Ads24 amongst Inma Global Media Awards winners announced

Ads24 general manager Ané Honiball and INMA executive director and CEO Earl Wilkinson. Image supplied by Media24.

At the awards, Ads24 won the Inma Global Awards, “Best in Africa” for “Ads24 Presents Food for Thought” and The New York Times’ “Truth Is Hard” multi-media campaign touting the impact of its journalism amid a rising tide of fake news and misinformation won the coveted Inma Global Media Awards “Best in Show.”

Ads24 provides Food for Thought for the road to 2019

29 May 2018

Ads24 also received honourable mentions in the global categories for Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand, Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients and Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client for “Ads24 presents Food for Thought”, “#Ads24 Diski” and “Ads24/Phumelela Soccer 6 Multi-Platform Campaign” respectively.

Forty first-place winners

During the ceremony, 40 first-place winners were unveiled across 20 categories aimed at energising news brands, creating products, engaging audiences, developing customer insights, growing advertising revenue, and instilling innovation. Entrants were judged in two groups: global/national brands and regional/local brands. Inma has presented awards for media excellence since 1937.

The 2018 Global Media Awards competition garnered 830 entries from 220 media companies in 39 countries. Participants included newspaper media, magazine media, digital media, television media, and radio media.

An international panel of 50 executives from 20 countries selected 195 finalists, and from those the first-place category winners were announced at today’s Washington, D.C., awards ceremony.

Emerging themes

Seven companies won multiple first-place awards. Sweden’s MittMedia took home three top prizes, while six others garnered two first places: Grupo RBS from Brazil, Jagran Prakashan from India, News Corp from Australia, VG from Norway, USA Today Network and The Wall Street Journal from the United States.

“If there were emerging themes among this year’s Global Media Awards winners, it would be about communicating the values held by news brands amid the misinformation explosion and the rise of algorithms, data, and machine learning in the everyday running of a media company,” said Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director and CEO of Inma.

“This year’s competition was intensely competitive with a record number of entries that provoked debate among judges on what defines success – the precise argument happening at Inma member companies.”

Regional winners

Judges selected from finalists the best in six world regions. Announced in Washington were:

Best in Africa: Ads24 for “Ads24 Presents Food for Thought”

• Best in Asia/Pacific, Regional/Local Brands: News Corp Australia for “News Advance Program”
• Best in Asia/Pacific, Global/National Brands: South China Morning Post for “Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund JumpStarter 2017”
• Best in Europe, Regional/Local Brands: MittMedia for “User Activity Tracking Map”
• Best in Europe, Global/National Brands: Aftenposten for “Front Page Reinvented: The Algorithm That Supports Our Journalistic Mission”
• Best in Latin America: Grupo RBS for “Pelas Ruas: Innovation, Collaboration, and Solutions in the Hands of the Community”
• Best in North America, Regional/Local Brands: LNP Media Group for “The Caucus: a Watchdog Publication”
• Best in North America, Global/National Brands: The New York Times for “Truth Is Hard”
• Best in South Asia, Regional/Local Brands: Hindustan Times for “Hindustan Times Palate Fest”
• Best in South Asia, Global/National Brands: Jagran Prakashan for “957 Pages from a Daughter’s Diary”

Inma Global Media Awards judging results

Group 1 represents regional/local brands, and Group 2 represents global/national brands. Honourable Mentions are listed alphabetically.

Category 1: Best Brand Awareness Campaign

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: ABP, India, “Ananda Utsav: Brand Awareness Campaign for Largest Bengali Festive Event”
• Second Place: Bay Area News Group, United States, “Start a New Ritual Read the Paper: Klay Thompson Campaign”
• Third Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Watchdog Editorial Campaign”
• Honourable Mention: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “Worth Knowing”
• Honourable Mention: Toronto Star, Canada, “Investigate. Report. Effect Change.”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: The New York Times, United States, “Truth Is Hard”
• Second Place: The Globe and Mail, Canada, “Journalism Matters”
• Third Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, “The World is Beyond the Headlines”
• Honourable Mention: Fairfax Media, Australia, “The Australian Financial Review: The Daily Habit of Successful People”
• Honourable Mention: NZME, New Zealand, “Discover More: nzherald.co.nz Relaunch”

Category 2: Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Pelas Ruas: Innovation, Collaboration, and Solutions in the Hands of the Community”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Do Something! Day”
• Third Place: Los Angeles Times, United States, “High School Insider”
• Honourable Mention: Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), India, “Maharashtra Times - Women's Sanitation: An Inconvenient Truth”
• Honourable Mention: Republic Media - USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “It Shouldn't Hurt to be a Child Cause Marketing Campaign”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Agora, Poland, “Tomorrownauts”
• Second Place: NZME, New Zealand, “Break The Silence”
• Third Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “Fields on Fire”
• Honourable Mention: FINN.no, Norway, “Wanted: Ocean Plastic”
• Honourable Mention: Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, “Stomp Goody Bag Campaign”

Category 3: Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: The Chronicle Herald, Canada, “Now! Nova Scotia and the Now! Nova Scotia Good News Awards”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Herald Sun Full-On Footy Tour”
• Third Place: HT Media, India, “Hindustan Times Palate Fest”
• Honourable Mention: Ads24, South Africa, “Ads24 Presents Food for Thought”
• Honourable Mention: Børsen, Denmark, “Børsen Gazelle Awards”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Financial Times Live, United Kingdom, “FT Weekend Festival”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “Jeff Horn - The Sunday Mail”
• Third Place: Schibsted, Norway, “Aftenposten Event A-Tech”
• Honourable Mention: Axel Springer Auto Verlag, Germany, “Sport BILD Award”
• Honourable Mention: Krone Multimedia, Austria, “Austrian Video Award”

Category 4: Best New Print Product

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: LNP Media Group, United States, “The Caucus: a Watchdog Publication“
• Second Place: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “Maharashtra Independent Thought Booklet”
• Third Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “The Newsday Vault”
• Honourable Mention: ABP, India, “Paper Within Paper: A First-Time-in-India Concept by ABP”
• Honourable Mention: Herald Sun, Australia, “AFLW Liftout & Supplements”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: USA Today Network, United States, “USA Today Network Brand Refresh: Print”
• Second Place: 24sata, Croatia, “JoomBoos Magazine from Cringe to Lit”
• Third Place: Fairfax Media, Australia, “Fairfax Media: Executive Style Magazine”
• Honourable Mention: Metro, Belgium, “Metro Start: Best New Print Product”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “News Corp Travel Tuesday Escape Everyday Series”

Category 5: Best Use of Mobile

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, “News Break by Winnipeg Free Press”
• Second Place: Russmedia Digital, Austria, “VOL.at Redesign”
• Third Place: Galadari Printing & Publishing, United Arab Emirates, “Khaleej Times Mobile News Service”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: VG, Norway, “VG on Snapchat Discover”
• Second Place: The Telegraph, United Kingdom, “Telegraph Snapchat Discover”
• Third Place: NZME, New Zealand, “Nzherald.co.nz Redesign”
• Honourable Mention: Artear, Argentina, “TN Todo Noticias New Mobile Apps”
• Honourable Mention: South China Morning Post, China, “HK Racing”

Category 6: Best Use of Video

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Alabama Media Group, United States, “Reckon by AL.com’s Alabama Senate Editorial Campaign”
• Second Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Sanctuary”
• Third Place: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “The Making of Real Journalism”
• Honourable Mention: Calgary Herald, Canada, “Call of the Rail: Restoring Colonist Car 1202”
• Honourable Mention: Russmedia Digital, Austria, “Made in Vorarlberg”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Aftonbladet, Sweden, “Armored Glass Girl”
• Second Place: The Wall Street Journal, United States, “The Face of Real News”
• Third Place: 24sata, Croatia, “Gone But Not Forgotten”
• Honourable Mention: Agora, Poland, “Make Poland Great Again: The Online Night-Show by Gazeta.pl”
• Honourable Mention: Stuff, New Zealand, “The Valley”

Category 7: Best Launch of a Brand or Product to Create An Audience Segment

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: News Corp, Australia, “Local Sports Stars”
• Second Place: Alabama Media Group, United States, “This Is Alabama”
• Third Place: Amar Ujala Publications, India, “Amar Ujala's Multi-Platform Kavya Taps Into Massive Hindi Poetry Subculture”
• Honourable Mention: Los Angeles Times, United States, “Dirty John Podcast”
• Honourable Mention: SaltWire Network, Canada, “SaltWire Network Brand Launch”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: NBC News Digital, United States, “NBC News’ ‘Stay Tuned’ On Snapchat”
• Second Place: Agora, Poland, “Myk! From On-Line to TV”
• Third Place: Omni, Sweden, “The Launch of Omni Ekonomi”
• Honourable Mention: 24sata, Croatia, “Miss7: This is Me #WATCHmeGO”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “News Prestige Network Launch”

Category 8: Best Use of New Technology to Generate Revenue and Engage

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: MittMedia, Sweden, “The Homeowners Bot”
• Second Place: USA Today, United States, “Local Flash Briefings on Alexa in Partnership with Spoken Layer”
• Third Place: Russmedia Digital, Austria, “Made in Vorarlberg”
• Honourable Mention: Bay Area News Group, United States, “Leadhax - Online Advertising for Real Estate Agents”
• Honourable Mention: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, “The Digital Billboard Network”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Aftenposten, Norway, “Front Page Reinvented: The Algorithm That Supports Our Journalistic Mission”
• Second Place: Aftonbladet, Sweden, “What’s on the Plate”
• Third Place: VG, Norway, “Mystery at the Oslo Plaza”
• Honourable Mention: Bonnier News Brand Studio, Sweden, “Löfbergs: The Next Generation Coffee Experience”
• Honourable Mention: Ringier, Switzerland, “Using Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Generate Revenue and Boost Reader Engagement @ Ringier”

Category 9: Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Austin American-Statesman, United States, “The Talk: An Interactive Multi-Platform Exploration of Race-Police Relations”
• Second Place: Calgary Herald, Canada, “Syrian Refugees: A New Home, A New Life”
• Third Place: The Oklahoman Media Company, United States, “The Oklahoman’s Brand Campaign”
• Honourable Mention: Bay Area News Group, United States, “Klay Thompson Campaign for Bay Area News”
• Honourable Mention: Vijay Karnataka (Times Group), India, “Language Newspaper Taking Youngsters Message to The Prime Minister”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “I am an American”
• Second Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, “The Art of Journalism”
• Third Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “A Glass Half Full”
• Honourable Mention: El País, Spain, “The New Arrivals”
• Honourable Mention: WeltN24, Germany, “Die Welt of December 9, 2017”

Category 10: Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: MittMedia, Sweden, “The Homeowners Bot”
• Second Place: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “GaúchaZH: A Platform for Reading, Watching and Listening”
• Third Place: Amar Ujala Publications, India, “Kavya (Poetry) Drives High-Value Registrations Engagement”
• Honourable Mention: ABP, India, “Growing the Readership of Ebela.in by Cementing Its Position As the Go-To Bengali”
• Honourable Mention: Chicago Tribune, United States, “Dining Awards”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Ringier, Switzerland, “Using Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Boost Digital Reader Engagement @ Ringier”
• Second Place: The Economist, United Kingdom, “The World in 2018”
• Third Place: Aftenposten, Norway, “Front Page Reinvented: The Algorithm That Supports Our Journalistic Mission”
• Honourable Mention: Nation Media Group, Kenya, “Nation Messenger Bot: Nation Kiki”
• Honourable Mention: VG, Norway, “VG on Snapchat Discover: Digital Engagement”

Category 11: Best Use of Social Media

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: La Voz del Interior, Argentina, “Vivo in CBA”
• Second Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Newsday's Day in the Life of Long Island”
• Third Place: Alabama Media Group, United States, “It's a Southern Thing”
• Honourable Mention: OVB24, Germany, “Rosenheimsbeste.de: Reinventing Local Guides”
• Honourable Mention: Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden, “UNT Pendlingskollen: Building Journalistic Ecosystems Using Social Media”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: VG, Norway, “VG on Snapchat Discover”
• Second Place: The Financial Times, United Kingdom, “FT Instagram Stories”
• Third Place: Condé Nast International, United Kingdom, “Vogue International on Instagram Stories”
• Honourable Mention: Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), India, “#NoConditionsApply: Shindoor Khela”
• Honourable Mention: NBC News Digital, United States, “NBC News’ ‘Stay Tuned’ on Snapchat”

Category 12: Best New Paid Content or Subscription Initiative

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Editora Globo, Brazil, “Data-Driven Digital Subscription Paywall Model” 
• Second Place: Hall Media, MittMedia, Sörmlands Media, VK Media, Sweden, “Sveriges Lokalnyheter”
• Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “When a Young Newspaper Established its Position In a Cluttered and Commoditized Market With Over 15,673 Newspapers”
• Honourable Mention: ABP, India, “The Telegraph t3: Life Enhancement Programme”
• Honourable Mention: Hearst Newspapers - Times Union, United States, “Dynamic Meter and Paywall”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: The Wall Street Journal, United States, “The WSJ Dynamic Paywall”
• Second Place: Schibsted, Norway, “Touchpoints”
• Third Place: Dagens Nyheter, Sweden, “Using Analytics to Drive Continuous Growth in Digital Subscriptions”
• Honourable Mention: Dow Jones, United States, “Omni-Channel Initiative”
• Honourable Mention: Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, “Diamonds Are Forever: Helsingin Sanomat's Digital Strategy Renewal”

Category 13: Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: News Corp, Australia, “News ADvance Program”
• Second Place: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, “The Digital Billboard Network”
• Third Place: Bonnier News, Sweden, “Smarta Jobb”

Honourable Mention: Ads24, South Africa, “#Ads24 Diski”

• Honourable Mention: D&C Digital - USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “Saving The Source”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “Gaming The Revenue Strategy”
• Second Place: The Times of India, “Times Power of Print”
• Third Place: The Economist, United Kingdom, “The World in 2018”

Honourable Mention: Independent Media, South Africa, “Drive360”

• Honourable Mention: United Daily News, Taiwan, “Intelligence Beyond Data: Unlock the Potential of Audience Engagements”

Category 14: Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “The Media Project for Lebes Life Store”
• Second Place: Midday Infomedia, India, “Brands Make Inroads to the Corporate World with Mid-Day”
• Third Place: Florida Today - USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “Where Innovation Takes Flight”
• Honourable Mention: ABP, India, “The Sweet Story From a Sweet Land! How ABP Changed the Taste of Bengali Sweets for Mondelez India”

Honourable Mention: Ads24, South Africa, “Ads24/Phumelela Soccer 6 Multi-Platform Campaign”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: South China Morning Post, “Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund Jumpstarter 2017”
• Second Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “Conversations with Customers”
• Third Place: The Irish Times, Ireland, “Be One: Inspire One in Association with Ulster Bank”
• Honourable Mention: Bonnier News Brand Studio, Sweden, “Nordea: The Smart Concept 2.0”
• Honourable Mention: Folha de São Paulo, Brazil, “The Reinvention of Print: GOL Brazilian Airline and Folha de São Paulo”

Category 15: Best Execution of Print Advertising

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Amedia, Norway, “Leading the Fight on Grey”
• Second Place: Newsday Media Group, United States, “Good Samaritan Hospital HealthLink 4 Page PopUp”
• Third Place: Diario Panorama, Venezuela, “Venezuela Biodiversa”
• Honourable Mention: Gannett Imaging and Ad Design Center, United States, “Noah's Ark Ristorante”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “The Book of Mormon Mega Wrap”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: NZME, New Zealand, “The Inequality Issue”
• Second Place: Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (Times Group), India, “Make India Water Positive”
• Third Place: Folha de São Paulo, Brazil, “The Reinvention of Print: GOL Brazilian Airline and Folha de São Paulo”
• Honourable Mention: Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing, India, “Santappan Advertising Campaign”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “#SamDay or How our Two Biggest Mastheads Changed Their Name for the Day”

Category 16: Best Execution of Native Advertising

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Los Angeles Times, United States, “Through a Cracked Lens, Sponsored by Snowfall”
• Second Place: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States, “The Year in Real Journalism”
• Third Place: Amedia, Norway, “Leading the Fight on Grey”
• Honourable Mention: Postmedia, Canada, “Alive 375”
• Honourable Mention: Republic Media - USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “Total Wine & More Native Campaign”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: The Irish Times, Ireland, “Story of Home”
• Second Place: Ekstra Bladet, Denmark, “’Denmark’s Best Idea’: High Engagement and Explosive Brand Awareness”
• Third Place: Styria Content Creation, Austria, “Seat Ibiza”
• Honourable Mention: 24sata, Croatia, “The Shared Dream Became Reality”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “Suncorp Federal Budget”

Category 17: Best Use of Data Analytics

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: MittMedia, Sweden, “User Activity Tracking Map”
• Second Place: Amedia, Norway, “From Chasing Reach to a Convertible Audience: The Case for Loyal Non-Subscribers”
• Third Place: Fairfax Media, Australia, “InsightsPlus”
• Honourable Mention: Berliner Morgenpost, Germany, “The Berliner Morgenpost Interactive Reader Map: The Interdepartmental Analysis Tool for the Newsroom Sales and Marketing”
• Honourable Mention: News Regional Media, Australia, “A Digital Playbook for Every Newsroom”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Dainik Bhaskar Digital, India, “Autobot: Automated Intelligent Push Notification Engine”
• Second Place: De Persgroep Publishing, Belgium, “Automated Retention Using Churn Modeling”
• Third Place: The Financial Times, United Kingdom, “Project XX”
• Honourable Mention: Fairfax Media, Australia, “The Australian Financial Review: Harnessing Data to Drive Revenue Growth”
• Honourable Mention: Gannett, United States, “Deepening Digital Audience Engagement and Retention Through Voice of the Customer Insights”

Category 18: Best Use of Consumer Research

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Fairfax Media, Australia, “InsightsPlus”
• Second Place: Dainik Bhaskar, India, “How a Young Newspaper Soared to Become Maharashtra's Independent Newspaper”
• Third Place: News Corp, Australia, “App Only and App Management Research”
• Honourable Mention: Republic Media - USA Today Network - Gannett, United States, “Community Impact Campaign”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Dow Jones, United States, “WSJ Project Moment”
• Second Place: News Corp, Australia, “The Food, Mood and Media Connection”
• Third Place: Star Metro Media, Canada, “Rockies By Rail: Digital Content Research Campaign”
• Honourable Mention: Fairfax Media, Australia, “Kidtopia Festival”
• Honourable Mention: De Persgroep Publishing, Belgium, “NPS: The Process, Not the KPI”

Category 19: Best New Corporate Innovation Initiative

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, “The Digital Billboard Network”
• Second Place: Amedia, Norway, “The Better Journalism Initiative: How Better Journalism Propelled Digital Subscription Growth”
• Third Place: Russmedia Digital, Austria, “VOL.at Redesign”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “957 Pages from a Daughter’s Diary”
• Second Place: Fairfax Media, Australia, “Project Blue”
• Third Place: Schibsted, Sweden, “The Schibsted Daily: Foster Innovation Through Information”
• Honourable Mention: Dagbladet, Norway, “Reader Critics“
• Honourable Mention: The Financial Times, United Kingdom, “The Visual Vocabulary”

Category 20: Best New Concept or Innovation to Create New Profit Centers

Group 1: Regional/Local Brands

• First Place: Russmedia Digital, Austria, “Interactive West 2018”
• Second Place: Grupo RBS, Brazil, “Donna Beauty Pompeia: A Place to Discover Yourself”
• Third Place: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, “The Digital Billboard Network”
• Honourable Mention: Herald Sun, Australia, “Herald Sun Destination Education”
• Honourable Mention: OVB24, Germany, “Rosenheimsbeste.de: Reinventing Local Guides”

Group 2: Global/National Brands

• First Place: Schibsted, Norway, “Aftenposten Junior: A Brand Extension with Exceptional Profits”
• Second Place: Jagran Prakashan, India, “Gaming The Revenue Strategy”
• Third Place: The Hindu Group, India, “Step”
• Honourable Mention: News Corp, Australia, “International Pro Darts Showdown Series”
• Honourable Mention: Sanoma Media, Finland, “HS Multi-Channel Strategy in Media Sales”