Winner: Hiten Vara, Immediate Media
Vara joined Immediate Media in March 2019 and immediately made an impact as a digital marketing executive by applying his knowledge of paid search and paid social to drive print magazine subscriptions.
With a commercial, creative and organised approach, he has been able to consistently implement scalable ROI-focused initiatives that have delivered on and exceeded expectations.
Vara manages Immediate Media’s relationship with its digital marketing agency, RocketMill, to deliver campaigns that meet budgeted order volumes, revenues and lifetime value.
He also trains the Immediate team in the latest best practice and continually optimises activity through data analysis, testing and commercial objectives.
Immediate credited Vara for moving away from trial offers to drive subscription order volumes – a tactic used across the magazine subscription sector – to promoting longer-term, higher-yielding offers.
His focus on "warmer" prospects (those searching for the magazine brand) paid off, and trial offers were reserved for "colder" audiences (those searching for generic terms).
The strategy led to a significant increase in revenues and first-time renewal rates.
The move away from trial offers "also added perceived value to our offering", according to Immediate Media.
His employer praised Vara for his "excellent commercial awareness" and said he is "trusted to deliver sound advice and innovative approaches to marketing".
Highly commended
Adam Sidky, Minute Media
Sidky is a creative strategist at Minute Media, with an innovative attitude towards creative solutions. Since joining in 2016, his contributions include spearheading successful campaigns such as Budweiser’s World Cup activation (2018), Hyundai’s World Cup activation (2018), Nissan’s UCL campaign (2019) and all of Kia’s campaigns between 2018 and 2020. Minute Media says Sidky is "always game to get his hands dirty and jumps in to help" colleagues – for example, working with a video production team to capture a unique angle by fixing a camera lens to his head during a day-long shoot. He has the makings of "a true leader", his employer believes.