Categories

Professional social media campaigns use selected digital communication channels to place their messages where their target groups will see them, increasing their online presence and reputation. The Digital Communication Award will honour the campaign which stands out from the crowd for its exceptional and innovative concept in this category. The Social Media Campaign of the Year offers authentic and transparent communication, as well as professional campaign planning and objectives and evaluative evidence assessing its performance.

Modern online communication has an almost inexhaustible supply of instruments, tools, apps, games and channels. To achieve long-term success among target groups, policy-based communication is essential. This Digital Communication Award will honour a strategic concept in the digital domain which has managed the digital and media diversity in the online sector meaningfully and rigorously, from the planning stage through to implementation and evaluation to achieve value creation.

Without innovation nothing happens. Even if the technical possibilities of online communication seem almost infinite, creative and courageous thinkers are required to drive forward developments in the digital sector. This award honours ideas that exploit the potential of digital media, fearlessly taking the road less-travelled, taking communications into uncharted territory and contributing to the development of online communication.

Online Campaigns

With social media campaigns a company can scatter focused and clear messages to their target groups using strategically selected digital communication channels. It is important, however, to maintain a uniform appearance and to actively engage with users. The Digital Communication Award in this category rewards the campaign which uses online tools to keep varied target groups well informed and mobilised.

Organisations earn political and social influence by bringing their issues onto the public agenda; the Internet facilitates this process by serving as a communication space that allows for the specific targeting of different segments of the public. In this category, the Digital Communication Awards will reward the online campaign that serves to educate, inform and mobilise its audience and succeeds in combining the individual spirit of the message with the approach used.

Campaigns by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) have become an important strategic instrument, as NGOs increasingly use high-profile campaigns to engage directly and indirectly with their online audiences. The Digital Communication Award in the NGO category will be given to the online campaign that informs, mobilises, interacts and best succeeds in promoting their message both virtually and concretely to the public.

Governments, ministries, authorities and administrations work in the public interest. In order to legitimise themselves, they must present to the people, who can then assess their performance. Digital media channels open up a variety of possibilities for it. This category honours the online campaign which has best utilised the possibilities of digital communication for the purpose of enlightening the public debate.

The infinite amount of channels and opportunities presented by web 2.0 offer surprising new ways of communicating products, whether you choose to focus solely on digital tools or develop an integrated product campaign. This category aims to honour innovation and success in communicating your existing product to a new target group.

A few years ago, the idea of launching a new product or brand online was unthinkable; today, it is standard. Viral campaigns, full width presence in social communities, and digital exploration of new potential target groups are all key elements to a successful launch campaign. This category is aimed at the most innovative introduction of a new product, using the full scope of digital media.

Online Strategies

Social media channels provide new opportunities for stakeholders during a crisis situation. This category seeks to reward the campaign that most effectively used online tools and digital Award Categories crisis strategies during an acute or emerging crisis, providing an exceptional and transparent communication performance.

Strategic employee communication in the digital age is increasingly done online, using in-house networks, Wikis, internal blogs and social media channels to create a wide range of possibilities. The Digital Communication Award in this category will honour holistic and sustainable internal online communication that is oriented to the web-skills of employees, is accepted by the workforce and has an obvious efficiency advantage.

The public affairs profession is currently facing a crucial challenge: IT-based methods are playing a major role in professional representation. This category will reward the digital public affairs approach that successfully serves the online world, combining the political and media space with the necessary expertise, experience, finesse and precision needed for the political process.

The systematic evaluation of online communication provides insights into the communications habits of segments of the public and is an indispensable part of digital public relations. Here, the traditional methods of media monitoring need to be continually adapted and refined.
The evaluation of online communication activities – and especially of social media activities – is a key challenge for professional communication management. The existing set of evaluation tools and metrics must be constantly adapted and developed to keep pace with developments in the online space.
The Digital Communication Award in this category will honour the monitoring and evaluation strategy which selects and evaluates online movements and opinions professionally and with the utmost flexibility in order to achieve effective reputation management.

Society’s acceptance of businesses is increasingly linked to their social activities. Corporate social responsibility practices give companies, and also non-profit making organisations, an opportunity to contribute to the design and improvement of their societies through their social and environmental commitment. The communication of CSR activities is one of the main instruments an organisation has to promote its image and reputation, and this is increasingly playing a greater role in organisational communication. This award will honour special communication in this field. It is not concerned with the actual measures undertaken, but with having a credible, comprehensive and innovative communications approach which places a clear emphasis on online communication and identifies appropriate evaluation measures.

Employer branding has been defined as the active management of a company’s image as seen through the eyes of its associates and potential hires. Successfully transporting this traditionally offline field to the digital world is rewarded by the Digital Communication Awards in this category.

Online Media and Tools

The website provides the communication backbone of a company, association or institution. In the digital space, an organisation without a website cannot have online communication, regardless of scope and design. This category will reward an excellent website, whose content, navigation, functionality and design meet the highest standards, and fit perfectly into the organisation’s communications goals.

Online communication and its instruments play an important role in internal communication, which is most often based on an intranet site. This category searches for a perfectly manageable user interface, high speed and optimised internal information flows and organisational processes. The winning intranet presence is adjusted to individual needs and ensures transparency in all functions.

The traditional press room is now increasingly becoming a social media newsroom. Multi-media offerings, including videos, podcasts, vodcasts and news in various formats can be subscribed to via RSS feeds, replacing a collection of press releases. This category will reward the online newsroom which best presents to its relevant reference groups, taking advantage of user-oriented content in a simple, well-structured digital form.

Corporate weblogs live through the personality of their authors and the creative freedom available for targeted information and opinion exchange. The prize in this category will be given to a weblog that has managed to walk the fine line between blogging and representing the brand, either internally or externally. The winning blog will create credibility and authenticity, and construct a stable relationship between sender and receiver.

Vibrant online communities include a number of members who feel part of the virtual community and connect and interact with each other on an independent level. The winner of this category will present an online community that is based on a functioning infrastructure, promoting a team spirit within the community and taking into account the needs and wishes of the members.

Smartphones play an increasingly important role in digital communication: they ensure continuous availability and the ability to intervene in digital events at any time. Apps offer extensive functionality and enable efficient use of various web applications. The Digital Communication Award in this category recognises outstanding and pioneering innovation in the field of mobile and Apps.

Events in the virtual world are increasingly important, benefiting from the distribution of digital communities, which are unlimited by space. This category seeks to honour the series of online events that stand out from the crowd for their creative planning and implementation, and the high levels of involvement of their participants

Web magazines win over their readers with professional content. They can be specialised, aiming at specific groups or professionals, or more general in nature, addressing a larger section of the public. The winning web magazine will impress with its integrated strategy and manage to secure a permanent place in the competitive media landscape.

The appearance of newsletters can vary greatly, from the classic text mail with a teaser text and links, to digital and animated magazines. Much is possible and diversity is common. The main factor in the success of a newsletter is how it tailors its content and purpose to its audience, and this category will recognise creative and innovative achievements in this area.

Image films can achieve unexpected popularity on the Internet. The aim is to increase the profile and presence of its sender, which it can do through pictures and music, inspiring positive emotions and building confidence and curiosity. The prize will go to the submission which, through innovation and narrative power, and by considering its use of modern digital features and high technology, rises above the other entrants with its original content and thematic approach.

Corporate web TV is a digital extension of the traditional corporate video reports on a company’s website. Modern web TV services are journalistic products with balanced programming that offer technically proficient video clips and high-end quality. The winner in this category will be the web TV channel that offers the user, consistent with communications strategy considerations, optimal information in a moving image format.

Annual reports have evolved from the traditional printed format to digital publications which use modern, media-friendly technology to awaken emotions and set the scene for the readers. The award in this category will go to an innovative report that possesses a variety of interactive options, never sacrificing quality and outstanding design, to actively involve its readers.
25 CSR REP

One of the key activities within an organisation’s CSR communication has proven to be the CSR report, which is increasingly being published digitally
Award Categories
in addition to the annual report and takes a more involvement-oriented approach. In this category, online reports which are designed to be informative and credible, while making full use of all of the tools, strategies and interactivity which are available in the field of online communications, are honoured.

Online competitions promote a hands-on approach to creating or fostering identification with the sender, and to supporting brand and image building. This category will seek an online competition that fits seamlessly into the overall strategy of the company, fully exploiting the digital possibilities in this area in a creative and innovative way.

Online games have always been enormously popular, and are therefore the ideal tool for the furtherance of a corporate identity online. The Digital Communication Award for Corporate Game will honour the game that most effectively manages to blend information into their offering while using the latest standards of web development.

Efficient viral communication campaigns take place outside the limits of traditional communication solutions. Viral communication requires analytical consideration on the consequences of interaction with different segments of the public, and effective strategic planning as to how social media is to be used. The winning campaign will have succeeded in achieving an exponential distribution of messages within the relevant networks.

Social Media and Community

A target group-oriented community site is part of a modern online communication strategy, and characterised by inclusiveness, authenticity, credibility and transparency. The prize in this category will go to the online community presence which, in the context of individual communication and against the backdrop of target group needs, engages in dialogue with its community while presenting adapted and attractive messages to expand its influence.

Microblogging has successfully found its way into online communication. Subtle, authentic communication over this channel requires both an awareness of the needs of the target group, and an awareness of sentiments conveyed. The most innovative and efficient microblog, using straight-to-the-point information, will win the prize in this category.

With the help of the world’s largest video community, international companies are able to both communicate online and increase their visibility. The Digital Communication Award winner in the YouTube Channel category will be the company that engages their audience with high quality content, characterised by popularity in terms of subscribers and views, unique design and interaction with viewers via online comments.

Academic Research

Bachelor’s dissertations which focus on online or digital communication, while displaying an academic approach and clear practical relevance, can be submitted in this category. The professional relevance and innovative nature of the thesis, coupled with a sound evaluation of performance, will be the key factors in the assessment of the entries.

Submissions in this category should contribute to the clarification of scientific theory or application-related problems and gaps in research in the field of online communications or PR management. The honoured entries will provide a thorough academic treatment of the subject, including a consideration of the current state of research in the area and a strong and clear focus on application. The work may have an international or comparative country-specific perspective