2021 Winners
Editor of the Year
Winner: Alastair McLellan, Health Service Journal, entered by Wilmington Healthcare
Alastair had broken down boundaries to drive change, putting 13 years of experience to great use and demonstrating exemplary knowledge, all backed with impressive testimonials.
Highly commended: Lily Barclay, bbcgoodfood.com, entered by Immediate Media
In Lily’s first editorship she has shown great spirit and understanding of community, together with great thought leadership.
Journalist of the Year
Winner: Jennifer Savin, Cosmopolitan UK, entered by Hearst UK
Jennifer adapted really quickly to digital journalism, using data and tools to understand the audience, combined with personal experience to produce really engaging, campaigning content resulting in a change in the law.
Highly Commended: Matt Mace, edie, entered by Faversham House
Matt managed impressively with a reduction in his team, and is an entrepreneurial journalist, experimenting with different formats to increase output and results.
Rising Star, sponsored by Lewis Silkin
Winner: Emily Robinson, The Independent, entered by Independent Digital News and Media
Emily has made a huge contribution to the business media in a short space of time, her creative thinking and proactive, results driven nature have delivered tangible results.
Sales Person of the Year
Winner: Molly Matthews, entered by News UK
Molly delivered phenomenal results whilst still focussed on developing and nurturing her colleagues, and her entry was backed by outstanding testimonials.
The Local Hero Award, sponsored by Google News Initiative
Winner: Caroline Wilson, The Herald
Caroline demonstrated attention around an important issue, resulting in clear impact that affected change.
Highly commended: Geraldine Scott, The Yorkshire Post
A well put together entry, Geraldine works across a variety of formats, and represents local community at a local level.
Advertising Operations Team of the Year
Winner: Octave Operations Team powered by Bauer Media & News UK, entered by Octave Audio
The judges were really impressed with this teams’ response to a challenging task in challenging times; building a new ad tech stock and data structure for a brand-new business is no easy thing.
The judges also wanted to praise the positive investment in the ad ops team, demonstrating recognition of the value of the team that run ad operations.
Audience Development Team of the Year, sponsored by UKOM
Winner: The Sun, entered by News UK
The Sun’s strategy to grow direct traffic was implemented well and not blown off course by the pandemic; this team also showed great collaboration and effective use of data and insights.
Editorial Team of the Year: B2B
Winner: Health Service Journal, entered by Wilmington Healthcare
This team took bold business decisions and showed empathy to their audience by dropping the paywall, and their entry was backed by impressive testimonials.
Highly Commended: Insurance Post, entered by Infopro Digital Services
They had a clear editorial strategy that they delivered on and supported their audience with a new knowledge centre.
Editorial Team of the Year: Consumer
Winner: Cosmopolitan UK, entered by Hearst UK
This team showed great audience insights, talking to the audience in a clear distinctive voice. They were both proactive and reactive, constantly trying and testing new things and also demonstrated great writing for a huge volume of content.
Highly Commended: Digital Spy, entered by Hearst UK
They showed clear thinking and changes in strategy and responded directly to audience insights.
Product Development Team of the Year
Winner: The Telegraph Media Group Commercial Innovation Team
This team is trailblazing! They are picking the right partners and delivering not just for themselves but the benefit of the industry, creating a better media experience for the readers and advertisers.
Sales Team of the Year
Winner: Dezeen
When faced with significant adversity they pivoted the business and successfully created a new business model with the Virtual Design Festival that is now here to stay.
Best Creative Solutions Led / Content Marketing Campaign, sponsored by Unruly
Winner: Dezeen & Samsung Out of the Box Competition, entered by Dezeen
An impressively creative and innovative entry, exceeding the expectations of the client.
Highly Commended: Feeding Britain For MediaCom & Tesco, entered by Mail Metro Media
This entry demonstrated the ability to pivot for the pandemic, they engaged the audience and captured the mood of the nation.
Best Digital Publishing Innovation, sponsored by Xandr
Winner: Dezeen
This company were honest about the challenges they faced, pivoted at speed, created a property that will have real value, and executed their strategy really well.
Highly Commended: Ozone Marketplace, entered by The Ozone Project
This team demonstrated amazing results, building a product with real long term potential to solve an industry challenge.
Best Diversification of Commercial Strategy, sponsored by Deloitte
Winner: The Independent, entered by Independent Digital News and Media
This entry demonstrated a clear strategy with clear results, across a breadth of successful opportunities.
Best Media Technology Partner
Winner: Sourcepoint
This company used an omnichannel approach to innovation, delivering a product that really addresses publisher’s needs.
Best Publisher-led Social Good Initiative or Campaign
Winner: Project Body Love, entered by Hearst UK
This initiative tackled an important issue and leveraged the community with great positive social impact.
Best Research / Insight Project
Winner: The Changing Face of Gaming – Reach & Diversity In The Gaming Market, entered by Red Ventures
This entry delivered really compelling audience insights that inspire action.
Highly Commended: ISBA / AOP / PwC Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study, entered by PwC
Demonstrated a clear impact, with significant coverage, and has given people tangible numbers.
Best Use of Audio
Winner: Small Steps, Big Impact for Mindshare UK & Dove, entered by Mail Metro Media
This entry exploited great commercial opportunities, with a clear use of audience insight to generate content that resonates.
Best Use of Data, sponsored by LiveRamp
Winner: The Independent, entered by Independent Digital News and Media
This entrant is constantly evolving, using data really effectively to evolve the brand in its business model.
Best Use of Video, sponsored by Unruly
Winner: VICE World News, entered by VICE
This entrant demonstrated a clear strategy and the content created didn’t shy away from difficult subjects.
The AOP Employer Excellence Award
Winner: Faversham House
This company demonstrates the value of partnerships and puts mental health first. It is delivering a legacy programme for its employees.
Best Online Brand: B2B
Winner: Health Service Journal, entered by Wilmington Healthcare
This company were pro-active and made a brave decision to take down their pay wall, whilst still maintaining a strong financial performance.
Best Online Brand: Consumer
Winner: bbcgoodfood.com, entered by Immediate Media
Despite a staggering 32 years in the business, this brand is still keeping things fresh, tackling anxiety and dealing with health issues.
Small Digital Publisher of the Year, sponsored by Google
Winner: Dezeen
They completely flipped their business, turning disaster into innovation. They created new products and brands that attracted big audiences and strong reviews, I bet they wish they’d done it sooner!
Digital B2B Publishing Company of the Year, sponsored by PubMatic
Winner: William Reed Business Media
Digital Consumer Publishing Company of the Year, sponsored by PubMatic
Winner: Immediate Media Co
