Innovation, audience insights, growth and community emerged as a few of the themes among this year’s Digiday Media Awards shortlist. The submissions made it clear that branded content continues to be relevant and, as a marketing approach, its successful outcomes are here to stay.
Several standouts emerged among this year’s entries, with In The Know garnering five nominations, Vox Media and Insider each securing four nominations, and theSkimm gaining three nominations in total.
In The Know by Yahoo earned nominations for Best Story and Editorial Team of the Year. To extend the platform’s mission of highlighting and celebrating BIPOC communities, In The Know focused on a chronically under-represented example, commemorating Indigenous Peoples Day. The In The Know team crafted an article that drove awareness to Indigenous-owned brands, which benefited from the exposure.
Vox Media earned two nominations within the Best Podcast category for its efforts with various partners. In addition, the company’s Chief Development and Strategy Officer, Shyra Smart, made the shortlist for Publishing Executive of the Year. Smart played an integral role in the company’s acquisition of Group Nine and has been the executive sponsor of the BOLD ERG — the employee resource group that supports the advancement of Black employees — for the past two years, which has contributed to the company’s first annual observance of Juneteenth.
In addition to Smart’s nomination, Vox Media also earned a nomination for Best Content Studio for its in-house brand studio’s work across podcasts. Programs included ‘More Than This,’ developed with Straight Talk Wireless and featuring an unprecedented accessibility component — a visual experience catering to deaf and non-listening audiences. With Sephora, Vox Creative produced its second long-form documentary, ‘The Beauty of Blackness,’ chronicling the past, present and future of Black beauty while calling attention to the inequality in the cosmetic industry for people of color.
Insider Inc. secured nominations for Best Editorial Package and Video Team of the Year, with data reporter Madison Hall earning one for Journalist of the Year. Hall led the charge for some of Insider’s most ambitious and impactful projects. The work included a proprietary, searchable database of Capitol riot arrests — now cited in numerous publications. It also included a database of homicides against transgender people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and an influencer index that used custom polling to determine U.S. perceptions of the most prominent online influencers.
For Best Use of Social, theSkimm was a standout thanks to its ‘#ShowUsYourLeave’ campaign that turned into a viral movement. theSkimm sought to ignite conversation around why paid family leave is so important for parents and caregivers and why supporting more expansive policies and transparency in the private sector as to what companies offer is crucial. As theSkimm’s readers (Skimm’rs) began sharing their paid family leave stories with the campaign’s hashtag, over 400 companies joined in and shared their policies across social media.
theSkimm also landed a nomination for Best Virtual Event Series with its SkimmU video series that focused on teaching women the life lessons traditional schooling never provided. The free virtual series supported Skimm’rs with expert-led courses to navigate economic challenges posed by the pandemic, from the psychology of money to topics such as starting a side hustle, budgeting and navigating investing. The series received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees, with close to 7,000 audience-submitted questions and a post-event survey showing 92% course satisfaction.
Overall, 2022 showed that branded content isn’t going anywhere and that ad tech platforms continue to drive innovation. Add to that, more and more companies are unlocking growth and community with data and, more specifically, audience insights.
See the complete list of finalists below.
Ad Operations Team of the Year
Media Tradecraft
Theorem, Inc.
Best Ad Tech Platform
Anzu.io – the world’s most advanced in-game advertising solution
CafeMedia
DeepIntent
Flight Control – Clinch’s Revolutionary New SaaS Platform
Teads – The Global Media Platform
Xandr Curate: Unlocking New Revenue Streams for Asset Owners
Best Brand Partnership – B2B
Aging Media and PointClickCare – Cross-Vertical Executive Series
Billboard and Honda Stage – Honda Backstage featuring Nathy Peluso
Forbes & Adobe — Accelerated Enterprise
HoneyBook & Spaceback – Launch of Social Display
Remezcla & Meta Elevate – Jefeando
WP Creative Group and AT&T Business – 5G Partnership
Best Brand Partnership – B2C
ATTN: & TikTok – TikTok For Good
EXTRA® Gum + MTV’s Fresh Start to the VMAs
First Media
Google Pixel 6 x New York Times Advertising: Picture Progress
National Association of REALTORS®, VICE Media, Havas Media Group – Launch “Where The Heart Is” Video Series
Refinery29 & Target 2021 Partnership: A New Era of Influence
Yahoo + Walmart: Holiday with Heart
Best Branded Content Program – B2B
Atlantic Re:think – American Metamorphosis Season 2
Billboard & Samsung
Billboard and Honda Stage – Honda Backstage featuring Nathy Peluso
Forbes & Office Depot – New Heights
Quartz Creative x Salesforce UK: Launch of IDC Society Impact whitepaper
The Weather Channel – Changing Landscapes Nissan IMR
Best Branded Content Program – B2C
ATTN: & Mattel – Launch of Barbie’s TikTok
BDG Studios & Aussie Kids – “BeYOUtiful Hair”
MotorTrend & Rivian — Electrifying The Outdoors
National Association of REALTORS®, VICE Media, Havas Media Group – Launch “Where The Heart Is” Video Series
Remezcla – Jack Daniel’s New Calle
theSkimm – Bridgerton Branded Content
Best Content Studio
BDG Studios
CEMEX Mexico
Forbes Content & Design Studio
Jungle Creations
Vox Creative
WP Creative Group
Best Contextual Targeting Offering
AccuWeather
Bidtellect: Context-Driven Platform
Connatix
Insider – Rollout of First-Party Data Platform, SÁGA
New York Times Advertising
Verity: Sophisticated Contextual Targeting
Best Custom Advertising
Forbes & Webex by Cisco – Work Reimagined
Forbes + Webex by Cisco – Work Reimagined
InvestingChannel & Nadex
United Esports & DigitalOcean – Bullet Chess Championship
Xaxis and Mediacom
Best Digital Product Innovation
Anzu.io – the world’s most advanced in-game advertising solution
EX.CO – Content Experience for ALEX AND ANI
First Media
Godfrey Dadich Partners – Design of the MAD Burke Prize 2021
How Ford Maximized User Attention in Their Video Ads With Dynamic Captions Technology
Humanz — Leading Influencer Platform
Best Editorial Package
Godfrey Dadich Partners – Launch of the Work Trends Index (WTI) Report on Microsoft WorkLab
Healthline Media & RadCat Design – TRANSFORM: Future of Health
Insider Staff – Insider Inc.
The Independent – End the Death Penalty Campaign
Verywell Health
Verywell Mind
Best First-Party Data Strategy
ActionIQ – global media company delivers personalized, consistent customer experience across all its brands to shift from advertising to subscription model.
Endeavor Business Media + BlueConic
Forbes One
New York Times Advertising
Tinuiti & Jerome’s Furniture
Unlocking Actionable Insights and Dispelling Legacy Myths via Data Science and Cloud Data Lake: Gerber Life Insurance + DELVE
Best Newsletter
Amazon Music’s Hyper-Personalized Newsletter, Powered by Movable Ink
BDG
Big Human & Rockefeller Center – The Center Newsletter
Front Office Sports Changes the Sports Business News Game With Campaign Monitor
Future of Marketing – Presented by TINT
Response Media
Best Podcast
Go Off, Sis podcast presented by Unbothered and Target
Harvard Business Review – The Rise and Fall of Carlos Ghosn
In The Know by Yahoo
Kast Media – The Opportunist
More Than This: Vox Creative x Straight Talk Wireless
New York Magazine & Vox Media – Cover Story
Best Publisher Platform
33Across | Lexicon & DailyMail.com
DoubleVerify
Mediavine
pixfuture
SIDEARM Sports – Powered by Learfield
The Evolution of Xandr Monetize
Best Story
AccuWeather
Amazon, Can we have our name back? | The Washington Post
Godfrey Dadich Partners – Triple Peak Day on Microsoft WorkLab
In The Know by Yahoo
In The Know by Yahoo
Best Subscription or Membership Product
Advance Local and Sophi Content Paywall Engine
Mahlab – Current Magazine
Subtext
The Atlantic – Subscriber Newsletters
The Economist Group
Tortoise & Piano – Tortoise Membership Program
UnitedHealthcare & MSPC – Renew Magazine
Best Use of Audience Insights
DELVE Helps UNICEF USA Achieve 200% ROAS with Google Marketing Platform
Healthline Media – Whole Person Health Initiative
Merkle, on behalf of Carter’s, Inc.
Ranker
Tinuiti & Boston Proper
Xaxis and Wavemaker
Best Use of Social
AccuWeather
BDG
Billboard & Samsung
NowThis
Social Chain & Amazon Prime Video UK – Just So You Know
theSkimm – #ShowUsYourLeave Movement
VICE World News – TikTok
Best Use of Video
How Ford Maximized User Attention in Their Video Ads With Dynamic Captions Technology
Social Chain & Amazon Prime Video UK – Just So You Know
The Spruce Eats
THE TRUST, Division of The Wall Street Journal/Barron’s Group
Tripadvisor & Ford Motor Company
VG’s multi news into the public space
Best Video Campaign
Diageo’s Crown Royal Drove Performance with Aki Technologies
Formerly Known As & Piedmont – State of Change
Kraft Heinz Canada, so.da, Twitter Canada, Dentsu (Carat), ReThink
LEARFIELD – Samsung ‘Shrines of Glory’
Social Chain & Amazon Prime Video UK – Just So You Know
Vice Media Group & Jack Daniel’s – Make It Count
Best Video Distribution and Programming Strategy
Loop Media, Inc. – Digital OOH
Remezcla – Jack Daniel’s New Calle
Underknown Corp
United Esports & CPC Pharma – PXL Play Power Squad
VG’s multi news into the public space
Best Video Platform
AnyClip
Local Now
Loop Media, Inc. – Digital OOH
Mediaocean – Dedication to Best-In-Class AdTech
STN Video, Inc.
Best Virtual Event
Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool Experience 2021
Blavity, Inc. — AfroTech World Metaverse Conference
Economist Impact Sustainability Week
LiveOne
NowThis
The Wall Street Journal
Best Virtual Event Series
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
theSkimm – SkimmU
Washington Post Live
Editorial Team of the Year
Godfrey Dadich Partners – The Editorial team behind Microsoft WorkLab
In The Know by Yahoo
PinkNews
VICE World News
Journalist of the Year
Madison Hall – Insider Inc.
The Points Guy
Media Brand of the Year
Apartment Therapy
BDG
Blavity, Inc.
PinkNews
The Economist Group
U.S. News & World Report
Wave Sports + Entertainment
Most Engaged Community
For(bes) the Culture
Ranker
Refinery29’s Unbothered
TechChannel, MSPC
Publisher of the Year
BWZ
Outside Interactive, Inc. – Publisher of the Year
Overtime
The Atlantic
TIMEPieces (web3 division of TIME)
Wave Sports + Entertainment
Publishing Executive of the Year
Benjamin Cohen, PinkNews
Bryan Goldberg, BDG
Rob Schneider, Chief Strategy, Content & Development Officer, Learfield
Shyra Smart, Vox Media
Video Team of the Year
Donut Media
In The Know by Yahoo
Insider’s Video Team – Insider Inc.
Secret Base
The Washington Post
Underknown Corp
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