth for the Telegraph Tech brand in both readership and commercial terms in a highly competitive market.”
Editorial Individual - Shortlist:
Carla Bevan, Editor-in-Chief, Aol
Patrick Smith, Editor & Chief Analyst, TheMediaBriefing.com
Nick Heath, Chief Reporter, Silicon.com - CBS Interactive
Rachel Purkett, Group Online Editor, Nursing Times/HSJ - Emap
Andrew Sparrow, Senior Political Correspondent, guardian.co.uk - Guardian News & Media
Mango Saul, Editor, Sugarscape.com - Hachette Filipacchi
Jolene Akehurst, Editor, Goodtoknow - IPC Media
Lucy Hutchings, Online Deputy Editor, Marie Claire - IPC Media
Tom Whitwell, Editorial Director, Times Digital - News International
Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director, Telegraph Media Group
Cliff Jones, Editor, TrustedReviews - IPC Media
Jack Davies, Head of Digital Content, Farmers Guardian - UBM
Ad Technology Platform
Winner: Admeld Sell Side Platform
With a service based on the key principles of intelligence, transparency, control and service, Admeld's sell-side platform significantly increased its client base in 2010, boosting its analytics offering and partnering with major publishers on their first forays into the world of real-time bidding.
Judges Comments: “A growing business that is benefiting its UK customers. With strong testimonials from AOP members, they have clearly demonstrated the innovation of the product.”
Website - Business
Winner: Marketing Week – Centaur Media
Setting ambitious targets in the judging year, Marketing Week has invested in its products and staff to stunning effect, building a specialist web production team employed to work on optimising the site’s user experience and all content, whether web-first or from print..
Judges’ Comments: “The Marketing Week website stands out for its rich and broad-ranging content, clear navigation and design. Doubled its audience during difficult times.”
Website - Consumer
Winner: Mail Online – Associated Newspapers
A commercially viable newspaper: aggressively growing on a global basis, competing with pure online businesses and ensuring its vibrant future. In the judging year, Mail Online also broke into the premium brand advertising market. Critics point to a heavy SEO focus and 'drive-by' traffic, but Mail Online's user engagement levels, both on the web and now its app, tell a very different story..
Judges Comments: “They have proven that an open, no-pay wall model can be a success online and their high traffic figures are the result of their innovative content strategy and usability in an extremely competitive category.”
Independent Digital Publisher
Winner: Magicalia Digital Publishing
Magicalia aims to be the UK’s most exciting specialist consumer digital publisher and B2B platform provider through the creation of highly engaging and interactive special interest websites, tightly integrated with its ecommerce platform. The company's key focus in 2010 was to develop its technology platform, launch new products and develop content and commercial strategies to facilitate audience growth and advertising revenues.
Judges’ Comments: “Magicalia have built on last year's success with bold investment in their portfolio of quality sites. Premium editorial, combined with swift, well-integrated commercials has paid off with impressive revenue growth against a backdrop of a very challenging market - a class outfit.”
Digital Publisher - Business
Winner: Haymarket Business Media
Haymarket Business Media has continued to grow the diversity and scale of its digital business, remaining committed to innovation and producing high-quality products for professionals. 2010 saw a dramatic shift in focus from commodity products to socially connected brands with high-value, high response, multi-dimensional, engaging content.
Judges’ Comments: “A B2B business doing great things with an effective, long-term engagement strategy.”
Digital Publisher - Consumer
Winner: Future Publishing
In the judging year, Future delivered a new online title which became the leader in its sector in seven months and a multitude of apps, launching quickly and learning a great deal in the process. It also brought impressive commercial results and innovation, from both advertising and affiliate sources. In essence, Future has galvanised an entire company to focus on innovation and speed while not forgetting the basics - underpinning it all with service.
Judges’ Comments: “The judges were impressed with the 'launch and learn' approach of launching quickly and inexpensively. Success across readership, revenues, new launches, marketplace positioning, social media, engagement and customer service show a solid strategic approach across the company.”
