Born Free and Zoological Society of London win coveted international awards
Howard Lake | 26 November 2009 | News
Animals were the order of the night at The APA International Customer Publishing Awards as animal charities Born Free (in association with Land Rover) and Zoological Society of London both triumphed within the Best Video and Best Annual report categories respectively. The awards celebrate excellence within editorialised branded content.
Bushmeat, a video produced by customer publisher Redwood on behalf of its client Land Rover worked with the Born Free Foundation to raise awareness about illegal poaching and consumption of bushmeat in Kenya. Best Use of Video is a new category this year and celebrates a relatively new medium available for brands to communicate their specific messages to their audiences. The five minute video streamed on the Land Rover site was created by the team behind Land Rover’s customer magazine Land Rover Onelife. It is an unbiased and authoritative report into the work undertaken by the Born Free Foundation. It examines the work they carry out to eliminate this practice, and provides Land Rover with an opportunity to showcase how its vehicles help, without explicitly promoting the 4×4. The judges praised the video saying “this is a fantastic and seamless piece of work and a great execution for both brands. It’s highly educational and really sticks in the mind.”
Think Publishing’s annual report for Zoological Society of London: ZSL Living Conservation, The Year in Review 2008, picked up Best Annual Report. In general annual reports do not have the best reputation when it comes to creativity and typography. But the shortlist appeared to signal a trend towards real innovation and compelling editorial when it comes to disseminating large amounts of information across to its stakeholders. ZSL Living Conservation, The year in Review 2008 immediately grabbed the judges attention with its inviting brochure feel and great signposting. The report both communicates the work of ZSL and manages to encourage the reader to support the organisation further. One judge commented: “You can see a lot of thought has gone into this. There’s a really natural feel to it, which goes very well with the brand.” Another said “You really want to read it – and who wants to read an annual report?”
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Comments Julia Hutchison, COO, APA:
“Both of these categories are new to the awards this year and it’s really encouraging for the third sector that not-for-profit organisations are the inaugural winners as it demonstrates how effective charities are at marketing themselves. As charities cannot be seen to be profligate with their donor’s money, particularly in the current climate where fundraising has taken a steep nose dive, it is vital for such organisations to grab every opportunity with both hands and make the most of it as a communication tool. Both of these awards showcase this sentiment.
“The last 12 months have been difficult; it would be naive to think otherwise. However, the Awards are about celebrating and despite the economic climate, there is still much to be positive about. Editorialised branded content has long been recognised for delivering measurable results and it is for this reason that the customer publishing industry remains one of the most buoyant media. To recognise this we relaunched our awards this year in order to take into account work from across the globe and from non-members. As a result we have had a more diverse range of winners, from a record 15 different organisations.”
Anthony Miller, Head of Media Development, Royal Mail said:
“Even in an undeniably difficult climate, the winners of this year’s APA Awards have shown an incredible return on investment for clients in the retention of customers and for brand building, demonstrating the effectiveness of customer publishing initiatives to connect with specific audiences.
“The new awards format, encompassing international and non-APA member entries, perfectly highlights the vibrancy and diversity of the channel on a global scale and reinforces just how vital the provision of entertaining and informative content is to customers – whether business or consumer.”
ENDS
About APA International Customer Publishing Awards
The APA International Customer Publishing Awards are “The Oscars” of the editorialised branded content world and an annual calendar highlight.
They recognise the extraordinary talent that is alive within a flourishing industry, which creates editorial content for organisations enabling them to communicate more effectively with their prospect and existing customers.
The 2009 awards, in their new format, held at Old Billingsgate, received a record-breaking 420 entries competing for 26 prizes including the highly coveted Grand Prix. Additionally, in the eleven year history of the awards, attendance has never been so high, meaning a change of venue was necessary to accommodate all those wanting to celebrate the achievements of this burgeoning industry.
About the APA
The APA is a not for profit organisation representing the £900 million customer publishing marketplace. Formed in 1993 the APA now has 46 full members, comprising 90 per cent of the UK market, producing publications and digital content for over 1,000 leading brands and organisations in the UK and internationally. Customer publishing is the second fastest growing media channel and APA exists to champion and encourage this growth on behalf of its members. It is widely recognised for being one of the most innovative and supportive industry associations and has launched a number of initiatives including APA ASK, its free new business consultancy service, APA Digital, APA Insight, APA Green, APA World and APA Events, all designed to further push the editorialisation of branded content as an effective marketing solution.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.