Digital Publishing
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Entries open as AOP prepares for its renowned annual digital publishing awards

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The Association for Online Publishing has announced that entries are now open for its flagship annual awards – in partnership with PubMatic, the automation solutions company for an open digital media industry – which benchmark and champion excellence in online publishing.

The AOP Digital Publishing Awards, now in its 15th year, has become one of the most highly regarded awards in the online publishing industry, and is known for recognising true enterprise and innovation from publishers, advertisers, agencies, and suppliers alike.

Following last year’s record number of entries, the AOP looks forward to hearing from companies who are driving excellence in editorial, publishing, partnerships and commercial approaches. The deadline for this year’s entries is Thursday 16th March 2017, and the winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London, on Wednesday 28th June 2017.

The awards will be judged by industry experts and senior publishing executives, including Liz Jones, CEO B2B, Dentsu Aegis Network UK & Ireland; Hannah Williams, Head of Digital Content, BBC; Nick Jones, Head of Digital and CSR, Visa; Jack Riley, Commercial & Audience Development Director, The Huffington Post UK/AOL; Julia Dear, Advertising Director, Haymarket; Mazelle Siton, Director of Audience Insight, The Telegraph; and Neil Bruce, Head of Mobile, UK, Mindshare.

This year the AOP is delighted is welcome a new chair to the judging panel, Dilip Shukla, who recently joined the AOP as Head of Content Strategy.

Winners from the 2016 awards include The Guardian (for Best Use of Social Media, and Best Use of Video); Global (for Digital Sales Team of the Year, and Best Research/Insight Project); and MadeforMums (for Digital Editorial/Audience Development Team of the Year (Consumer), and Digital Editor/Strategist of the Year).

“The 2017 AOP Digital Publishing Awards will be a reflection of the AOP’s primary focus this year, which is to highlight the most challenging issues facing the publishing industry, and explore new opportunities for members”, commented Dilip Shukla, Head of Content Strategy, AOP, and chair of the judges. “This year the judges will be looking for examples of how publishers are successfully addressing these challenges and innovating new solutions to make the digital publishing industry a safer and more engaging place for all.”

“We are proud to have supported the AOP Digital Publishing Awards for a number of years now. The awards are an important fixture in the digital publishing calendar as they acknowledge the achievement of both individual employees and entire companies,” commented Emma Newman, Country Manager, UK, PubMatic. “This year’s awards will play a significant role in benchmarking publishing excellence as candidates demonstrate how they are addressing current industry issues, and we look forward to learning more about the innovative thinking and disruptive technology behind today’s most successful advertising and publishing businesses.”

Award categories for 2017 include:

Editorial Excellence

  • Digital Journalist / Content Producer of the Year
  • Digital Editor / Content Strategist of the Year
  • Editorial / Content Development Team of the Year: B2B
  • Digital Editorial / Content Development Team of the Year: Consumer

Partnerships Excellence (for entry by online publishers, advertisers, agencies and tech suppliers)

  • Best Native Advertising Campaign
  • Best Commercial Partner
  • Best Media Technology Partner

Commercial Excellence

  • Digital Sales Person of the Year
  • Digital Sales Team of the Year
  • Digital Advertising Operations Team of the Year
  • Best Use of Data

Publishing Excellence

  • Best Research / Insight Project
  • Best Use of Mobile
  • Best Use of Social Media
  • Best Use of Video
  • Best Digital Publishing Launch
  • Audience Development Team of the Year
  • Digital Design / Product Development Team of the Year

Grand Prix Awards

  • Best Online Media Property or Brand: B2B
  • Best Online Media Property or Brand: Consumer
  • Digital Publisher of the Year: B2B
  • Digital Publisher of the Year: Consumer

Nominations for the awards can now be made online and the winners will be selected by a cross-industry judging panel. The shortlist for finalists will be announced on Tuesday 25th April 2017.

For more information, to enter the awards or to purchase tickets, visit www.ukaop.org/awards2017.