UK Content Awards 2021 by Don't Panic Events

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RELIVE THE UK CONTENT AWARDS Thank you to all who attended our second live event of 2021 at the Montcalm Marble Arch London. We are glad to be back, face to face, and delivering live awards to celebrate your achievements. The UK Content Awards recognised UK Content excellence. The Awards are shining a light on agencies, in-house teams and individuals who are creating innovative, exceptional content that attracts, informs and engages audiences to deliver traffic and of course ROI! We’d like to say a huge thank you to our esteemed panel of judges. Their experience, knowledge and expertise make the UK Content Awards respected and valued; awards that clients and colleagues can trust. A big thank you also goes to our award partners Digital Agency Network, DAN Institute & Pimento, and thank you media partners and category sponsors Tribe Global and One Minute Briefs. Don’t Panic have made it through the last 15 months by taking award ceremonies virtual and the competition has remained fierce. Thank you for being part of the event and for your loyalty and commitment to UK Content excellence, we look forward to celebrating you and your work now and in the future. See the conversation from the night on social media using the hashtag #UKContentAwards Nicky Wake,

Founder, Don’t Panic Events

The strength of a network With A can-do INDEPENDENT Spirit Pimento is a fully integrated marketing and communications agency, supported by the UK’s largest community of independent consultants and agencies. As a result, we are able to tailor teams and responses to the specific needs of our clients. We firmly believe that flexibility can help drive profitability. So, in this era of unprecedented change, we are uniquely placed to deliver agile thinking and executions to help businesses get ahead of it.

Find out more pimento.co.uk

GAVIN RAMJUAN Gavin Ramjaun is a presenter, host and senior journalist across popular TV and radio shows and content in the UK in sports, entertainment and news. His TV work includes hosting and anchoring for BBC Sport and BBC News, BBC One, Sky Sports News, Sky News, CBS News in America, breakfast television for ITV and Channel 5. Along with developing a strong social footprint, he’s often hosting for media events, business keynotes, and other creative commercial campaigns. He’s also known for his work as a global speaker, talking to international business groups on making messages and stories count, his life experiences and working his way up from the bottom as a runner, his experiences with diversity, racism and breaking barriers, his knowledge and forecasting on the current media landscape, and hosting awards and dinners. His passion for industry and people has seen him grow this interest by engaging in motivational talks to youth groups, schools and universities.

EMPOWERING YOU AS AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS. Tribe Global is a growing network of ambitious, award-winning, independent communications agencies and smart business partners. You’ll find us in more than 70 cities across Europe, the America’s, the Middle East and Asia. We stand strongly with independent agencies to deliver value and provide them with competitive advantage. We are delighted to be a sponsor of these awards, which recognise and celebrate only the very best campaigns, teams and companies in the digital sector. A huge congratulations from the Tribe to all of this year’s finalists!

Contact Ian Wright to find out how we will empower your business. i.wright@tribeglobal.net

www.tribeglobal.net

Jenny Abouobaia SEO Consultant

Richard Keenan-Heard Head Of SEO | Trainline

Carlotta Bonafini SEO Product Owner | Vodafone

Pete Knott Associate Director | Lansons

Lisa Carr Director | Lansons

Steve Kuncewicz Head of Creative, Digital & Marketing Sector Group | BLM Law

Justin Clark Social Media Consultant | JustSocial Michael Costanzo Head Of SEO | Internet Fusion Group David Crawford Founder | The Digital Strategy Unit Paris De Reuck Content & Community Strategist Lyndsey Evans Founder | Collaborative Folks Terry Fisher Marketing Director | Movebubble Dee Goldstraw Senior Lecturer | Manchester Metropolitan University

TRAVEL / LEISURE CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST VisitBradford Sparkling Bradford Winter Campaign FRUKT, MRM & ibis MUSIC Gigs At Home / #RatherBeTogether Motive & My Baggage A Breath of Fresh Air Rise at Seven & Parkdean Resorts Hedgehog Holiday Park

Rise at Seven & Parkdean Resorts WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

On a mission to drive traffic, authority, links and brand during OFF PEAK winter season for Parkdean Resorts, we ran a search-first multi-platform creative campaign which landed 227 links, videos views of 70k+ and a solution to a nationwide problem for local wildlife.

The judges thought this particular campaign was original and very memorable. And, most importantly - it smashed its KPIs!

With the objective to drive awareness and traffic to their lodges and caravans situated in woodland / inland areas – we ran a campaign that brought our customers and wildlife together to raise awareness of the decline of hedgehogs and how they are now officially at risk of extinction.

The role of quality SEO and PR content impacted key metrics for the brand, resulting in excellent results. Keep up the good work!

The world’s first hedgehog holiday park situated in the Lake District by Parkdean Resorts was a solution to a growing problem, driving media awareness across the world, traffic in the thousands and search results which pushed Parkdean Resorts to top positions in the SERPS during a season that needed a push. A campaign which tied content, PR, video and social got talked about in 17 countries all for a local Lake District holiday park. They had one of their best winter booking seasons ever.

RETAIL CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Markethinkers & Avansas Listening to The User’s Voice PriceRunner Using expert reviews as a vehicle to move up the purchase funnel Rise at Seven & PlayStation x GAME Search for the Shapes The River Group & Co-op Back to Basics

Markethinkers & Avansas WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

95% of our customers are businesses, but in the online world, we have to compete with national e-commerce giants in terms of SEO.

Some smart actions were taken during this campaign which really impressed us all as judges.

The primary online goal of our brand is to get ahead of our competitors and to win small businesses that mostly buy their needs from B2C e-commerce sites, especially through organic searches. Although they are small businesses, they comprise the majority of the market and generate greater revenue potential. The closure of offices and small businesses due to the pandemic created a big challenge for us. Beyond losing our B2B customers, we had to compete with B2C e-commerce giants to attract white-collar employees. In the detailed competitor research we conducted, we saw that the authority of our competitors is higher than us, they have much more backlinks and their product range is wider than us. The biggest gap we saw was that detailed, responsive to users' concerns, and unique content was not available on our competitors' websites. Since our B2C competitors are websites that serve as marketplace concepts, they are sites that cannot create their own product content. However, we have seen that the content which is supported by market research data can make a huge difference. Winning this award is great motivation to our entire team for what we will do in the UK market

The campaign demonstrates some impressive results that were achieved on a quite modest budget. They also did an excellent job using competitive intelligence. Having a non-English speaking client must of had its challenges, but this was definitely not reflected in the results achieved.

HEALTH CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Curated Digital & Specsavers UK Covid-19 Care Hub Hill+Knowlton Strategies & Takeda I Am Number 17

Curated Digital & Specsavers UK WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

March 2020 was an uncertain time for all businesses across the UK and Ireland. While many were forced to close due to Government restrictions, Specsavers remained open, providing essential eye and hearing services to those in-need.

This entry stood out because of their focus on value. They really understood their audience and they marketed a product that combated a current issue.

With ever-changing guidance and clinical research connecting COVID-19 to eye and hearing conditions, Specsavers partnered with Curated to pivot their content activity to support customers and communities through lockdown uncertainty. The resulting Covid-19 Care Hub housed articles and videos ranging from eye health and hearing advice, to myth-busting articles. Topics were identified through Curated’s Assurance Framework, which used search listening to identify emerging health trends, such as blue light and conjunctivitis, in real-time. Content was developed in collaboration with clinical experts, and regularly updated as new research emerged. Overall, content drove 3.5 million unique page views, resulting in 43,400 appointment bookings & requests (April 2020 - Feb 2021). In what has been an unprecedented period for healthcare, Specsavers has set precedent for safe healthcare at home, as a trusted voice providing genuinely useful and authoritative content. Ultimately, Specsavers’ reactive strategy met the needs of the public by addressing their key concerns, cutting through the noise, and ensuring those in-need continued to receive essential care.

This entrant pivoted their content activity to support customers and communities through lockdown uncertainty. Reacting to live search insights as the pandemic progressed shows the campaign was a flexible and agile, which addressed key questions and concerns the public had. Greats to hear that this campaign helped to futureproof the business. Excellent work.

FASHION CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST At the judge’s discretion, there was no shortlist for this category.

Quill Content WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Quill is the global leader in multi-language content production for e-commerce, defining a completely new model for high-volume, high-quality, multi-language content creation, based on the powerful combination of technology and talent. We specialise in Performance Content: the critical pre-purchase information that directly drives e-commerce revenues – such as product and category descriptions, Amazon A+ content, buying guides and destination guides.

This next entry produced a high volume of content. However, the judges were impressed with the increase of traffic and sales generated, followed by a very high customer satisfaction rate form the service provided.

We create over 5 million words of bespoke content a month – plus videos and graphics – for 250+ clients, including global brands such as eBay, Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton, M&S, Trivago, Farfetch, Dunhill and John Lewis.

Elements within this campaign were tactically impressive. Well done, keep up the good work.

Our innovative model leverages a highly flexible, global network of 12,000+ freelance content specialists, centrally managed through the Quill Cloud platform: pioneering technology that streamlines and automates complex production and quality control processes to enable a level of efficiency, speed and scale that’s impossible to attain in-house or via traditional agencies.

FINANCE CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Compare the Market & Sticky Finance Content Campaign of the Year Creode & Skipton Building Society Financial fitness Verve Search & Paxful Exposing the scale of TikTok’s finance misinformation Zenith & NatWest Putting people before product with The Student Living Index

Compare the Market & Sticky WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Compare the Market (CtM) had a costly social content strategy that wasn’t achieving organic search objectives. It was time for a rethink. CtM partnered with Sticky Content to devise and implement a website content strategy based on Google’s principles of Expertise-Authority-Trust (E-A-T) and reflecting CtM’s brand positioning, all within the constraints of the highly regulated financial services sector.

All the judges thought that this campaign used SEO in such and impressive way.

Clear. Concise. Simple. Like the brand itself, so too would be the content. Emphasis was put on copy that reflects the customer’s query and intent while addressing the E-A-T principles. Price Comparison Websites operate in the most competitive of all verticals from an organic search perspective, so it could be argued that CtM has reached the pinnacle of search by achieving top results for critical keywords like car insurance, home insurance and life insurance. The rankings not only dramatically improved, but they remain consistently high due to the nature of CtM and Sticky Content’s partnership – an ongoing, iterative process to continually challenge, improve and tweak content. And a significant improvement in ROI versus the previous strategy is proof positive that it works!

With such an increase in high-value rankings this must have generated significant value for the business. With solid quantitative targets set, great results were achieved. Fabulous work!

ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST 33Seconds & Sky TV Art Is…..For Everyone Havas Media & BBC I May Destroy You Hill+Knowlton Strategies & Activision Call of Duty: Warzone PlayOJO & Cubaka Compulsion

Hill+Knowlton Strategies & Activision WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

At the beginning of 2020, Call of Duty was up against its fiercest competition yet in the gaming and Battle Royale space with rivals keeping millions hooked.

The judges enjoyed reading this entry and is worthy of recognition! Brilliant results were achieved with an impact on popular culture.

In March, Call of Duty released Warzone, its free-to-play Battle Royale. Its mission: take back the throne and reassert cultural domination. Using fresh content every 60 days and tapping into the community’s wider interests, Hill+Knowlton’s campaign drove mass awareness across EMEA and UK and made Warzone the pop culture phenomenon of 2020 – keeping fans locked in all-year round and making it the fastest-ever Battle Royale game to hit 85m players. Our campaign showed how content can be used to drive public conversation, bringing video game content beyond its immediate category to engage the entire entertainment audience. Winning this UK Content Award is a fantastic recognition of this ambition.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT / CHARITY CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Content and Social Media Teams Battersea Celebrates 160 years Earthtopia & 33Seconds Building TikTok’s Biggest Eco Community Frank & March of the Living UK ‘Meet the Survivors’ psLondon & The University of East Anglia LOVE UEA Small Films & MCH.London The Responsible Advertising Agency / Power2Inspire The Virtual Boat Race Stonewater and BECG A Safe Place The Open University #OU50words campaign

Frank & March of the Living UK WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, March of the Living UK arranges for Holocaust survivors to lead thousands on a 3km walk from the gates of Auschwitz to the gas chambers at Birkenau, where over a million victims were murdered by the Nazis, as part of an important educational initiative. This year, with travel to Poland not possible due to the pandemic, Frank was tasked with bringing the concept closer to home. With Holocaust survivors decreasing in number, March of the Living knew that time was running out for the survivors to share their testimonies and needed something to do that.

This winner simply had a great campaign, followed by great results. Although their budget was small, they utilised it well, which was clearly impactful for their client.

We created a series of films – ‘Meet The Survivors’ – where we paired up leading British celebrities and influencers Matt Lucas, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Robert Peston, Baroness Karren Brady and Eyal Booker with some of the Holocaust survivors who would have normally led the march, to create a series of emotional, hugely moving, inspirational and educational films which were released across their social channels on April 8th to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021. Holocaust education is perhaps more important now than ever: awareness about the extent of the Nazi atrocities is too low and survivors who are still alive to share their experiences are getting fewer in numbers as the years pass. The pandemic was a huge blow to March of the Living in that respect, but the ‘Meet The Survivors’ content series provided a powerful new way for the charity to educate people and keep the survivors’ stories alive… forever.

Three words to sum up this campaign and why it won: strong, emotional and thought provoking. Well done!

PUBLIC SECTOR CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST AB Brand and Marketing Agency & Devon County Council / Proud to Care Devon Building Devon’s future health and care workforce careers campaign University of Plymouth Plymouth on Demand

University of Plymouth WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

At a time when universities suddenly had to change tack as COVID-19 hit and open day events couldn’t be held, many created 'virtual open days' that were, in essence, open day talks behind a registration. We turned the idea of signing up to a virtual open day on its head and put the content upfront.

The judges we were particularly impressed with how this winning entry differentiated themselves in a time where their approach needed to change.

By making content available whenever users wanted it, and without asking anyone to sign up and give their details first, 'Plymouth on Demand' sent a clear, important message illustrating Plymouth’s values – to be helpful, friendly and informative, without barriers. We planned to show Plymouth with authenticity, no registration required. We put it all out there, warts and all. Rough around the edges, but real, and a massive team effort was planned across academic and professional staff. We were all in it together and the emotion was palpable. Winning this award shows our boldness in moving away from tradition, and herculean effort in realising our goals has gained valuable recognition, not just for successful return on investment, but for teams that thoroughly deserve a pat on the back for pulling this off in such extreme circumstances.

Their approach responded to the change in customer needs caused by the pandemic, leading to a strong increase in registrations and attendees vs the previous years. This showed they really listened and responded to their audience demand and as a result achieved fantastic results.

B2C CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Aira & Liberty Games Driving Connections During Covid-19 with the ‘UK’s Best Home Bar’ Competition Compare the Market & Sticky B2C Content Campaign of the Year connective3 & Comparethemarket.com Industry Leading Link Building Impression & Marmalade Driving Success in a Competitive SERP Landscape Oh My! & Virgin Media 30 Seconds to Shine

FleishmanHillard UK & Novartis WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

As a leading medicines company, Novartis’ mission is to improve or extend human life. “Going Big on Data and Digital”, a commitment from Novartis that involves strategic partnerships with tech leaders including Amazon, Tencent and Microsoft, as well as investments in pioneering technologies in-house, is crucial to achieving that mission. Such a commitment could only be fulfilled with the best tech talent, but big tech drove the conversation, leaving little space for pharma.

Wow was the word used to describe this winning campaign.

A report, A Powerful Pairing, was developed as the foundation to house this revised narrative. A Powerful Pairing was much more than just a report. Informed by real insights into tech talent’s desire to change the world and launched collaboratively with a global, 360 campaign, the report enabled Novartis to show how data scientists could be part of the solution to some of the world’s most complex healthcare issues. Novartis received hundreds of inbound requests from high-calibre talent wanting to help Novartis in the company’s mission to transform medicine using the power of data and digital technologies. This report made a tangible difference to Novartis but has also undoubtably played a role in creating a newfound appreciation of pharma as a career choice for tech talent. This is how Novartis led a migration from tech to health, resulting in Novartis becoming the go-to destination for top tech talent.

They had the right balance of content, always linking it back to the objectives, which really helped showcase their success and well thought through process. It was clear that heaps of value were achieved. The judges can honestly say this campaign was executed flawlessly; tight and creative. It really came to life.

B2B CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST AmbitionABM & Fortinet The Future of Mobility

Impression & Mitrefinch The Crisis Resource Hub

Blend & Cass Information Systems The Makings of a Key Player in the Cloud

LinkedIn + Contented LinkedIn Ad Vantage, the first B2B choose-your-own adventure video experience

Champion Communications & MobileIron Trouble at the Top

Maze & Germains Xbeet enrich 200

FleishmanHillard UK & Novartis Recasting Pharma as a top tech talent destination

Memetic Communications & Eseye Limitless possibilities: Delivering disruption with IoT

Hanover Communications, Suntory Beverage & Food Gb&I Launching Ribena Raspberry Rays: A New B2b Co-Creation Opportunity

We Influence & Salons Direct 493% Increase in Assisted Conversions through Content during COVID-19

Impression & Marmalade WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Impression started in 2014 as a bedroom agency run by 2 relatively unheard of digital marketers supporting local businesses. Today, we’re a multi-award winning, internationally recognised performance agency of high-calibre strategic specialists working with a host of global brands.

This campaign conducted audience audits to understand who they needed to talk to.

A lot has changed over the course of 6 years, but our values have remained consistent; we believe that business can be a force for good and we're committed to creating a positive impact for our employees, our community and our environment. Despite the challenges faced as a result of the pandemic, we have been able to retain all of our staff and we have even grown our team in line with our rapidly expanding portfolio. We’re really proud that we’ve been able to achieve growth ourselves, whilst helping our clients continue to grow too. We show pride in doing things well and we’re dedicated to being the best at what we do, and to helping our clients do the same. Winning this award is an incredible achievement, providing validation for our digital PR team and for our clients. We’re excited by what we do and to have this recognised is fantastic!

Then they really established how they needed to talk to the audience through the brand, social, events and internal comms activities. This report created all the insights that led to high profile engagements internationally. A well planned and orientated campaign right from the start.

CONTENT STRATEGY OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST ao.com Choose AO

Digital Natives & Breville Turn On Your Creativity

Blend & Safetybank Improving Health & Safety in Industry

Impression & AskTraders A Quality Investment

Checkatrade The True Costs of Home Improvements

Make Honey & BioSelf Technology Sensate II crowdfunding launch

connective3 & thortful Achieving a 1000% ROI from organic search

Rise at Seven & Raisin UK Turning Finance into Fame

Curated Digital & Specsavers UK Covid-19 Care Hub

The Harmony Agency & OPPO Find X3 Pro Awaken Colour launch

ao.com WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

At AO, everything we do is driven by a customer-first mindset. We make it our mission to strive to better understand both people and our products. Our products are often purchased in distress, with 60% of orders being made to replace a broken product. But there’s so much more to our products than a quick deal (although we do that brilliantly too!). For us, doing our job right means making sure our customers are aware of all the features and benefits that could genuinely enhance their life. Whether that’s a self-cleaning oven, or a TV you can talk back to. As a result, we’re able to make sure the right person sees the right content at the right time. An end-to-end view of all content on a customer’s path to purchase with a focus on functional, not lashy content. And it’s paid off significantly, with substantial traffic, revenue and conversion wins.

The judges felt that this entry had a well thought out customer-centric strategy rooted in data and insights, which delivered strong traffic and revenue growth. This entry is a great example of a content transformation piece.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Carousel & Paddington Bear Inviting families to #PawsWithPaddington

JUMP, Havas Entertainment & Giffgaff Check Your Drawers

Cuckoo Design & English Cities Fund Valette Square Launch Campaign / Valette Square

Rise at Seven & PlayStation x GAME Search for the Shapes

Digital Natives & Breville Turn On Your Creativity Earthtopia & 33Seconds Building TikTok’s Biggest Eco Community Immediate Future & Auto Trader This is NOT a Car Advert

Stonewater & BECG A Safe Place The River Group Lloyds Pharmacy the tree & Arlo European Strategic Content & Social Account

Carousel & Paddington Bear WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Paddington set out to lend a helping paw to overstretched parents during the first lockdown, around the world, through a series of weekly activities on social media. On an extremely modest budget, Carousel delivered interactive challenges themed around the franchise, from Twitter Q&As between Paddington and Mr Brown (actor Hugh Bonneville), celebrity storytime readings; to bespoke craft tutorials and sketch-alongs; quizzes; customised Zoom backgrounds and downloadable activity packs.

It was clear to see that this winning submission had a well curated programme of content, that helped exceed their targets.

#PawsWithPaddington’s campaign objective was to highlight this iconic character as a figurehead for kindness and positivity when parents and their cubs needed it most. This was obtained by delivering an organic reach of 1.4 million, which drove 170,000 engagements and as a by-product grew the fan base by over 16,000 over 4 months.

This achievement was particularly impressive with the budget they had to play with. Overall, a great low budget entertainment campaign was achieved with impressive results to show for it. Congratulations and keep up the great work!

VIDEO CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Arc Studios & Diabetes UK Know the Symptoms of Diabetes Digital Natives & Breville Great Coffee Made Simple Oh My!, ROAST & Creative Content UK Get It Right From A Genuine Site Rise at Seven & GAME x Microsoft The Next Gaming Influencer Rise at Seven & Parkdean Resorts Hedgehog Holiday Park Small Films & MCH.London The Responsible Advertising Agency / Power2Inspire The Virtual Boat Race

Rise at Seven & Parkdean Resorts WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

This entry was great from start to finish. The judges really like this campaign, it was truly video-led and it works across multiple channels.

It was founded on solid research, and driven by some excellent content, it was no doubt that the KPIs were smashed. Very well done.

INTEGRATED CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Gravity Global & Embraer The Profit Hunter Gravity Global & MAN Truck and Bus Superhuman Hill+Knowlton Strategies & Smart Energy GB The Green Aisle Rise at Seven & GAME x Microsoft The Next Gaming Influencer Rise at Seven & Taylor & Hart Love is Everywhere Semetrical & FDM Group A Creative Content Approach for a Technical Training Giant Stonewater & BECG A Safe Place YRS TRULY & ASUS ROG React to Survive

Hill+Knowlton Strategies & Smart Energy GB WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Smart meters are considered a way to save money on energy bills, yet few appreciate that they can also benefit the environment.

The winning campaign went beyond an integrated campaign.

We partnered with Homebase to create ‘The Green Aisle’ – a first-of-its-kind, one-stop shopping destination that showcased energy efficient and eco-friendly home improvement products including smart meters which will help make homes greener.

They smashed those KPIs out of the park! There was a clear key audience group and great results achieved across all channels.

The campaign generated 422 pieces of editorial coverage and resulted in 93.4m impressions. Homebase saw an average uplift in sales of 24% from The Green Aisle across its hero stores. Most importantly, smart meter installations, as registered by Electrolink, were up 7% in October compared to September.

All the judges were impressed with the press that was generated off the back of the campaign.

Winning a UK Content Award for this work is a fantastic reflection of how a simple idea, executed well, can create content that resonates across the press and social media and make a traditionally ‘dry’ subject newsworthy.

LOW BUDGET CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Cherish PR & Jeyes Fluid The Great British Garden Spruce Up Katie Lingo #Write52 Motive & My Baggage A Breath of Fresh Air The Open University #OU50words campaign

The Open University WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Our flash fiction campaign #OU50Words built on the success of its previous iteration and created positive brand engagement across our social channels. We challenged ourselves to create community engagement around a proven common interest – in this case writing -whilst promoting and showcasing academic expertise and course content. We brought together multiple audiences - students, staff, alumni and prospects - in an engagement piece that resonated across social at a time when people needed a distraction from events and a point of focus.

All the judges were impressed with the results achieved with the budget available to this entrant. Not only did they exceed their targets, but they also reversed decline in organic reach.

Our content was themed around the care sector, with our photographer herself being a keyworker in the NHS. With public sympathy high we not only gave people a platform for a creativity, but also a way of collectively thanking and honouring NHS staff as story subjects. As our results show, when we double down on what works with our audiences, as a social team, we can have a big impact on a micro budget.

We were also very impressed with how this winning entrant truly engaged with their audience. The imagery used was very captivating and creative. Superb work, well done!

INFLUENCER / CELEBRITY CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST 33Seconds & Sky TV Discussions on Trauma, as depicted in ‘I Hate Suzie’ Born Social & Air Wick No Scent Like Home Frank & March of the Living UK ‘Meet the Survivors’ The Harmony Agency & OPPO Find X3 Pro Awaken Colour launch Oh My!, ROAST, Tin Man & Creative Content UK Get It Right From A Genuine Site Oh My!, Tin Man & AB InBev Mike’s Hard Seltzer – Don’t Overthink It PlayOJO & Cubaka Compulsion

Oh My!, ROAST, Tin Man & Creative Content UK WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

How could we help reduce online piracy by encouraging 16-24 year olds to get their film, TV, music, gaming and sports from genuine sites, on behalf of the government and industry- backed 'Get it Right From A Genuine Site' campaign? And in the middle of a stay-at-home order, when our audience were online more than ever before?

This winning entry nailed it. The campaign was executed with clear objectives and a real focus on their target market.

By celebrating the creative content that got young people through that lockdown, showing love to content creators and empowering audiences to do the right thing – via spot on influencers who engaged rather than enraged. Using character-based comedic influencer Munya Chawawa and rap duo Krept & Konan, we produced two hero films and eight social ads for paid, earned, shared and owned channels which gave a loud cheer for the creative industries. Our stellar paid media planning and buying was delivered by TIPi Group’s performance agency ROAST. The results outperformed all expectations. For the first time in 2 years and against all the odds, piracy levels instantly and noticeably stopped increasing (independent research by Ipsos MORI conducted in October 2020).

Audience testing throughout the campaign added real weight, which lead to organic results. This entry is an excellent example of segmenting your audience to identify your target to drive results.

CRISIS RESPONSE CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST At the judge’s discretion, there was no shortlist for this category.

the tree & Anglo American WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

the tree is a social-first digital marketing agency, based in London but with a global presence.

In a time of crisis, this winning entry engaged with a lot of people across the world to tell a powerful story.

This was a one-of-a-kind campaign, because it related to an unprecedented crisis. There was no real blueprint for a crisis response like this, and we feel it is a testament to our adaptability, decisiveness and teamwork that the way we dealt with it was a success. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the world shut down, but mining was deemed an essential service across all the markets in which Anglo American operated globally. We had to act fast and be agile, and through the power of social and content we helped Anglo American educate the public on why mining companies are allowed to operate as well as educating people internally on what to do and what changes Anglo American were making to communities through the power of content. We focus on real-world outcomes through social-first thinking, and we take great pride in our values. The team look at the work they do through the lens of its consequences in the real world, making sure that everything they do has a positive effect. We see agencies as occupying an unusual place in the social media world. And we made sure that we met Anglo American at this level, committing to approaching the work we did together in an honest, ethical, valuable way.

Their reach was just outstanding. What they achieved in such a tough, challenging industry is exceptional. The use of content to break down barriers between the public, with what is essentially a relatively unengaging subject matter, while leveraging the CSR actions of the client is just superb.

ROI CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Born Social & Bravissimo More Than A Measure Compare the Market & Sticky ROI Content Campaign of the Year Digital Natives & Breville Great Coffee Made Simple Markethinkers & Avansas Listening to The User’s Voice Rise at Seven & PlayStation x GAME Search for the Shapes

Rise at Seven & PlayStation x GAME WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

One of GAME’s biggest retail days of the year was coming up – the launch of the new PS5. PlayStation and GAME worked with Rise at Seven to deliver a searchfirst creative campaign across web, social and PR driving hype for the new console launch and putting GAME at the centre of the conversations as one of their retailers.

This winning company really made a splash! They smashed it! Their creativity when it comes to search stood out, which they also integrated within so many other areas. Not only this, but the time frame of the campaign was truly impressive.

This campaign caught the attention of GAME’s audience with an innovative idea, drove huge traffic (320k page views) to the GAME site and produced some astounding social engagement numbers with 1.99 million impressions. It’s one of the most engaged with pieces of content GAME has ever executed and created a huge ROI. The activity drove an increase in organic rankings for key PlayStation games too and was an all-round multi-platform campaign that deserves industry recognition. The results speak for themselves in what is one of our most successful social media campaigns ever. GAME and Rise at Seven have a long-standing relationship and winning this award means the world to both parties who are always trying to push the creativity in retail campaigns.

They turned negative sentiments into positive, which is a hard thing to achieve. All in all the campaign did exactly what it intended to do.

OUTREACH CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Aira & Uswitch Outreaching for New, Quality & Relevant Links using The Top Selling Electric Car Campaign connective3 & Canine Cottages Doggy Devotion: Driving Links by Raising Heartrates Rise at Seven & pCloud Invasive Apps

connective3 & Canine Cottages WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Dog friendly holiday cottage brand Canine Cottages came to us looking for a brand-relevant digital PR campaign to build links in the national media, due to be launched during the first lockdown of 2020. The project was set a KPI of 10-15 links.

This campaign was fantastic, innovative and exciting. With what can only describe as a totally bonkers DIY idea, there was a great level of detail that went into the content hook.

At a time where the media agenda was overwhelmingly negative, we took a different approach and created a heart-warming campaign, titled Doggy Devotion: a campaign designed to show how our dogs reacted physically to our presence. Using heart rate monitor collars, we conducted a study and outreached to press with the results. Launching exclusively with ITV, the campaign delivered links and coverage globally, from sites including the Metro, Reader’s Digest and even the USA’s People Magazine. Nearly 500 links were delivered, and we increased referring domains to the Canine Cottages site by a whopping 59% in just one campaign. With a strong creative concept, supported by solid data and expertly outreached by our team, we were able to achieve incredible results. Winning this award is a real testament to the skill of our team, and a credit to the hard work they put in to deliver such fantastic results.

High scores were given for their creativity and innovation for what felt was a heart-warming campaign.

COLLABORATIVE CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST 33Seconds & Vauxhall Switch It Up Loops the tree, INK & easyJet easyJet Traveller

the tree, INK & easyJet WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

In the COVID era, we have supported INK, easyJet and many other UK companies hit hard by the crisis, strengthening their brands and allowing them not just to connect with their audiences but reach new ones.

The judges felt that the amount of media revenue generated within this winning campaign was impressive considering the huge pullback on spend within the sector they were working within.

Working with INK, we went about producing the content to populate the easyJet inspiration hub. This included travel guides for all 30 of easyJet’s destinations, editorial around reactive content themes stemmed from social listening, to truly provide a unique experience for our audience. Alongside this punchy content, we wrote editorial around key sales themes for easyJet, working to align with the wider brand strategy and teams. We deployed a strategic content approach, with content to fill all stages of the funnel, creating touchpoints with the user throughout the entire buyer journey, integrating the platform with easyJet’s transactional sites to create an experience without disconnect, and drive conversion. Winning this award reflects our belief in cooperation. We always look to support others and form partnerships if we think it leads to the best result for the client. INK is a partner of longstanding and has played a major role in some of our most successful client work. This award recognises our history of supporting iconic UK brands, and helping them to evolve and find their place in the modern world.

They had a great reaction to significant market shift, with a clear goal of engaging customers in new ways. The creativity within the campaign is incredible and from the outside looking in, it was acknowledged the value this will generate for years to come.

CRM / EMAIL CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST At the judge’s discretion, there was no shortlist for this category.

Tempcover WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

This entry highlights how Tempcover has successfully launched a data-driven CRM programme that has enhanced existing customer relationships and converted enquirers into paying customers – leading to a measurable increase in brand loyalty and repeat purchase, while reducing reliance on paid channels.

The agility and personalisation of this winning campaign was impressive. The results prove that when done well email can have a large impact on a business.

Tempcover specialises in short-term car, van, motorbike, student, and learner insurance – having sold more than 3.4-million policies since 2006. We enable drivers aged 18-75 with full UK, provisional and EU licences to purchase temporary fully comprehensive coverage from as little as 1-hour to 28-days in duration. Our short-term policies offer truly flexible cover for the time drivers actually need – with no long-term commitment or auto-renewals. Our temporary cover does not impact other annual policies or no claims discounts, as it is a separate, standalone policy. The Tempcover team has worked tirelessly to create a better user journey by adding demonstrable value to short-term motor insurance customers through its CRM programme. Winning this award is an endorsement from our industry peers that our data-driven approach to marketing is making a real difference to enhancing customer relationships.

This was a rare public example of an SMS-led campaign executed flawlessly with impressive results.

BEST USE OF DATA IN A CONTENT CAMPAIGN SHORTLIST Champion Communications & MobileIron Trouble at the Top Katie Lingo Is Your Content Really Worth It? Markethinkers & Avansas Listening to The User’s Voice

Champion Communications & MobileIron WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

MobileIron (acquired by Ivanti) an enterprise security and mobility company, was struggling to stand out amongst its target audience of decision makers. While MobileIron’s innovative mobile-centric zero trust security solutions are far more specialised than competitors like Microsoft, MobileIron was being undermined by competitors offering solutions for free and couldn’t get in front of C-Suite buyers. Champion was challenged with developing a campaign to engage these decision makers, enhance demand in MobileIron’s products and services, and generate leads that the sales team could follow up with. To do this, we conducted market research that highlighted how the C-Suite is often the weakest link when it comes to enterprise security.

This winning entrants results were really impressive. The judges could see that they clearly exceeded what they set out to do, plus much more.

The data collected enabled us to create a news narrative of panic and shock around the issue of C-level security, dubbed ‘Trouble at the Top’. We were able to sell this narrative into the media and generate media coverage that engaged MobileIron’s C-Suite decision makers, while highlighting MobileIron’s expertise and ability to help solve the issue. Winning the Best Use of Data in a Content Campaign award is a testament to the quality of our research led campaign and recognition of the hard work of everyone involved from Champion and MobileIron.

Tapping into contextual information about the macro environment was clever, timely and appropriate.

BEST INTERNAL CONTENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Bladonmore & LSEG Hill+Knowlton Strategies & SIX FI BOOSTing The Strategy Rise at Seven The Sauce

Hill+Knowlton Strategies & SIX FI WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

In 2020, the incoming CEO of major financial services company, SIX Financial Information, looked to launch a new business strategy and boost performance.

This winning entry had very strong results, which was particularly impressive in the time frame given and the added challenges presented as a result of the pandemic.

Communicating the new strategic direction was an important step, but the real challenge would be delivering in what was a risk-averse business. This required a change of culture, mindset, and behaviour – all done from home. Rising to the challenge, H+K created BOOST: a comprehensive behaviour change campaign designed to inject fresh energy and excitement into the organisation and encourage staff across the world to pull toward the new collective vision. Putting content at the heart of the programme, as well as a vibrant brand identity for change, helped key business leaders translate the strategy into action and share ideas, success stories, and educational tools with the wider business. And it worked – with 100% of employees participating globally and increasing all engagement metrics.  Winning this award for our work is a brilliant recognition of how behavioural science can be used to inspire internal content that truly engages its audiences.

The judges could clearly see that this team was focused and driven. It was great to see that the clients positive response.

BEST CONTENT SERIES SHORTLIST Checkatrade The True Costs of Home Improvements connective3 & thortful Achieving a 1000% ROI from organic search Earthtopia & 33Seconds Building TikTok’s Biggest Eco Community Gravity Global & Embraer The Profit Hunter Impression & DeltaNet International Reacting to the Ever Changing News Agenda Oh My! & Virgin Media 30 Seconds to Shine Wavemaker & Love The Garden A Quality Content Series that Sowed Seeds for Business Growth

Gravity Global & Embraer WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The Embraer ‘Profit Hunter’ campaign by Gravity outperformed competitor aircraft manufacturers globally.

All the judges felt this entry was very well evaluated. It showed how B2B marketing, when done well, can have a direct impact on sales.

Giving the brand fame in the largest markets of the US to places where the brand has little awareness like Kazakhstan and successfully selling to these markets. In Kazakhstan the airline requested the campaign to be reproduced on the nose cone of its own aircraft… hitting the front pages of international media. This campaign deserves to win because the multichannel approach was truly connected and as a result outperformed all other manufacturers campaigns – some with 20x the level of spend. It’s now the industry’s number one talked about favourite globally as well as setting a new performance benchmark.

The judges also liked it's multichannel approach to content, showing how one campaign can work across multiple channels. This campaign has quickly become iconic within a very niche sector, while delivering an outstanding financial return on investment.

RISING STAR IN CONTENT AWARD SHORTLIST Dan Daly LinkedIn Kendra Rogers psLondon Sam Ward Art of the Possible

Kendra Rogers, psLondon WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Kendra Rogers is a trailblazing marketing professional with a track record of delivering unparalleled creative and strategic work for blue-chip clients across the globe. She’s the youngest (ever) member of award-winning agency psLondon’s senior leadership team and heads up one of its key functions — Insight and Strategy.

This individual is most definitely a rising talent who has shown great aptitude and promise. This individual has also demonstrated a clear passion for their chosen career developing their skills both in and outside of work, showing a beautiful balance to life.

Kendra played a vital role in building the agency’s FutureThinking methodology and proprietary workshop, research and brand architecture, which underpins its unique approach to solving client’s problems and content creation. She spends her time considering the future and how brands can effectively navigate it to achieve their desired outcomes. This is based on the understanding that the best content is based on meaningful insights and speaks to people as human beings, whether the campaign is B2C or B2B. She is also a committed feminist and diversity and inclusion evangelist. She’s co-chair and co-founder of psLondon’s D&I Committee, Founder of the Friendly Feminist Book Club, and a Board Member of the Anti-Racist Social Club. She also recently founded the Paper Napkin Podcast, a place for connection and amplifying the voices of those across the global, political, ethnographic, neurodiverse and gender spectrum. Her hard work today is creating a better future for all of us.

Not only delivering exceptional work in agency, but also achieving impressive commercial results. This individual is a well-rounded person, who champions the need for strategy and insights. They also have a passion for feminism, diversity and inclusion, while holding a strong focus on levitating marginalised voices. Truly remarkable!

IN-HOUSE CONTENT TEAM OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST ao.com Content Marketing Team BIMM Institute Creative and Content Team Dixons Carphone Currys PC World Content Team LinkedIn Content & Social Team EMEA & LATAM LinkedIn Marketing & Sales Solutions QinetiQ Insights team Shell International Content Engine

Shell International Content Engine WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Just before the dawn of television service in the UK, some brands began making use of film. Shell was one of the first. In 1934 the Shell Film Unit was created by some of the UK’s earliest and finest documentary filmmakers. They roamed the world documenting Shell’s work in far-flung places, bringing home images the public had never seen before. This acclaimed unit remained functioning up until the 1990’s, when a roster of external providers took over.

This next winner really stuck out as a memorable entry. The team pulled together in the face of a challenging year. They didn't just focus on the output, they adopted an impressive approach to achieve quality, with a team spirit throughout.

In 2018 the Shell Film Unit was re-born as Content Engine. Like its earlier incarnation, the unit is home to some highly awarded documentary filmmakers, but unlike its predecessor (and most in-house teams) Content Engine is not centrally funded. It competes against external suppliers to win projects and relies on its reputation and developing return-business to survive. The team responds to client briefs with audience-first creative concepts, social strategy and award-winning content across a wide range of social media platforms. Projects range from a single video post to complex livestreams and multiplatform integrated global marketing campaigns. Being recognised as a winner of this prestigious UK Content Award connects this highly talented team to their filmmaking forefathers and instils an immense sense of pride.

Some amazing examples of work were created, and the results achieved were impressive. They clearly create great work that is loved by their clients and meets its KPIs. Bravo.

BEST START-UP AGENCY SHORTLIST Make it Social London Oh My! Creative

Oh My! Creative WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Launched in the white heat of lockdown, Oh My! is a young, nimble, dynamic team already gaining recognition for our government and global brand campaigns. Mainly because we’re smashing business targets out of the park, outperforming other brand campaigns often for a fraction of the cost and proving that we’re changing consumer hearts and minds along the way.

Personality was key to this next winning Agency. The ethos of this company shined out within the entry, providing a real insight to how they operate. We have no doubt that this helped them make connections with an impressive high profile client base.

See our anti-piracy work which has reduced online content pilfering for the first time in two years. Or our Virgin Media campaign which has led to 25% of consumers reconsidering switching to the brand. We think the secret of our success is down to three things. Firstly, our ethos – we’re about creating that oh my! moment that emotionally hooks an audience into a message. Secondly, our nimble business model – perfect for a volatile market. And, last but certainly not least, it’s our collective team experience of understanding both commercial and creative challenges, agility and sheer tenacity. We just don’t give up. And we’re really nice people who love what we do.

Their output and quality of work within such a short time period is magnificent as they clearly drive results.

SMALL CONTENT MARKETING AGENCY OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST Clearhead Digital Natives Make Honey Motive The Good Marketer The Harmony Agency YRS TRULY

Digital NativeS WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The ability to over deliver on all our campaign KPIs, in spite of being derailed for the vast majority of Q2 in 2020 is testament to the dexterity, creativity, grit and true sense of collaboration both our client and agency teams possess. The versatility of work and consistency of the Digital Natives Social-First approach worked exceptionally well. We have set a fantastic foundation for growth across multiple categories in 2021 and beyond.

Despite having a reduced workforce due to the pandemic, this agency managed to increase revenue. The hard work and determination required for such an outcome must have been extremely challenging. Their campaign focused on minorities with the aim to connect with marginalised audiences. It is clear from judging this entry that all the business goals and personal goals were achieved. There are definitely great initiatives within the business and the program to help disadvantage minorities. Well done.

LARGE CONTENT MARKETING AGENCY OF THE YEAR

SHORTLIST Aira Blend Impression Rise at Seven the tree

Rise at Seven WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Rise at Seven is a search-first creative agency founded by Carrie Rose and Stephen Kenwright in June 2019. We’ve done creative campaigns across social media, PR, OOH and on websites… where the purpose is always to drive results for SEO.

This winning agency's recent achievements are strong from a company that has not been around for too long. It certainly feels exciting, as they make their mark year on year. They have done a great job with their expansion and they seem to have no limits with their work!

Our focus is to make large creative strategies work for search for the very first time, run campaigns that build brands, and strategies that move the needle in the organic market space. Our purpose is to pitch the biggest ideas to the biggest brands – against the biggest agencies – and be confident of success. We consistently beat agencies 10 or 100 times our size because we think differently and guarantee results (or we don’t send invoices). We’ve gone from generating £2.5k revenue per month to £290k revenue per month – making £1.5 million in our first year of operating to now hitting £266k revenue and making £3.2m at the end of year 2. Throughout a pandemic our workforce has increased 70% and we have expanded our services internationally to Europe and America. We’ve worked our God damn ass off to make Rise at Seven one of the best SEO agencies to work at and with – and winning this award for all our efforts means the world to us.