Winner
Time Out Group
Time Out focuses on providing content to help people get the most from their cities, covering entertainment, eating out and culture. Its content covers 328 cities and 58 countries and spans various platforms, including websites, mobile, social media, print and live events.
The brand reacted fast to the impact of Covid-19 and the changing needs of its consumers. With much of the world confined to their homes, Time Out set out to make its mission all about helping people to discover the things that they can do while spending weeks and months indoors, subsequently rebranding to Time In. This change was reflected across its content, home page, newsletter and even its logo.
The brand reinvented itself to show its audience that it is able to connect and understand the needs of readers, and how it can still serve as their top resource even during a time of global unrest. Its ‘Love Local’ campaign, which ran across all cities, shifted the editorial direction to support small, independent businesses. Part of this included a partnership with Instagram and a two-day virtual festival hosted on Instagram Live, called Experience:NYC & Experience:LDN as well as Madrid, Barcelona and LA. The news was covered globally and the live event reached 1.7 million people.
Time Out Group saw significant engagement growth in social as well as continued website traffic growth throughout the year.
Highly Commended
Politico
Politico thrived during 2020, in the face of challenging circumstances. The media organisation, which focuses on European politics and policy, hired close to 50 new staff members and increased its audience numbers, across both free and paid for offerings. It provided daily coronavirus coverage and created new products to meet audience demand, with a daily roundup coronavirus newsletter and an extra weekly podcast dedicated solely to the pandemic and its effects across the continent. It also expanded its data offering, with live updated charts on all aspects of the pandemic and the vaccination effort. A live tracker on the changing travel restrictions across Europe proved particularly popular.
Shortlisted
The Financial Times
The Economist