Channels
Work in this category should demonstrate how relevant digital channels were used as a marketing initiative, delivering business results and maximising return on marketing investment.
CHN01: Paid Search Marketing
The use of Paid Search Engine Marketing (PPC) to achieve marketing and business goals. It is important to show key objectives and performance metrics against the objectives. Entrants must show the critical role that paid search played in the campaign and results. Media investment, your technical approach and ROI should be clearly stated.
Planned/anticipated media, channel and business results should be declared, together with actual results to measure impact.
Think MTN: More sales. More wins. Less spend.
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN02: Organic Search Marketing
SEO and other organic search marketing techniques to achieve marketing goals. It is important to show key objectives and performance metrics against the objectives. Your technical and creative approach; and ROI should be clearly stated.
Think the top-ranking organic result for the “insurance” search or “daily deals” search term
Think Google: #Lookmeup
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN03: Display Advertising
Banners, page take-overs and any other premium (direct-from-publisher) bought-media advertising. It is important to show key objectives and performance metrics against the objectives. Entrants must show the critical role that display advertising plays in the campaign and its results. Media investment and ROI should be clearly stated.
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Think any banner on any homepage, mobile or desktop.
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN04: Native Advertising
Advertiser-sponsored, publisher-carried content designed to market a product or service through content development.
Please include what type of native advertising was used and why. Please also show the alignment of the desired audience to content and show website/app performance data. How did this approach drive interest from your audience?
Think Netflix and National Geographic content and ads.
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN05: Online Video Series
Any online video content created as part of a short-term campaign or series, where storytelling or narrative is presented. This is not a brand TVC. Entrants must show how the content helps achieve marketing objectives and business goals (e.g. PR impact, Views, view-through rate, duration).
Include production costs as media investment.
Think Sanlam: LI:FE of Confidence; KFC: PI Diaries
Jury Panel: Marketers Panel
CHN06: Content Marketing Strategy
Excellence in Digital Content Marketing strategic thinking and planning. The entry must demonstrate, and prove through results, the ingenuity of the strategy through its holistic approach (strategy, execution and outcomes) and how it led to attracting, retaining, and growing a clearly defined audience/community that was then demonstrably engaged in the content marketing.
Planned/anticipated media, channel and business results should be declared, together with actual results to measure impact. e.g. sales and or consumer acquisition lift, retention challenges/opportunities, incremental gains from remarketing, including 1st-time buyer acquisition and LTV gains of existing buyers, etc.
Think Lil-Lets: Lil-Lets Talk
Jury Panel: Marketers Panel
CHN07: Social Paid Advertising
Paid media campaigns run on social media platforms, leveraging these platforms to deliver exceptional results. Entrants must show the critical role that paid social media played in the campaign and its results. Media investment and ROI should be clearly stated.
Think The People vs Savanna Cider, Eskort Food: #ILoveEatingRussians
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN08: Innovative Use of Media Planning
Demonstrable innovation in digital media placement or buying. Winners must show real creativity in how unusual channels were used or conventional channels were used in new ways to achieve digital marketing objectives.
.Think Distell: Pata Pata Reimagined, Castle Lager: Heartbeat of the Nation, Pizza Hut: Chicken Pops Pizza
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN09: Email, Direct & Inbound Marketing
Use of email, SMS, direct digital marketing and other inbound techniques to achieve digital marketing objectives.
Entrants must show the critical role that inbound marketing played in the campaign and its results. Planned/anticipated media, channel and business results should be declared, together with actual results to measure impact.
Think Colgate: Personalise Your Smile, Showmax personalised emails
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN10: Use of Programmatic Media
Use of programmatic media buying techniques to deliver exceptional marketing results for brands. Entries should show new, clever and effective ways of programmatic buying that makes use of data sources and re-targeting. Programmatic buying extends beyond banner display and can include social channels, digital-out-of-home (DOOH) and other channels where innovative use of programmatic media has been displayed.
Think American Swiss: "Drop the Hint"
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN11: Digital Installation and Activations
Use of digital technology to engage audiences in a typically out-of-home or events setting. This category welcomes innovation and campaigns using digital-out-of-home (D00H) media.
Think Nestle: Touchless Innovation; BA: Look Up billboard, Roger Waters: “The Wall” concert, Tractor Outdoor x Brutal Fruit: #YouBelongToCelebrate
Jury Panel: Innovative Engineers Panel
CHN12: Digital Video Production
Creative use of online video and digital footage, with innovative or advanced technical skill to achieve digital marketing goals. It is important to show key objectives and performance metrics against the objectives. Media investment and ROI should be clearly stated. How was video used effectively on the platform?
Think Distell: Pata Pata Reimagined
Jury Panel: Marketing Panel
CHN13: Use of CRM, Loyalty Programs, & Gamification
Excellence in the use of customer data and targeting to achieve digital marketing results, including online loyalty programs and gamification. It is important to show key objectives and performance metrics against the objectives. Media investment and ROI should be clearly stated.
Think AB InBev: The Foam Knows, Discovery Vitality, Vodacom: Shake
Jury Panel: Innovative Engineers Panel
CHN14: Channel Innovation
The winner of this category must demonstrate a truly original, new-to-the-world, use or manipulation of the channel or media, and serve as a strategic tool to meet the campaign objective or the business objective of their client.
May include media innovation in paid or organic search marketing, social advertising, display advertising, native advertising, video content, media buying, email, direct and inbound marketing, programmatic media or use of CRM, loyalty programs and gamification.
Think Digify Africa: The Digibot, Nissan Navara: Made with your playlist
Jury Panel: Performance Marketing Panel
CHN15: Campaign / Microsites
Any microsite built to market a particular product or service in the commercial space, relating directly to a specific campaign objective. Typically has a limited lifespan, and should not be an extension of the primary website for a brand which would then be entered into the Brand, Commercial & Retail Websites category.
If the Microsite is no longer live at time of entry submission, an offline rendition of the site should be presented, ideally in a video format, to enable judges to assess UX and quality of creative.
Think PPS: Finding the Forgotten Graduate
Jury Panel: Marketers Panel
CHN16: Bots, Messaging and Dark Social
Use of chat, chat bots and messaging platforms (dark social) to achieve a marketing or communication result.
If utilised, the use of conversational AI systems, those that use deep learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques to generate human-like text responses in real-time to be detailed. Planned Consumer Journey (where applicable) should be shared with anticipated consumer behaviour and desired marketing objectives to demonstrate impact. Production/development costs, as well as media costs to drive user adoption, should also be shared.
Think Digify Africa: The Digibot, Ford X: AdLingo Chat Bot
Jury Panel: Social, Community and Influencer Marketing Panel
CHN17: Podcasts, Live Streaming and Audio Streaming
The use of a Podcast, Podcast series or audio streaming to achieve a marketing or campaign goal. Content may be published on any platform. This includes advertising campaigns on audio channels.
Planned/anticipated media, channel and business results should be declared, together with actual results to measure impact. Share production/development and paid media costs.
Think Grammarly x Spotify, Bona Corona
Jury Panel: Marketers Panel
CHN18: Interactive Mixed Media
Use of digital and non-digital channels in an integrated manner to achieve marketing objectives. Entrants should demonstrate how they bridged the digital divide in retail environments, digital-out-of-home (DOOH) or offline conversion mapping. This could include syncing or real-time augmentation to create the effect of interactive print etc..
Planned/anticipated media, channel and business results should be declared together with actual results. Entrants will be judged on how successfully they have integrated the chosen media throughout the campaign and must demonstrate how well the different mediums complement and build on each other to communicate the brand’s message. Entries in this category must show that multiple types of media were used in the campaign (e.g. Screens, Social, Outdoor).
Think Volkswagen: The Blind Spot, Sanlam LI:FE of Confidence, AB InBev: #ReclaimYourDNA
Jury Panel: Marketers Panel
CATEGORY CRITERIA: CHANNELS
Please also see the Categories & Criteria PDF for more detail on each sub-category
Creative Excellence: 30%
Innovation & Technical Accomplishment: 30%
Meeting or exceeding business goals and results: 40%
Previous entrants:
Please specify the updates and provide meaningful evidence of what has changed and improved across the above criteria.
Points awarded:
Yes. Please refer to the ranking methodology in the entry guideline supporting document.