Innovation and excellence was celebrated at the annual Digital Impact Awards, which recognise the impact of client and in-house relationships in the continuously evolving digital industry.

Each year, the Digital Impact Awards champion and reward those campaigns truly making a difference to the digital communications world. Now in its seventh year, the record number of entries and high standard of submissions given over to the judging panel highlights the extent to which the digital communications industry continues to innovate.

Benchmarking digital stakeholder engagement, the gold, silver, bronze and highly commended trophies were awarded to the agencies and in-house teams felt by the judges to have formed campaigns with a lasting impact on the digital landscape.

Held in the Brewery, Moorgate, and hosted by eclectic author, broadcaster and former MP, Gyles Brandreth, the audience remained enthralled throughout an evening of jokes, joviality and celebration.

Andrew Thomas, publishing editor of Communicate magazine, says, “Each year we come together to celebrate, recognise and benchmark the most impactful, digital communications.”

Thomas continues, “Now in its seventh year, last night’s Digital Impact Awards was a reminder that no matter how divided the world sometimes seems, communications teams remain committed to creating innovative and inspiring campaigns. This is the content which transcends borders and continues to evolve the digital sphere.”

The coveted prize of ‘Digital campaign of the year’ was awarded to Lynx, Unilever, CALM and TMW Unlimited, for their collaborative campaign aiming to combat male suicide. Named #BiggerIssues, its evocative posters of everyday trends highlight the topics more talked about than male suicide. Often mundane, sometimes funny, that more attention is given to hashtags and pictures than the single biggest killer of men under the age of 40 was a hard-hitting yet effective way of raising awareness of the issue.

‘Digital agency of the year’ and ‘Digital in-house team of the year’ awards were handed to SapientNitro and RS Components, respectively. Praised for its innovation and relevance to current digital trends, SapientNitro has challenged borders and boundaries to create truly global campaigns. An example of this is the coveted app, SpeakEmoji, the world’s first emoji translator. Developed for iOS, Andriod and Chrome, downloads reached 100,000 per day across 139 countires – just one of the ways in which SapientNitro is bringing people together through digital.

RS Components, winner of ‘Digital in-house team of the year’, was praised by the judges for its ability to find in-house solutions to issues usually outsourced. Its commitment to digital user experience is tantamount – this, combined with a truly global outlook, makes RS Components worthy winners of the in-house prize.

Follow #DIAwards on Twitter and Instagram to see all the action from the night. For more information, call the Communicate office on 0207 498 7008 or email Brian Donnelly at brian.donnelly@communicatemagazine.co.uk.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Deliverables

Best corporate website

Gold – Bostik and Freestyle Interactive

Silver – SEGRO plc and Investis

Bronze – AstraZeneca and DigitasLBi

Bronze – Provident Financial Group plc and Comprend

Highly commended – Alexander Mann and Lewis Purestone

Highly commended – Bupa

 

Best use of SEO for corporate communications

Gold – Expedia UK and Verve Search

Silver – GoCompare.com and Verve Search

 

Best use of mobile and portable devices

Gold – Skoda UK and Reading Room

Silver – SapientNitro

Bronze – Unilever and Opera Mediaworks

Highly commended – TfL and Avvio Reply Ltd

 

Best use of digital to aid a CR campaign

Gold – Lynx, Unilever, CALM and TMW Unlimited

Silver – Africa Progress Panel and Torchbox

Highly commended – SPRYLAB Technologies GmbH and British Red Cross

Highly commended – Turkcell Iletisim A.S and Turkcell

 

Best digital rebrand

Gold – Wrexham County Borough Council and Connect

Silver – Atlantic Therapeutics and Bray Leino Yucca

Bronze – RPC and Reading Room

Bronze – Orrick and Living Group

 

Best use of online video

Gold – VisitDenmark and Expedia Media Solutions

Silver – Africa Progress Panel and Torchbox

Silver – DEWALT and Your Favourite Story

Bronze – Cathay Pacific and CNN International

Bronze –Turkcell and Pure New Media

 

Best corporate viral campaign

Gold – 14-18 NOW and the Cogency

Silver – Lynx, Unilever, CALM and TMW Unlimited

Bronze – Turkcell and Pure New Media

 

Best digital communication as part of an integrated campaign

Gold – RS Components

Silver – English Heritage and Bray Leino Yucca

Bronze – Fitbit and FleishmanHillard Fishburn

Bronze – Royal College of Nursing

Highly commended – LinkedIn and Brands2Life

Highly commended – Nomura and Living Group

 

Social media

 

Best use of existing social media platforms

Small budget

Gold – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Wilderness

Gold – Tesco and Bookmark

Silver  – Zoflora and Mosquito

Bronze – Liverpool ONE and Liquid Agency

Bronze – Aviva plc and Portland Communications

Highly commended – Africa Progress Panel and Torchbox

 

Medium budget

Gold – British Heart Foundation

Silver – The Royal Navy and e3

Bronze – Boehringer Ingelheim and Ogilvy Healthworld

Highly commended – Gemalto and Brands2Life

 

Large budget

Gold – Amobee

Silver – LinkedIn and Brands2Life

 

Best community development

Gold – Harley-Davidson and SapientNitro

Silver – Lynx, Unilever, CALM and TMW Unlimited

Bronze – Digital Doughnut and Communitize

Highly commended – IBM and Impertion

 

Best use of digital to an internal audience

Best intranet

Gold – Phoenix Group and ClerksWell

Silver – Barclays

 

Best digital employee communication

Gold – Johnson & Johnson and Omobono

Silver – AstraZeneca and Ruder Finn

Highly commended – Gemalto and Brands2Life

Highly commended – Laing O'Rourke and Wardour

 

Best use of digital to an investment audience

 

Best online annual report

Gold – Old Mutual plc and MerchantCantos

Silver – F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG and Virtual Identity AG

Bronze – ArcelorMittal and Investis

Bronze – BBVA, SA and Comprend

Highly commended – Vodafone and Radley Yeldar

Highly commended – Weatherford International plc and Oakwood Agency

Highly commended – WPP plc and Addison Group

 

Best use of digital to aid media relations

 

Best online newsroom

Gold – Euro NCAP and TheNewsmarket

Silver – KIA Motors Corporation and TheNewsmarket

 

Best use of digital by sector

 

Charity, NGO or NFP

Gold – 14-18 NOW and the Cogency

Silver – Royal College of Nursing and Torchbox

Bronze – UK Sepsis Trust and Ruder Finn

Highly commended – British Nutrition Foundation and Mosquito

Highly commended – British Medical Association

 

Energy & utilities

Gold – Royal Dutch Shell and MediaCom Worldwide

Silver – Smart Energy GB and ClerksWell

Bronze – British Gas and Centrica Connected Home

Highly commended – Royal Dutch Shell plc and Radley Yeldar

 

Engineering & manufacturing

Gold – RS Components

Bronze – DEWALT and Your Favourite Story

Bronze – Western Global and Bray Leino

Highly commended – Skoda UK and the Reading Room

 

Extractives

Gold – Anglo American and Investis

 

Financial services

Gold – Royal Bank of Scotland  and SapientNitro

Silver – PayPal and LEWIS purestone

Bronze – GoCompare.com and Verve Search

Bronze – RSA Group and MSLGroup

Highly commended – Lloyds Banking Group and MSL Group

Highly commended – Zurich Insurance and FTI Consulting

 

Food & beverage

Gold – Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company and Radley Yeldar

Bronze – Enterprise Inns and Black Sun

 

Healthcare & pharmaceuticals

Gold – Galderma UK and Ruder Finn

Silver – AstraZeneca and DigitasLBi

Silver – GE Healthcare

Bronze – LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor and Click Consult

Bronze – London Travel Clinic and Converted

Bronze – Royal College of Nursing and Torchbox

 

Professional services

Gold – Alexander Mann Solutions and LEWIS purestone

Silver – PwC UK

Silver – SearchFlow and Industry

Bronze – Ignition Law and Wardour

Highly commended – DMCC and Omobono

Highly commended – RPC and the Reading Room

 

Property

Gold – Wagstaffs, GIA and Vertex Modelling

Silver – L&Q PricedIn and Shoot Media

Bronze – haart and RedWeb

Highly commended – SEGRO and Investis

 

Public

Gold – London Elects (Greater London Authority)

Silver – UK Space Agency and Connect

Bronze – Arts Council of England and Reading Room

 

Technology, media & telecommunications

Gold – Double Robotics and Atomic212

Silver – HTC and SapientNitro

Silver – ITV and Rawnet

Bronze – Turkcell and Pure New Media

Highly commended – Accenture and Omobono

Highly commended – Computacenter and Lewis Purestone

 

Travel & leisure

Gold – Expedia UK and Verve Search

Bronze – American Airlines and MediaCom Worldwide

Highly commended – Cathay Pacific and CNN International

Highly commended – Dubai Corporation of Tourism & Commerce Marketing, Emirates and Expedia Media Solutions

 

Digital campaign of the year

Lynx, Unilever, CALM and TMW Unlimited

 

Digital agency of the year

SapientNitro

 

Digital in–house team of the year

RS Components