INMAs: Kiwis triumph, Aussies pipped at the post

Four Asia Pacific publishers were among the seven which took two or more first-place awards in last night's INMA awards.

Having scored 13 finalist places in the nominations announced in March - more than any other country than the US - News Corp Australia might have been disappointed to come away with only two top awards. Metro tabloids The Advertiser, the Courier-Mail, the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun won 'best brand awareness' for their 'Project Icon' campaign, and The Australian took their 'best marketing solution for an advertising client' category for a campaign for GE.

Here's the Herald Sun version of the Project Icon video, complete with Dame Edna and Sir Les.

Enjoying an especially good night were Fairfax Media New Zealand with three golds, Mumbai Mirror (part of India's Bennett, Coleman & Co giant) and Singapore Press Holdings' the Straits Times, like News Corp Australia each with two gold awards.

Top Kiwi winners were Fairfax Media New Zealand, which won gold for best use of consumer research for its 'Communities Refresh' project; and for best new corporate innovation initiative for 'News Rewired -- Writing Our Next Chapter'; with Wellington-based Fairfax unit Waikato Times/Stuff.co.nz taking the prize for best video category for 'All In'.

NZME's New Zealand Herald also won gold for the best idea to grow advertising sales or retain advertising clients for 'NZME Advertising Challenge 2015'.

In India, the Mumbai Mirror's 'Mumbai Heroes' won best brand awareness, regional/local; and the 'Mumbai Mirror Girls Soccer League' was judged the best idea to encourage print readership or engagement.

Singapore Press Holdings' two golds went for best execution of print advertising for 'The Interactive Newspapers', and for best new concept to incubate products or ideas for the Straits Times Innovation Lab.

The Fairfax Media NZ 'News rewired' project was also judged best in the Asia-Pacific, with Mumbai Mirror's 'Mumbai Heroes' best in the South Asia region. Overall winner was Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet, for 'The Pyramid'.

The awards dinner was held in the Raphael Gallery of the Victoria & Albert Museum, with dinner guests surrounded by the great artworks of the 15th Century in a building opened in 1857, a time when the UK's newspaper industry was itself on a growth spurt.

The 40 first place awards honoured the world's most innovative initiatives to grow audience, revenue and brand in the emerging multiplatform ecosystem, and were presented by president Mark Challinor.

The competition generated 699 entries from 264 news brands in 40 countries. This year's Silver Shovel award went to Polish media executive and Harvard University Nieman Fellow Grzegorz Piechota.

"It was an amazing spectacle to behold - the world's top media industry innovation initiatives presented amid the splendour of the world's leading museum of art and design," said INMA executive director and chief executive Earl Wilkinson. "Despite enormous transformational challenges, media companies are finding new ways to connect with audiences and advertisers across platforms."

Award winners were (Group 1 regional/local brands; group 2 global/national brands):

Best Brand Awareness Campaign:

Group 1

First Place: The Advertiser, The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, Australia, "News Corp Australia Project Icon"

Second Place: The Oklahoman, United States, "The Oklahoman Brand Campaign"

Third Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, "A Brand-New Newspaper"

Group 2

First Place: Aftonbladet/Svenska Dagbladet/Schibsted, Stockholm, Sweden, "Yellow Boats"

Second Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, "VG's 70th Anniversary"

Third Place: The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, "WSJ Make Time"

Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

Group 1

First Place: Mumbai Mirror, India, "Mumbai Heroes"

Second Place: The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, United States, "Emotion Revolution"

Third Place: London Evening Standard, United Kingdom, "The Estate We're In"

Group 2

First Place: The Independent, London, United Kingdom, "#Refugeeswelcome -- Independent Online and Print"

Second Place: Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland, "City Labs - How Gazeta Wyborcza Changed Polish Cities"

Third Place: El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia, "No Time to Keep Quiet"

Best Use of an Event to Build a News Brand

Group 1

First Place: The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, United States, "The Arizona Storytellers Project"

Second Place: Correio, Salvador, Brazil, "Afro Fashion Day Salvador"

Third Place: Herald Sun, South Bank, Australia, "Herald Sun 25th Anniversary"

Group 2

First Place: The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada, "The Globe and Mail Federal Leaders' Debate on the Economy"

Second Place: The Times of India, New Delhi, India, "TOI Green Drive"

Third Place: The Times & The Sunday Times, London, United Kingdom, "Build The News"

Best New Print Product

Group 1

First Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, "A Brand-New Newspaper"

Second Place: The Advertiser, Adelaide, Australia, "The Advertiser Real Estate Magazine"

Third Place: Publimetro, Mexico, "IGN Mexico"

Group 2

First Place: The Economist, London, United Kingdom, "The World If from The Economist"

Second Place: Die Welt, Berlin, Germany, "Blau"

Third Place: The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, "WSJ One Journal"

Best Use of Mobile

Group 1

First Place: Newsday, Melville, United States, "Newsday Mobile App"

Second Place: Toronto Star, Canada, "Toronto Star Touch"

Third Place: Isolezwe, Durban, South Africa, "Isolezwe Asidlale Mobile Campaign"

Group 2

First Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, "Nyt Chat App -- Media is Talking to You"

Second Place: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, "FAZ DerTAG"

Third Place: AsiaOne, Singapore, "AsiaOne Mobile Apps for iOS and Android"

Best Use of Video

Group 1

First Place: Waikato Times/Stuff.co.nz, Wellington, New Zealand, "All In"

Second Place: Newsday, Melville, United States, "Newsday Multimedia"

Third Place: The Advertiser, The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph, and Herald Sun, Surry Hills, Australia, "News Corp Australia Project Icon"

Group 2

First Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, "VG's 70th Anniversary"

Second Place: Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, "Aftonbladet Perspektiv"

Third Place: El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia, "Time to Fly"

Best Launch of a Brand or Product to Create An Audience Segment

Group 1

First Place: North-West Evening Mail, Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom, "Choose South Cumbria"

Second Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, "Enkontra.com"

Third Place: Toronto Star, Canada, "Toronto Star Touch Launch"

Group 2

First Place: Il Giornale.it, Milan, Italy, "Crowdfunding for War Reporting"

Second Place: The New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, "WatchMe"

Third Place: Metro International, Santiago, Chile, "IGN"

Best Idea to Encourage Print Readership or Engagement

Group 1

First Place: Mumbai Mirror, India, "Mumbai Mirror Girls Soccer League"

Second Place: Cape Argus, Cape Town, South Africa, "Student Co-Edited Edition"

Third Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, "The Club Of People Who Don´t Know Boredom"

Group 2

First Place: Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland, "Travelling Museum of Polish History"

Second Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "Not Just Another Diva!"

Third Place: Dainik Jagran, New Delhi, India, "Creating a Newspaper For The Future, By The Future"

Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement

Group 1

First Place: Correio, Salvador, Brazil, "The Silence of the Innocents"

Second Place: Gannett Network of Local Publications, McLean, United States, "Insider Program"

Third Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, "Revamped E-mail Marketing"

Group 2

First Place: Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark, "How to Get Users to Register"

Second Place: El Espectador - Comunican, Bogotá, Colombia, "Vote In Good Conscience"

Third Place: Financial Times, New York, United States, "Financial Times Engagement Metric"

Best Use of Social Media

Group 1

First Place: Vanguardia, Saltillo, México, "#Soy Noticia" (I Am News)

Second Place: NewsLocal, Surry Hills, Australia, "#SnapSydney"

Third Place: Austin American-Statesman, United States, "Creating Viral Interest in 'Big J' Journalism"

Group 2

First Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, "Bieber Coverage on Snapchat"

Second Place: The Times of India, New Delhi, India, "The Great Indian"

Third Place: Independent Media South Africa, Durban, South Africa, "Mojo (Mobile Journalism)"

Best New Paid Content or Subscription Initiative

Group 1

First Place: Zero Hora, Porto Alegre, Brazil, "ZH Tablet + Digital Newspaper"

Second Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, "The New Winnipegfreepress.com"

Third Place: The Advertiser, The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph, and Herald Sun, Surry Hills, Australia, "News Corp Australia Tablet Value Bundle"

Group 2

First Place: Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, "The Pyramid"

Second Place: My Weekly & My Little Weekly, Paris, France, "French Newspaper Weekly Paid English Supplement"

Third Place: Jyllands-Posten, Copenhagen, Denmark, "Finans"

Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Retain Advertising Clients

Group 1

First Place: Zero Hora, Porto Alegre, Brazil, "Destemperados"

Second Place: La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, Argentina, "Branded Space: Growth and Retention"

Third Place: Fairfax Media, Auckland, New Zealand, "Melbourne Cup Incentive Programme"

Group 2

First Place: The New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, "NZME Advertising Challenge 2015"

Second Place: Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, "Helsingin Sanomat Multi-Channel Frontpage Ad"

Third Place: Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India, "Friday Jam Season 2"

Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client

Group 1

First Place: The Des Moines Register, United States, "YMCA of Greater Des Moines -- Summer Campaign"

Second Place: Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, United States, "Frontier Communications"

Third Place: The Daily Mercury, Brisbane, Australia, "Brand Extra - Flight Centre Travel Extra"

Group 2

First Place: The Australian, Surry Hills, Australia, "GE"

Second Place: News.com.au, Brisbane, Australia, "Storyful Endeavours Prove Tasty"

Third Place: The Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, "The AIB Start-Up Academy"

Best Execution of Print Advertising

Group 1

First Place: Courrier Picard, Paris, France, "Pedometer Inprint"

Second Place: The Oklahoman, United States, "The Oklahoman Sports Campaign"

Third Place: The Daily Telegraph, Surry Hills, Australia, "It's a Wrap"

Group 2

First Place: The Straits Times, Singapore, "The Interactive Newspapers"

Second Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, India, "One Tree One Life"

Third Place: Daily Mirror, London, United Kingdom, "Sky 1 Apocalyptic Takeover of The Mirror"

Best Execution of Native Advertising

Group 1

First Place: Montreal Gazette, Canada, "Montreal Gazette/Concordia University: Rethinking Montreal"

Second Place: Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, National Post, Toronto, Canada, "Postmedia/Aeroplan: Behind the Moment"

Third Place: The Daily Mercury, Brisbane, Australia, "Brand Extra -- Flight Centre Travel Extra"

Group 2

First Place: Quartz, New York, United States, "Davos and Bank of America"

Second Place: Fairfax Media, Pyrmont, Australia, "South Australia Tourism Commission"

Third Place: The Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, "Kenco Coffee V Gangs"

Best Use of Data Analytics

Group 1

First Place: Winnipeg Free Press, Canada, "Winnipegfreepress.com Data Collection and Data Use"

Second Place: Fairfax Media, Auckland, New Zealand, "Touchpoint NPS Research"

Third Place: Courier-Journal, Louisville, United States, "Kentucky Kingdom for CRM Analysis"

Group 2

First Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "Churn Prediction Model"

Second Place: The Independent/i/London Evening Standard, United Kingdom, "How Data Analytics Transformed ESI Media´s Digital Sales Strategy"

Third Place: VG, Oslo, Norway, "Conversion Helper: The Tool to Boost Subscriptions"

Best Use of Consumer Research

Group 1

First Place: Fairfax Media, Auckland, New Zealand, "Communities Refresh"

Second Place: The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun, Surry Hills, Australia, "There´s No Place Like Home"

Third Place: Gazeta do Povo, Curitiba, Brazil, "Turn Comments Into Insights"

Group 2

First Place: The Wall Street Journal, New York, United States, "WSJ Customer Knowledge Program"

Second Place: U.K. Newspapers - Newsworks, London, United Kingdom, "How People Buy"

Third Place: The Economist, New York, United States, "The Economist Group Millennials Research"

Best New Corporate Innovation Initiative

Group 1

First Place: The Dallas Morning News, United States, "GuideLive.com"

Second Place: Toronto Star, Canada, "Toronto Star Touch Launch"

Group 2

First Place: Fairfax Media, Auckland, New Zealand, "News Rewired -- Writing Our Next Chapter"

Second Place: Storyful, Dublin, Ireland, "Innovating Everywhere"

Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, India, "No Negative Monday"

Best New Concept to Incubate Products or Ideas

Group 1

First Place: Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, Toronto, Canada, "Capital Ideas"

Group 2

First Place: The Straits Times, Singapore, "The Straits Times Innovation Lab"

Second Place: El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia, "The Multimedia Journalism School of El Tiempo"

Third Place: Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal, India, "Annadaan"

Best Idea or Innovation to Create New Profit Centres

Group 1

First Place: Toronto Star, Canada, "Your Money Matters! Financial Literacy Program for Teens"

Second Place: Edmonton Journal, Canada, "Edmonton Journal & Everywear"

Third Place: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, United States, "Oahu Media Group"

Group 2

First Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "Loyalty Program - From an Anti-Churn Tool to a Profit Generator"

Second Place: Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, "How to Build the Brand Through Brand Extensions ... and Achieve Great Profits"

Third Place: Russmedia Digital, Schwarzach, Austria, "Russmedia Solutions"

Entries for next year's Global Media Awards competition close on January 27, 2017.

Pictured: Jerry Siah and Lee Su Shyan with Singapore Press Holdings' two awards

On our homepage: Kiwis from Fairfax Media and NZME. share their success (from left) Ben Strang, Gareth Codd, Sarah Judkins, Courtney Strom and Shayne Currie