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THE 12th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS UNVEIL
INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING NOMINEES
Starting Today, Global Web Community Can Vote for Winners in
Webby People’s Voice Awards Presented by Nokia
New York, NY (April 8, 2008)-Capping a year that saw record online advertising revenues, seven-time nominee Tribal DDB leads the list of agencies competing to take home honors at The 12th Annual Webby Awards this June, organizers announced today.
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Websites. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington, Harvey Weinstein, Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s Alex Bogusky, R/GA’s Bob Greenberg, TribalDDB’s Matt Freeman, AKQA’s Rei Inamoto, and Ogilvy & Mather’s Annie Wong.
Other agencies receiving multiple nominations across all Webby categories include Media Front (5), Crispin Porter + Bogusky (4), R/GA (4), Wieden + Kennedy (3), Grand Union (3), AKQA (3), and McCann Erickson (3). Of the big four advertising holding companies, Ominicom is the frontrunner with 13 nominations, followed by Omnicom (7), Publicis (3), and WPP (3).
In all, nominees were announced in 15 interactive advertising categories, including Online Guerilla Marketing, Mobile Advertising, Online Commercials, and Viral Marketing. A full list of all nominees can be found at http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/.
A highlight this year is the debut of a Best Integrated Campaign category. Reflecting the Internet’s unique adaptability, the new category honors advertising that seamlessly incorporates media such as print and broadcast with a Web-focused component. The nominees include: SS+K’s “A Fuller Spectrum of News”; AKQA’s “Halo 3 ‘Iris”‘Alternate Reality Game”; Wieden + Kennedy’s “Nike Zoom”; Lowe Roche Advertising’s “Stella Artois Traps”; and 42 Entertainment’s “Year Zero.”
“The Internet has increasingly become the centerpiece, rather than an afterthought, of advertising campaigns, and that’s clearly reflected in this year’s nominees,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “These ads and campaigns are setting the standard for the entire advertising industry.”
Unlike other awards shows, where only judges choose the winners, The Webby Awards also give the interactive advertising community an opportunity to decide who will take home a Webby. Starting today through May 1, the public can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards presented by Nokia at http://pv.webbyawards.com.
Winners will be announced on May 6th, 2008 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 10th. All winners will take to the stage to deliver one of the Webbys’ famous five-words-or-less speeches. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote”), Beastie Boys (“Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Prince (“Everything you think is true.”)
Highlights of the interactive advertising nominees include:
– The 12th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. Finalists in the interactive advertising categories hail from 15 countries, including Brazil, Japan, The Netherlands, Spain, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, and Mexico.
– Interactive campaigns continue to be at the forefront of innovation in online film and video. Nominees reflecting this trend include Farfar’s (Sweden) “Heidies 15 MB of fame” for Diesel and BBH’s (New York) “Trevor the Mentos Intern” in the Online Guerilla Marketing category. Contenders in the Online Commercials category include: Showtime Network’s “Brotherhood: Champion cardstacker …”, TBWA/Media Arts Lab “Don’t Give Up on Vista”, Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s “Lawyer Films Campaign”, DDB’s (Chicago) “Swear Jar”, and Saatchi and Saatchi’s (LA) “Tacoma Truck Summoner.”
– The rapidly-evolving field of mobile advertising is highlighted in the new Mobile Advertising category. Nominees include: Ogilvy’s (Singapore) “American Express Mobile Concierge”, The Hyper Factory’s (New Zealand) “Motorola Say Goodbye” and “Wellington Zoo”, R/GA’s “Nike Zoom Mobile”, and SS+K’s “Say Much More.”
For information on nominees in other Webby Awards categories, including Websites, film and video, and mobile content, visit www.webbyawards.com/press. PricewaterhouseCoopers provides vote tabulation consulting for The Webby Awards.
About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 12th Annual Webby Awards received a record 9,500 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Adobe; The Creative Group; .ORG; The Barbarian Group; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Variety; Wired; IDG: Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.
OSCAR® is a federally registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are in no way affiliated with or sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or OSCAR®.
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