Digital awards entries rise

Johannesburg - Entries to the Bookmarks, the digital marketing industry's awards for online advertising, have almost doubled this year, in sharp contrast to the decline in digital entries to the Loerie Awards.

Entries topped 400 across the agency and publisher categories, compared with 229 last year.

In total, 42 agencies and 32 publishers submitted entries for the 43 categories.
 
But was this because of a genuine rise in interest and use of the medium - or because the number of categories, and therefore of potential winners, almost tripled?

Nikkie Cockroft harbours no doubts. "It reflects both the growing stature of the awards as well as the rapid expansion of South Africa's digital landscape," says the chairperson of the Bookmarks awards and deputy chair of the Digital Media and Marketing Association.

"The entries represent a diverse range of online disciplines and players, bearing testimony to the vibrancy of South Africa's digital environment."
 
There were 270 paid entries across both the publishing and agency categories, as well as 132 nominations for individuals and teams that have excelled in the digital space in 2010.

The Bookmark awards contest, now in its third year, is the only platform dedicated to celebrating all that is digital.

This year, the highest number of submissions was received for "Best Integrated Campaign" in the agency category.

This is testimony to the fact that more and more digital campaigns are being run across multiple channels, destinations and even devices.

The entries in the "Best Social Media Campaign" category were also high, reinstilling the importance many brands are placing on effectively leveraging the social graph.
 
The awards ceremony takes place on November 18 in Cape Town.

The Loeries, held in October, suffered an across-the-board 5% decline in entries which affected many categories, not only digital.

This was attributed to economic conditions.

 - Fin24