American Express won the first every Digiday Award for most innovative brand in recognition of the work it has done to integrate social media as part of its business.
The awards, given last night at a ceremony in New York, also recognized Nike vp of digital sport Stefan Olander as most innovative person for his work in building Nike’s tech products as a key driver of the brand’s future. Huge was named most innovative agency, on account of its work in developing the HBO Go application and proving that agencies can be about making things that change businesses. Buzzfeed took the nod for most innovative publisher as it morphed from a site of aggregated viral content to a new model of publisher built for the social era.
Amex was recognized, in particular, for its Synch pioneering integrations with Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook that created an entirely new way for brands to interact with consumers through social channels.
Other winners included OMD for best branding campaign for consumers, in recognition of its work for Gatorade. HBO Go won best branding platform and Say Media took the honors for best publishing platform for its Orion content management system.
The full list of winners is below.
Most Innovative Brand
American Express
Most Innovative Agency
Huge
Most Innovative Publisher
Buzzfeed
Most Innovative Person
Stefan Olander, Nike
Best Branding Campaign, Consumer
OMD, Gatorade
Best Branding Campaign, B-to-B
AOL Advertising, “Environment Matters”
Best Direct Response Campaign
Beeby Clark+Meyler, Marriott mobile app
Best Creative
Carmichael Lynch, Suburu “First Car”
Best Brand Platform
HBO, HBO GO
Best Publishing Platform
Say Media, Orion
More in Marketing
Manchester City uses Fortnite to expand its global audience
As Manchester City rolls out its own Fortnite experience, it will have to contend with the fact that this brand new world does not come with a pre-existing user base. To address this problem, the company plans to leverage its network of players and talent to spread the word across their social feeds.
How Chipotle’s fighting-game-focused esports strategy is paying off at Evo 2024
In 2024, Chipotle’s choice to court the relatively niche fighting game community appears to have paid off. According to a joint study by YouGov and the agency rEvolution, which helped develop Chipotle’s gaming strategy, U.S. esports fans between the ages of 18 and 44 reported a nearly 100% increase in their intent to purchase Chipotle following the brand’s esports campaign last year.
How Revolut’s creator strategy is benefitting from YouTube’s long-form swing
The challenger bank is prioritizing YouTube creators in bid to reach consumers.