30 INMA Award winners unveiled, VG campaign takes top prize
INMA News Blog | 13 May 2014
Thirty of the world’s best news media sales and marketing initiatives were rewarded Tuesday, May 13, by the International News Media Association (INMA), punctuated by Norway’s VG taking home the coveted “Best In Show.”
The INMA Awards were presented at the concluding dinner of the 84th Annual INMA World Congress at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco before nearly 300 media executives.
Highlights from the evening:
- Best In Show: The coveted “Best in Show” award, signifying the best campaign in the INMA Awards 2014 competition, went to Schibsted’s VG for its “VG Chess World Championship 2013.”
Second place went to the South China Morning Post for “Celebrating Hong Kong,” while third place was presented to the London Evening Standard for “Ladder for London.”
- Multi-winners: Six companies won two first-place awards: Aftenposten, Dainik Jagran, mX, The New York Times, South China Morning Post, and VG.
Founded in 1935, the INMA Awards competition is the news media industry’s premier barometer for marketing and sales excellence designed to grow audience, revenue, and brand across platforms.
Overall, 30 first place awards in 15 categories across two audience groups were presented to 24 media companies. The competition garnered 560 entries from 149 market-leading news media companies in 37 countries.
Best in Show
The VG initiative that won “Best in Show” sought to build awareness for Norway's little-known chess prodigy, Magnus Carlsson, who was taking part in the World Chess Championships in India and whom VG was sponsoring. The challenge was to create buzz among the general public and get them to follow the progress of the championships on VG.
Yet how could VG achieve this when the company didn’t have the broadcast rights? The solution was to create “Chess For the People,” which saw the launch of a new digital service, VG Direct. A mixture of humourous and expert commentaries were streamed live on VG Direct, and dialogue with the audience was created via social media.
Six out of 10 Norwegians tuned in to VG Direct to follow the Chess Championships, which was more than the national broadcaster achieved.
Judges called the VG Chess World Championship 2013 campaign a “true cross-media and innovative effort,” a “reference model of multi-media campaigns,” an example of how to make “minor” events “transcend,” and an “inspiring” initiative that “got the average Joe interested.”
Second place for “Best in Show” was presented to the South China Morning Post for “Celebrating Hong Kong,” a campaign that celebrated the company’s 110th anniversary with a hugely ambitious brand awareness campaign that celebrated everything for which Hong Kong residents should be proud.
Third place for “Best in Show” went to the London Evening Standard for “Ladder for London,” a campaign that not only set out to raise awareness of youth unemployment and social engagement, but to take action and help prepare non-graduates for apprenticeships as well as encourage businesses to offer apprenticeships.
About this year’s entries
“The winning entries this year clearly show that this isn’t your father's newspaper or magazine anymore,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of INMA. “The common theme was engagement on new platforms and developing a relationship with consumers across multiple platforms. For advertisers, there are so many more audience and platforms options, and challenge for media companies is syncing needs with options. The creativity was fantastic.”
The INMA Awards 2014 competition was judged by an international panel of 28 executives in the media and advertising communities from 13 countries: Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. Judging was based on concept, creativity, copy, design, production, effectiveness, and results.
About INMA
The International News Media Association (INMA) is the leading provider of global best practices to grow revenue, audience, and brand for news media companies. With nearly 7,000 members in 80+ countries, INMA provides media executives with unparalleled access to ideas and peers to help grow their business in transformational times. Headquartered in Dallas, INMA has offices in Antwerp, New Delhi, San Salvador, and São Paulo.
INMA Awards 2014 First Place Recipients
Editor’s Note: Group 1 below is regional/local publications under 300,000 print circulation or with an online audience of under 3 million unique visitors per month. Group 2 is regional/local publications over 300,000 print circulation or with an online audience of more than 3 million unique visitors per month and national/international publications of all sizes. Click on the entry name to view the campaign itself.
Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign Across Platforms
Group 1
- First Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, “Celebrating Hong Kong”
- Second Place: The Tennessean, Nashville, United States, “TN Media Rebrand and Launch”
- Third Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, “Política Cidadã - Take On Your Power”
Group 2
- First Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, “Helsin”
- Second Place: Chicago Tribune, United States, “Digital Experiential Program”
- Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, “Unmetro Your Mind”
Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign
Group 1
- First Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway,“How Aftenposten With Partners Increased Young People's Electoral Participation”
- Second Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, “Celebrating Hong Kong”
- Third Place: Calgary Herald, Canada, “The Flood of 2013: A Community Service Campaign”
Group 2
- First Place: London Evening Standard, United Kingdom, “Ladder for London”
- Second Place: The Times of India, New Delhi, India, “I Lead India - Organ Donation Day”
- Third Place: The Straits Times, Singapore, “48 Values From the News”
Category 3: Best Use of an Event to Build News Brand
Group 1
- First Place: Gazeta Sporturilor, Bucharest, Romania,“Where's the Money from Bute Gala?”
- Second Place: Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria, “Spot 'General Election'”
- Third Place: The Windsor Star, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, “The Transformation of a Lifetime”
Group 2
- First Place: Navbharat Times, New Delhi, India,“All Women Bike Rally”
- Second Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, “Chess World Championship 2013”
- Third Place: De Telegraaf, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, “The Apple of Orange”
Category 4: Best New Print Product
Group 1
- First Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China,“Style: The New Voice of Avant-Garde Asia”
- Second Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, “Bom Gourmet”
- Third Place: Diario do Para, Belém, Brazil, “World Cup Mini Stadiums”
Group 2
- First Place: La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina,“Suplemento Sábado”
- Second Place: The Times of India, Mumbai, India, “Wedding Times”
- Third Place: Metro, Warsaw, Poland, “Metro on High Heels: Free Magazine for Women”
Category 5: Best New Mobile App or Website
Group 1
- First Place: mX, Sydney/Melbourne, Australia,“mX Smartphone App”
- Second Place: The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Canada, “The Chronicle Herald iOS 7 App Launch”
- Third Place: La Presse, Montréal, Canada, “La Presse+ Free Subscription Digital Edition for iPad”
Group 2
- First Place: The New York Times, United States, “Today's Paper Web App”
- Second Place: Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, “Tipsa!”
- Third Place: VG, Oslo, Norway “VG+ 2.0”
Category 6: Best New Mobile Service
Group 1
- First Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Canada, “Blippar”
- Second Place: Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, “VOL.at Mobile Service Strategy”
- Third Place: Jornal do Commercio, Recife, Brazil, “ComuniQ”
Group 2
- First Place: Die Welt, Berlin, Germany, “Welt der Zukunft”
- Second Place: The Times of India, Mumbai, India, “Alive - Augmented Reality App”
- Third Place: Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, “Local Mobile Advertising”
Category 7: Best Launch of a Brand or Product to Create a New Audience Segment
Group 1
- First Place: Dagblad de Limburger, Sittard, The Netherlands, “Vastelaovend in Limburg”
- Second Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, “48 Hours - Right Place, Right Time”
- Third Place: mX, Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane, Australia, “mX Smartphone App”
Group 2
- First Place: The New York Times, United States, “Local Marketing Efforts Worldwide to Support the International New York Times Launch”
- Second Place: The Hindu Tamil, Chennai, India, “The World Comes Alive in Tamil”
- Third Place: The Times of India, Mumbai, India, “The Wedding Times”
Category 8: Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement
Group 1
- First Place: Žurnal, Ljubljana, Slovenia, “Positive News”
- Second Place: Irish Independent, Dublin, Ireland, “Choices”
- Third Place: Stomp, Singapore, “From Mobile and Web to Print”
Group 2
- First Place: Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, “Creating a Newspaper for the Future, by The Future”
- Second Place: The Independent, London, United Kingdom, “The Independent Redesign”
- Third Place: Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, “Frequency Campaign”
Category 9: Best Idea to Grow Digital Audience or Engagement
Group 1
- First Place: mX, Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane, Australia, “mX Smartphone App”
- Second Place: Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland, “The Magic Roads”
- Third Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, “Multimedia Features”
Group 2
- First Place: Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, “TV of the Future - Together with Viewers”
- Second Place: 24sata, Zagreb, Croatia, “24sata Grows Digital Engagement”
- Third Place: Wegener Media, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, “Introducing Our Digital News Products”
Category 10: Best Use of Social Media
Group 1
- First Place: GT/Expressen, Göteborg, Sweden, “#VoteGBG”
- Second Place: La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador, “Publigeek”
- Third Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, “Behind the Front Page”
Group 2
- First Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, “VG Chess World Championships 2013”
- Second Place: The Times of India, New Delhi, India, “I Lead India - Organ Donation Day”
- Third Place: The New York Times, United States, “Social Media Ubiquity”
Category 11: Best Idea to Grow Subscription Sales
Group 1
- First Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, “Transforming Print into Digital Readers”
- Second Place: The New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, “Partnering for Sustained Growth”
- Third Place: DNA, Strasbourg, France, “Home Grown Since 1877”
Group 2
- First Place: Sunday Times, Johannesburg, South Africa, “Sunday Times Food Weekly Cookbook”
- Second Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, “Speak Up Bihar”
- Third Place: The New York Times, United States, “Holiday Sales”
Category 12: Best Idea to Grow Single Copy Sales
Group 1
- First Place: Diário do Pará, Belém, Brazil, “Super Ball Cards Collection”
- Second Place: The New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, “The New Zealand Herald 150th Birthday Reader Promotion”
- Third Place: Cape Argus, Cape Town, South Africa, “Brand Radio: Bail”
Group 2
- First Place: Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, “A Newspaper Galvanizes a Shared Identity Among 100m People”
- Second Place: Sunday Star-Times, Auckland, New Zealand, “Sunday Star-Times Hot Wheels”
- Third Place: Sunday Times, Johannesburg, South Africa, “Sunday Times Healthy Living Supplements”
Category 13: Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients
Group 1
- First Place: The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, California, United States, “The Desert Sun Holiday Gift Guide”
- Second Place: mX, Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane, Australia, “mX Smartphone App”
- Third Place: The Straits Times, Singapore, “SPH iink Awards”
Group 2
- First Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, “Tactus: An In-House Mobile Advertising Agency at VG”
- Second Place: Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, “Retail Guru: Developing Retail Markets”
- Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Mumbai, India, “The Box Office Advantage”
Category 14: Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client
Group 1
- First Place: APN NZ Media, Auckland, New Zealand, “APN and Tourism Australia: Explore Your Australia Passions”
- Second Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, “Travel Manitoba Integrated Marketing Campaign”
- Third Place: Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, “Live Ads (Billboard Silvretta Montafon)”
Group 2
- First Place: Bild, Berlin, Germany, “Alpina's 'Volks-Farbe' Campaign”
- Second Place: The New York Times, United States, “Citi Bike Sponsorship of The Scoop App”
- Third Place: Toronto Star, Canada, “Go Beyond”
Category 15: Best Idea or Innovation to Create New Profit Centers
Group 1
- First Place: Edmonton Journal/Calgary Herald, Edmonton, Canada, “Gastropost”
- Second Place: The Manly Daily, Manly, New South Wales, Australia, “Local Shoppa”
- Third Place: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, “Education Post - Set Your Course for Life”
Group 2
- First Place: The Dallas Morning News, United States, “Speakeasy”
- Second Place: The Times of India, Mumbai, India, “Alive - Augmented Reality App”
- Third Place: Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India, “Page One Plus”