Judges at the 11th annual Digital Publishing Awards, held in Camden’s Roundhouse last night, were impressed with how the long-standing print title had developed and implemented its digital first idea and execution, calling upon ‘all of the best and most creative skills of our industry’.
The app, which tracked the movement and performance of football players to provide statistical comparative analysis of players during a game, was heralded for "leveraging audience and data", with judges concluding "this entry delivered a genuinely innovative idea that elevated its brand to a new level of product thinking".
David Hall, editor of FourFourTwo, said: "FourFourTwo’s performance at the AOP Awards last night was a massive thumbs up for the brand from the digital world. To have our Stats Zone app win not only the Innovation category and Use of Mobile but also scoop the Grand Prix award laid down a marker that confirms what we’ve known for some time: FourFourTwo is more than just a magazine."
Also on the night, Future won the prestigious Digital Publisher of the year award in the consumer category and the Launch award for its magazine portfolio on Apple newsstand. The judges noted Future’s "bold investment, successfully working with Apple to deliver strong commercial results and highlighting a commitment to the future."
The Mail Online won the digital ad sales team award, for "a team at the head of its game, who really took the bull by the horns in the judging year."
Deezen won the digital publisher of the year in the business category, while AOL Huffington Post Media Group, which celebrated its first anniversary in the UK this week, won the Pureplay Publisher 2012 award.
IPC Media went into the awards with , and won two categories for NME.com for its use on social media and consumer website.
Incisive Media’s Business Green won best editorial team in the business category, while Shortlist Media’s Shortlist won best consumer editorial team. The award for the best website went to UBM’s Property Week.
Winners and judges comments below
Launch 2012
Winner: Future magazine portfolio on Apple Newsstand - Future
Judges’ Comments: ‘A bold investment, successfully working with Apple to deliver strong commercial results and highlighting a commitment to the future.’
Highly commended: Emerald Street - Shortlist Media
Editorial Team - Business 2012
Winner: BusinessGreen - Incisive Media
Judges’ Comments: ‘A good old fashioned B2B editorial success story. Small team getting great results by building influence and securing exclusives. In a challenging sector, delivered real value back to the business.’
Editorial Team - Consumer 2012
Winner: Shortlist - Shortlist Media
Judges’ Comments: ‘A tiny team delivering pitch-perfect content for a young brand and clearly having fun in the process.’
Highly Commended: Guardian - Reading the Riots - Guardian News & Media
Research & Insight Project 2012
Winner: Online Engagement: 'Myth' or Metric? - BSkyB & Cranfield School of Management
Judges’ Comments: ‘Challenged existing concepts and provided a template for the future evaluation of engagement. A foundation stone study the judges are sure we'll see referenced in many future works, it’s a good balance of commercial and academia.’
Digital Ad Sales Team 2012
Winner: Mail Online
Judges’ Comments: ‘A team at the head of its game, who really took the bull by the horns in the judging year.’
Highly Commended: Parenting - Immediate Media
Digital Advertising Operations Team 2012
Winner: Trinity Mirror
Judges’ Comments: ‘A great story about a hard working team with bags of personality who really roll their sleeves up and get stuck in. The judges thought it a remarkable effort and most impressive how such a small team had trafficked so many campaigns across the year, while working within such a large sales team.’
Highly Commended: Telegraph
Product Team 2012
Winner: Auto Trader Mobile Product Team
Judges’ Comments: ‘The winners had very clear objectives and exceeded them. A truly innovative customer-focussed team whose approach puts the business in a good place for the future.’
Highly Commended: BSkyB Mobile Applications and Services Team
Innovation 2012
Winner: FourFourTwo Stats Zone app - Haymarket
Judges’ Comments: ‘Brilliant innovation in a competative space. Demonstrating excellent viral credentials with fantastic real-time features for users.’
Highly Commended: The Guardian Facebook App
Cross-Media Project 2012
Winner: Farmers Guardian Tractor Factor - Briefing Media
Judges’ Comments: ‘Tractor Factor created wow factor on a small budget, with very creative use of an existing idea totally customised to its target audience.’
Highly Commended: Gardener’s World / PG Tips - Immediate Media
Top Gear / Hertz - Immediate Media/BBC TopGear
Use of Mobile 2012
Winner: FourFourTwo Stats Zone App - Haymarket
Judges’ Comments: ‘A standalone app ideally suited to mobile which seamlessly integrated social features all of which powered its commercial success.’
Commercial Partnership 2012
Winner: Microsoft - Ford C-Max - Microsoft
Judges’ Comments: ‘The only entry you couldn't have done 2 years ago. It's an integrated, cross-platform solution that really worked. The judges liked the innovative concept and would like the industry to aspire to this.’
Use of Video 2012
Winner: Guardian Music - Guardian
Judges’ Comments: ‘Producing everything from live streaming to full scale editorial content, this team has mastered telling stories with video native to digital platforms. The quality of its output would be the envy of some broadcasters.’
Use of Social Media 2012
Winner: NME.com - IPC Media
Judges’ Comments: ‘Reimagined the whole brand through the intelligent use of social media, covering all touchpoints and platforms appropriate to its audience.’
Digital Editorial Individual 2012
Winner: Alex Fletcher, Digital Spy - Hearst Magazines UK Judges’ Comments: ‘A stand-out winner - you can see his energy and enthusiasm had a direct impact on the overall success of the site.’
Highly Commended: Paul Lewis - Guardian
Technology Partner 2012
Winner: Local Stars
Judges’ Comments: ‘Local Stars brought order to the chaos of online advertising with a groundbreaking solution that harnesses the long tail of demand.’ Highly Commended: Pugpig
Website - Business 2012
Winner: Property Week - UBM
Judges’ Comments: ‘A well-rounded B2B brand that innovated in 2011 with impressive mobile and subs strategies linked to strong commercial success, making this a worthy winner.’
Website - Consumer 2012
Winner: NME.com - IPC Media
Judges’ Comments: ‘With a host of innovative partnerships, a great example of how digital has become the dominant platform for a brand has made a successful transformation from print to digital.’
Highly Commended: Digital Spy - Hearst Magazines UK
Pureplay Publisher 2012
Winner: AOL Huffington Post Media Group
Judges’ Comments: ‘With a very strong product portfolio, they are market leaders that have shown strong growth over the past year. On a number of initiatives they are leading the market. Strong strategic vision and measurable execution.’
Digital Publisher - Business 2012
Winner: Dezeen
Judges’ Comments: ‘A smart entrepreneurial brand, with beautifully designed products - from websites to pop-up shops. Strong evidence of experimentation, fast growing revenue and audience.’
Digital Publisher - Consumer 2012
Winner: Future Publishing
Judges’ Comments: ‘From its innovative approach to new launches, significant organic growth to reaching the tipping point where digital revenues offset those from print - Future is the deserving winner!’
Grand Prix 2012
Winner: FourFourTwo Stats Zone App - Haymarket
Judges’ Comments: ‘The judges were impressed with how the winner developed a long-standing print title with a digital first idea and execution that called upon all of the best and most creative skills of our industry. Leveraging audience and data, this entry delivered a genuinely innovative idea that elevated its brand to a new level of product thinking.’
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