Categories

Today’s companies are expected to stand up for something, while survey after survey shows that millennials and Gen Z prefer to donate their time, attention and loyalty to socially conscious brands. This category rewards digital communication with a social message that have truly connected brands, audience and society.

Digital communications that stand apart from the status quo in your field or industry, and/or that revolutionise your approach to communications, are celebrated in this category.

Online influencers – whether celebrities, experts, social media stars or other noteworthy figures – can add credible third-party testimonials to your social media strategy. But identifying, retaining and measuring them needs careful planning: cases where influencer comms have backfired are highly-publicised. This category celebrates examples that use influencers authentically and strategically, with deliverable results and a thorough consideration of ethics and disclosure.

Audiences expect to receive personalized, relevant communications that steals their attention away from their busy schedule. The winner of this category uses available technology to ensure that the target audience is presented with information - and the ability to react to information - across multiple channels.

This category celebrates the outstanding brand campaigns of the past 12 months, campaigns that bring into play the full range of online and digital tools, channels and platforms to create a powerful, engaging campaign that delivers on the brand strategy and makes an impression on the public. This category also includes digital campaigns that are created for the management of a brand's (online) reputation.

Top-notch copywriting, multimedia elements such as images and video, connected narratives across several digital media platforms, and a consumer-focused narrative: some of the key ingredients for successful content marketing. This category is looking for well-researched digital content marketing strategies that successfully cut through the clickbait to position the brand and deliver on the brand promise.

Gen Z - the first true digital generation - is characterized by an extremely high level of online affinity, extensive digital-social networking and particular cultural diversity. Digital platforms and social media play a central role. From emojis, memes, reels, snaps and GIFs to the concise use of hashtags and linguistic abbreviations - Gen Z has shaped new forms of communication. This presents companies with the challenge of further developing their communication strategies and becoming more spontaneous, creative, entertaining and visual. The DCA in this category goes to the company that takes the specific needs, values and preferences of Gen Z into account. We are looking for projects that enter into a successful digital dialog with Gen Z in an innovative, authentic way.

Since crashing the global social media party in 2018, TikTok has made an indelible mark on communications, with brands such as Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Nike, Skittles, Pepsi and Universal Pictures singing up and making their mark. This category champions the most inventive, thought provoking and impactful TikTok presence.

It is always safer to tread previously trodden paths, however, in most cases it is the unusual and unconventional campaigns that stick in our mind. Steps off the safe route are risky as they can quickly backfire but these steps can also lead to unexpected successes and sometimes to lively discussions in the online sector. In this category, the Digital Communication Awards honors the campaign that most courageously moved away from the typical corporate-industry path of communication and struck out on a new direction.

Necessity is the mother of invention and digital excellence often happens on a shoestring. This category gives those working with tighter budgets the chance to shine without being pitted against the much bigger budgets of digital giants. This category honours the best campaign with a maximum budget of 10,000 Euro per year.

Simply put, stories sell. A narrative presented in compelling and emotionally engaging formats - possibly featuring interactives, graphics, long reads, news games and data visualizations - wins hearts and minds, and brings strategies and values to life. The award in this category goes to the best tale, told by an organisation with a mix of traditional storytelling techniques and cutting edge digital tools.

From museum tours to opera, theatre or live concerts – organisations around the world have embraced the opportunity to connect with their audiences by broadcasting content and events - and finding new audiences as a result. Whether live event or repurposed content, virtual tour or broadcast platform, one off event or a regular series, this category showcases the innovative measures taken by organisation to provide information, education and entertainment to people in their homes.

One thing that sets contests and games apart is their ability to engage an audience. Contests are often distinct from the typical content that brands put out and really push people to interact with the brand as they anticipate fun and gain the chance of winning something of value. Contests and games get the customers involved and make your brand more memorable to them.

Integrated communications is critical for a successful product launch in your business. It involves the consistent communications of information about a product, using channels, sources and programmes that deliver effective and timely messages to consumers. The best examples are celebrated in this category.