When the New York Times is good, it's very good, and it is fair to say judges in this year's INMA Awards liked some of its ideas a lot, not least the curated NYT Now app.
Notably the 'NYT Now' mobile app which allows users to scroll through top stories in one tab. But that it made only third place in the 'best in show' accolades indicates the strength of the competition.
First place went to Medellín-based El Colombiano for 'ECOlab,' an internal media lab that has incubated new initiatives that have led to increases in revenue, audience, and market share. Judges praised the publisher for a 'sea change' in innovation that empowers employees and changes their daily routines. Second was Turkey's Radikal for 'Radikal #4Hours,' also one of four companies - with El Colombiano, Gazeta do Povo and The New York Times - which won two first-place awards.
Community and political leadership from dailies in India and Australia - including a category-winning circulation-booster from APN's Gympie Times - showed the breadth and strength of the Asia-Pacific region's publishers.
There was more kudos for APN too, with its 'Dinosaurs Collector Cards' and 'Free Seeds Giveaway' judged best and second-best ideas to grow single-copy sales, and the Sunshine Coast Daily taking a second place for best use of social media.
Other winners from Australia included News Corp Australia's metro tabloids, which gained a second place for the 'Sir David Attenborough Essential Collection', Sydney's Daily Telegraph, which won two places for its 'Fair Go For the West Campaign', and the Adelaide Advertiser/Sunday Mail, winning best marketing solution for an advertising client for its 'Clipsal 500 Adelaide'. Traveller.com.au, won a digital engagement third place for its 'Travel Bug Competition'.
Another best marketing solution for an advertising client category winner was the Times of India (Bennett Coleman & Company, Mumbai) for 'Lavasa Women's Drive' and the paper was placed - for 'Rise Up' - with Dainik Jagran in the best public relations or community service campaign category, where Dainik Jagran was also a category winner for best idea to encourage print readership or engagement.
Dainik Bhaskar's 'MiE- Magazine in Education' earned a third place for subscription sales ideas, and New Delhi-based Hindustan Times took its category in best idea or innovation to create new profit centres for 'One India'.
From Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post was placed for its 'Occupy Central Coverage'.
Australian Robert Whitehead was honoured with the 2015 Silver Shovel Award for lifetime achievement and contributions to INMA. Incoming president Mark Challinor described Whitehead as a leader in board meetings and the quintessential volunteer for conference moderation, presentations, reports, committees, and more. He first joined INMA's board of directors in 2006.
A diverse career includes roles at Fairfax Media in operations and production, as editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and in various marketing and sales roles. Today the self-described "self-employed disruptionist" is a board member of Shepparton-based McPherson Media Group. Whitehead is a former president of the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association (PANPA) and was a co-creator and board member of The Newspaper Works.
Fairfax Media - for its 'Brand discover' - was again the Asia-Pacific regional winner in INMA's global innovation awards, in which Ireland-based Storyful was the global winner. In South Asia, the Times of India was honoured for 'Rewarding excellence in media company innovation'.
Other winners were: Africa- Independent News & Media, South Africa; Europe- Sanoma, Finland; Latin America- El Colombiano, Colombia; and North America- The New York Times.
The awards were presented at the closing dinner of the 85th Annual INMA World Congress at the Edison Ballroom in New York's Times Square. Judges viewed 578 entries from 190 companies in 38 countries, awarding 30 first places in 15 categories across two audience groups (Group 1 for regional/local publications under 300,000 print circulation or with an online audience of under three million unique visitors a month; and Group 2 for larger regional/local publications and national/international publications).
"Innovation ruled the winning entries in this year's competition,' said executive director Earl Wilkinson. "We live in a transformation era, and the stand-out initiatives contributed to that transformation - whether innovation processes, social media breakthroughs, or new digital products conceived in new ways."
Full list of awards:
Best Brand Awareness Campaign Across Platforms, Group 1: 1- Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, 'Political Citizenship'; 2- Second Place: Ottawa Citizen, Canada, 'Ottawa Citizen Trending Since 1845 Campaign'; 3- Correio, Salvador, Brazil, 'Correio24horas Campaign';
Group 2: 1- De Morgen, Brussels, Belgium, 'A Renewed De Morgen: This Country Needs More Salmon'; 2- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'The Magnus-Sweater: A Tribute to Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen'; 3- Montreal Gazette and Calgary Herald, Canada, 'Montreal Gazette Calgary Herald Reimagined Launch Campaign'.
Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign, Group 1: 1- Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, 'Political Citizenship'; 2- Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, 'Read and Think Gazeta do Povo'; 3- The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Australia, 'Fair Go For the West Campaign';
Group 2: 1- Radikal, Istanbul, Turkey, 'Radikal #4Hours'; 2- The Times of India, New Delhi, India, 'Rise Up'; 3- Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, 'Can a Newspaper Save the City of Brass from Motherboards?'.
Best Use of an Event to Grow a News Brand, Group 1: 1- Zero Hora, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 'Estação ZH'; 2- The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Australia, 'Fair Go For The West Campaign'; 3- Metroland Media Group, Hamilton, Canada, 'Ontario Entrepreneur Week (OEW) 2014'.
Group 2: 1- Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland, 'Polish Your English'; 2- Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore, 'See The Big Picture'; 3- Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, 'Urban Development Case'.
Best New Print Product, Group 1: 1- The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, USA, 'Thrive!'; 2- Landmark Magazine, Hong Kong, China, 'Landmark Magazine'; 3- Milenio Diario, Mexico City, Mexico, 'Milenio Magazines and Special Editions';
Group 2: 1- Die Welt, Berlin, Germany, 'Bilanz - The German Business Magazine'; 2- Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, 'Aftenposten History - Market Leader from the First Issue'; 3- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA, 'Living Intown Magazine'.
Best New Mobile App or Mobile Web Site, Group 1: 1- O Popular, Goiânia, Brazil, 'Expresso - O Popular'; 2- Die Welt, Berlin, Germany, 'Kompakt'; 3- Austin American-Statesman, USA, 'Austin360 App';
Group 2; 1- The New York Times, USA, 'NYT Now'; 2- Los Angeles Times, USA, 'Responsive Web Redesign'; 3- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'The Magnus-Sweater: A Tribute to Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen'.
Best New Mobile Service, Group 1: 1-La Presse, Montréal, Canada, 'La Presse+ Digital Edition 'Hors-séries' Section'; 2- Diário do Pará, Belém, Brazil, 'Interactive Journal in Cup';
Group 2: 1- The New York Times, USA, 'NYT Now'; 2- The New York Times, USA, 'The NYT Now Morning Briefing'; 3- Omni, Stockholm, Sweden, 'Omni'.
Launch of a Brand or Product to Create a New Audience Segment, Group 1: 1- Le Soir, Brussels, Belgium, 'Le Soir's Fabulous Garden'; 2- El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 'Audience Profile'; 3- Diário do Pará, Belém, Brazil, 'Tudoaquitem';
Group 2: 1- Lajkat.se, Stockholm, Sweden, 'Lajkat.se'; 2- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'VG: Linear TV Channel Launch'; 3- Hürriyet, Istanbul, Turkey, 'Hurriyet.com.tr'.
Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement, Group 1: 1- The Gympie Times, Australia, 'The Gympie Times'; 2- Diário do Pará, Belém, Brazil, 'Passport Belem: 100 Things to Do in Here'; 3- Vanguardia, Saltillo, Mexico, 'Leer Mata';
Group 2: 1- Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, 'A Newspaper Acts as a Catalyst to Transform the World's Largest Democracy to the World's Best Democracy'; 2- The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Advertiser, The Courier-Mail, Australia, 'Sir David Attenborough Essential Collection'; 3- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, 'Occupy Central Coverage'.
Best Idea to Grow Digital Audience or Engagement, Group 1: 1- Berliner Morgenpost, Germany, 'Berliner Morgenpost Interactive Team Portfolio'; 2- Austin American-Statesman, USA, 'Personalize Emails for Better Digital Engagement with Subscribers'; 3- Traveller.com.au, Sydney, Australia, 'The Travel Bug Competition'.
Group 2: 1- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'The Magnus-Sweater: A Tribute to Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen'; 2- Hürriyet, Istanbul, Turkey, 'Hurriyet.com.tr'; 3- Radikal, Istanbul, Turkey, 'Radikal #4Hours'
Best Use of Social Media, Group 1: 1- El Colombiano, Medellín, Colombia, 'Twittercrónica'; 2- Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore, Australia, 'Sunshine Coast Daily: Connecting the Coast'; 3- 7DAYS, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, '7DAYS Football Fever'.
Group 2: 1- Radikal, Istanbul, Turkey, 'Radikal #4Hours'; 2- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'The Magnus-Sweater: A Tribute to Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen'; 3- The New York Times, USA, 'USA of Thanksgiving'
Best Idea to Grow Subscription Sales, Group 1: 1- MLive Media Group/ ACS-MI, Grand Rapids, USA, 'My Michigan Membership Program'; 2- The New Paper, Singapore, 'The New Paper Big Walk 2014'; 3- El Diario de Hoy, San Salvador, El Salvador, 'EDH Pack'.
Group 2: 1- The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada, 'Investor Tools Flash Sale'; 2- Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, 'Aftonbladet Plus: Historic Campaign for a Leading Freemium Service'; 3- Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, India, 'MiE- Magazine in Education'
Best Idea to Grow Single-Copy Sales, Group 1: 1- APN Australian Regional Media, Brisbane, Australia, 'APN ARM Dinosaurs Collector Cards'; 2- APN Australian Regional Media, Brisbane, Australia, 'APN ARM Free Seeds Giveaway'; 3- Diario Panorama, Maracaibo, Venezuela, '100 Triunfadores - Edición Aniversario 100 Años'.
Group 2: 1- Irish Independent, Dublin, Ireland, 'Provincial Rugby Sponsorship'; 2- Bild, Berlin, Germany, 'Inkjet: Individualization of 2.4 million Bild Newspapers Per Day'; 3- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'Win Through VG'
Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients, Group 1: 1- The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, USA, 'The Oklahoman Small Business VIP Sales Event'; 2- Fairfax Regional and Community Newspapers, New Zealand, 'AdPlan National Frequency Plan Initiative'; 3- The Post-Crescent, Appleton, USA, 'State of Opportunity'.
Group 2: 1- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, China, 'APAC Innovation Summit 2014'; 2- VG, Oslo, Norway, 'Win Through VG'; 3- APN ARM Group of Newspapers, Australia, 'APN ARM Bundles'
Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client, Group 1: 1- The Advertiser/Sunday Mail, Adelaide, Australia, 'Clipsal 500 Adelaide'; 2- Diário do Pará, Belém, Brazil, 'Interactive Journal in Cup'; 3- The Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton, Canada, 'Legal Matters'.
Group 2: 1- The Times of India, Bennett Coleman & Company, Mumbai, India, 'Lavasa Women's Drive'; 2- Bild / Bild.de / 1414 Reader Reporter, Berlin, Germany, '1414: Germany's First Photo and Video Community Introduces Branded Missions'; 3- Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland, 'Open Your City'
Best Idea or Innovation to Create New Profit Centers, Group 1: 1- El Colombiano, Medellín, Colombia, 'ECOlab'; 2- The Day and Day.com, New London, USA, 'Revenue Diversification: Expanded Marketing Division Develops Commercial Content'; 3- Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, 'City Beautiful'.
Group 2: 1- Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India, 'One India'; 2- The New York Times, USA, 'Paid Posts'; 3- GFR Media (El Nuevo Día, Primera Hora and Índice), Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 'BrandShare'
Pictured: Screens from NYT Now