CATEGORIES
To read the winning 2009 campaign entries in each category, go to 2009 WINNERS.
Entering Categories:
1. Best Communication / Entertainment Platform
Entertain: This category recognises the power of a great communications platform and the thinking required to maximise its value. Core to the creation of a successful platform is the ability to entertain the consumer in order to retain attention.
2. Best Communications Strategy
Engage: This category celebrates brands that demonstrate clear consumer insight and, through the development of a brilliant strategy and precise execution, engage the target audience.
3. The Consumer Benefit Award
Benefit: This category is about delivering benefit to the consumer – be it a service, a tangible product or supporting a worthy cause – and at the same time generating goodwill or sales for the brand.
4. The Award for Media Bravery
Bravery: This category rewards brands that have taken bold steps and challenged the ‘norm’ in media communication strategy. This can include changing the weight of spend between channels (a shift from 100% TV to 50/50 between TV and digital for example) or trying something completely different for a product sector (a soft drinks company buying a record label for marketing for example).
5. Best Event / Activation
Activate: This category recognises brands that deliver an experiential channel for consumers via their own events or through sponsorship of an existing property. Events can be virtual or physical.
6. Best Use of Content
Create: This category is searching for any campaign that has used creation of content as part of its strategy. This includes everything from ad-funded TV deals to branded music projects. Judges will also be looking for innovative creation of intellectual property (IP) and also examples of how this IP is leveraged.
7. Best Consumer Driven Campaign
Advocate: Turning the consumer into a brand ambassador is a hugely powerful strategy. This category recognises those campaigns that ‘earn’ their media through consumer participation which drives the core messaging.
8. Best Use of the Digital Landscape
Interact: This category is seeking entries that have understood and integrated themselves into the digital landscape. It covers all digital media, from web, mobile, IPTV, gaming and search through to affiliate marketing and is looking for great examples of interaction using digital media’s unique properties.
9. Best Use of Mobile
Personal: This category is looking for innovative uses of the mobile channel to reach and engage consumers. Any form of mobile media will be considered, including mobile Apps, .mobi sites, mobile content or any form of mobile advertising. The key for this category will be showing how the advertiser used mobile in a creative and engaging way to obtain great results on clear objectives.
10. Best Targeted Campaign
Target: This category rewards campaigns that have identified and reached specific audiences. This includes all demographics, from youth to silver surfers and also includes specific target groups (ranging from pet owners, through to ice cream lovers). Any campaign that can be proven to target a specific audience will be considered.
11. Media Owner of the Year
Partner: This category will reward the media owner that has gone the furthest to work with partners to deliver value to the consumer and the brand. This can include the best efforts of creative solutions teams through to the development of new platforms (newspapers leveraging digital) or media owners breaking into new markets.
12. The Creative Use of Media Award
Innovate: This category rewards the innovative use of media, whether based on the channel, placement or format. It is seeking examples of brands using media to create cut through. Judges will be looking for the best examples of guerrilla, ambient and stunt based marketing. They will not be looking for the use of new technology per se, but will reward the interesting use of digital technologies.
13. Media Innovation of the Year
Invent: This category will reward the most impressive new invention / innovation in media. This category is open to all ‘traditional’ non-digital innovations, as well as technology vendors. Judges will consider entries in beta / pre-launch stage if entered with supporting information and data. Entries for this category are welcomed from any media owner of technology vendor who has a new media invention / innovation. Any campaign related use of the invention / innovation, should be entered into the Best Creative Use of Media category.
14. The Effectiveness Award
Sell: This category will reward the campaign that achieved the most against its stated targets. It will focus on effectiveness of a campaign above all other considerations. All entries must include figures showing the campaign’s direct impact on sales. Other ROI metrics will only be considered if sales figures are also supplied.
Jury / Voting Awards:
15. Media Professional of the Year
This Jury Award will recognise the media person (from agency, media owner or brand) who has contributed most to the industry in the previous 12 months. A shortlist will be created through public nominations, with the most popular nominations put forward for the Jury to select the winner.
16. The People’s Award 
The People’s Award will be a public vote to select the most popular campaign from all those shortlisted in the entering categories.
17. Agency of the Year
This jury prize will be awarded to the agency that the judges feel has displayed an outstanding level of achievement in this year’s Festival of Media Awards.
18. Network of the Year
This jury prize will be awarded to the network that has shown consistent achievement across the entering categories.
19. Advertiser of the Year 
This Jury prize will be awarded to the advertiser that has shown excellence in marketing. Judges will select the winner of the Award from all shortlisted entries and will be looking for a combination of innovative and creative use of media, fantastic results against tough budgets, inspiring brand leadership and the willingness to break the mould.
