Sectors

The British digital industry has been one of the global leaders in terms of innovation and business efficacy. In the past, however, the focus in digital communications lent toward design, technology and, more recently, content.

The winners of the annual BIMA Awards, this year celebrating the 30th birthday of the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), reflected a marked shift toward user experience. This maturity within the industry reflects the omnipresence of technology and the desire of users for an intuitive, seamless experience.

Jam, the evening’s big winner with five gongs, took home the Grand Prix for its work with Xbox on the ‘Real-life transfer saga for the virtual world’ campaign. It also notched two trophies in the ‘Internal communications’ and ‘Public life’ categories for the ‘Tap for Water’ project. The innovation revolutionised charity giving in the workplace. Jam connected standard building-entry turnstiles to employee’s salaries allowing them to give a microdonation of 10p every time they accessed that turnstile. By seamlessly integrating a frustrating process like donating to charity using spare change with a habitual activity, Jam effectively brought digital to play in real life.

Other winners focused on the ability of digital to improve and use content for the best interests of the user. The Royal Navy and e3 took home a trophy for the Royal Navy’s website relaunch which focused on storytelling and engagement. AMVBBDO and the Pepsi Max bus shelter ‘Unbelievable’ campaign generated media buzz after creating both a technologically-advanced bus shelter and exciting content that turned heads.

Adam Graham, chair of BIMA says, “It’s amazing to think that the very first BIMA Awards took place in 1985! Ever since then we’ve been celebrating the creativity of the British digital industry and this year the bar was simply raised even higher. The UK digital industry is the envy of the world and our winners can be justly proud of their contribution to that.”

London-based engagement agency Holler took home the ‘Agency of the year’ award after winning a prize in the inaugural ‘Best work on a smaller budget’ campaign. ‘Innovation of the year’ went to OgilvyOne for its work with British Airways on the ‘Magic of flying’ – the massive Piccadilly Circus billboard that featured an augmented reality, airplane-obsessed toddler. FutureLearn – an online, interactive learning platform – took home the ‘Startup of the year’ award and Will Wright and James Lucking took home ‘Student of the year’ prizes after their ‘Donate & Nominate’ went viral by encouraging people to donate a pint of blood to the NHS Blood & Donor Service.

The awards, as always, were quite the fete and took place at B1 Bloomsbury last night, complemented by a set from DJ Yoda. The full list of winners is below:

B2B & Professional Services – ITV Studios Digital Overhaul by Rawnet for ITV Studios

Blue-Sky – Head to Head by Redweb for Redweb

Consumer Goods & Services – All Things Hair by Razorfish London for Unilever

Education

–  Life Fitness Academy by Panacentric Digital for Life FitnessWinner

– Full Steam Ahead by Aardman Animations forHighly commended ss Great Britain Trust & Science Museum 

Entertainment 

– All Things Hair by Razorfish London for UnileverWinner

– Beats – The Pills by R/GA London for Beats by Dr. DreHighly commended

– The Amazing World of Gumball: Your Toy by Holler for Cartoon Network EMEASupplementary

Internal Communications – Tap for Water by Jam for Philippines Typhoon Appeal

Leisure & Travel – Magic of Flying by OgilvyOne for British Airways

Public Life

– Tap for Water by Jam for Philippines Typhoon AppealWinner

– #SaveWave by Poke for RNLIHighly commended

Retail 

– Christmas in a Day by AMVBBDO for Sainsbury’sWinner

– Primania by Lowe Profero for PrimarkHighly Commended

Youth Focus – My Mad Fat Diary Online by Channel 4, Rckt, Tiger Aspect for Channel 4

Disciplines

Content

– Beats – The Pills by R/GA London for Beats by Dr. DreWinner

– All Things Hair by Razorfish London for UnileverHighly commended

Data – All Things Hair by Razorfish London for Unilever

Engagement – Xbox – A real–life transfer saga for the virtual world by Jam for Xbox

Games – CBBC Gamebuilder by BBC and Atticmedia for CBBC

Immersive – IKEA: Make Small Spaces Big 360 by LIDA/Yellowbird production for IKEA

Location – Pepsi Max Unbelievable Bus Shelter by Grand Visual, AMV BBDO, OMD for Pepsi MAX

Microsite – Tefal Pancake Selfie by Yomego for Tefal 

Mobile – Nike+ Training Club app by AKQA for NIKE

Native Mobile Apps

– Fringe 2013 by Kotikan for Edinburgh Fringe Festival SocietyWinner

– Dogalize by Business Competence srl for Business Competence srlHighly commended

Performance – Putting Forest Holidays on the map for UK holidays by Propellernet for Forest Holidays

Second Screen

– Dynamo Unlock by Red Bee Media for UKTV WatchWinner

– The Freesat App by Nice Agency for FreesatHighly commended

Social Media

– Xbox – A real–life transfer saga for the virtual world by Jam for XboxWinner

– Jura Lost Island by Holler for Whyte & MackaySupplementary

User Experience – On Track by The App Business for Go–Ahead Group

Video – All Things Hair by Razorfish London for Unilever

Web Design & Build

– Re–invigorating the Royal Navy for a millennial audience by e3 for The Royal Navy Winner

– Mulberry website by Poke for MulberryHighly commended

Premium Awards

Agency of the Year – Holler

Grand Prix – Xbox – A real–life transfer saga for the virtual world by Jam for Xbox

Innovation – Magic of Flying by OgilvyOne for British Airways

Startup of the Year – FutureLearn

Student of the Year – Donate & Nominate by Will Wright and James Lucking for NHS Blood & Donor Service