Cravenhill Publishing, home to Communicate magazine, is proud to announce the shortlist for the inagural Communicate Lens Awards, which celebrate excellence in video communication and visual storytelling.

The shortlist celebrates those companies that have used video, whether animation, infographics, documentary or other formats, to communicate emotion, delivery clarity and engage audiences, including investors and recruitment. film plays a crucial role in communicating with an organisation’s key audiences. 

"2020 might not have seemed the best year to launch an awards programme benchmarking and celebrating the best in corporate video, but actually we have been stunned and truly humbled by the entries for this inaugural year. It wasn’t only the number of entries, but the high calibre of submission was fabulous too - truly reflecting the high calibre of work undertaken by in-house and video production teams," says Andrew Thomas, publisher of Communicate magazine and founder of the Communicate Lens Awards.

Expert Judges from the organisations such as Accenture, Hilton, KPMG and Sodexo determined the shortlist based on established criteria, selecting those companies and agencies that set the benchmark in video communications, narrative and filmmaking.

Three of the most hotly contended categories were ‘Best video targeted to a general audience,’ ‘Best use of video to aid CSR’ and ‘Best use of video to assist reputation management,’ all of which have five contenders shortlisted by the judges.

The winners will be announced 24 March 2021 at an awards ceremony and dinner in central London.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Business Purpose/Audience

Best Video Targeted to a General Audience
Direct Line Group and Black Sun
LUSH and The Starting Out Charity (The Kindness Offensive)
Philip Morris International and iVision
Royal Boskalis Westminster and MunzMedia
SEGRO

Best Video Targeted to the Investor Audience
Anglo American and Investis Digital
TwentyFour Asset Management and Big Button
Whitbread and Investis Digital

Best Video Targeted to the Internal Audience
C&A Foundation and Sequel Group
Direct Line Group and Black Sun
Philip Morris International and SuperHumans
Skanska UK and Connected Pictures-The Beautiful Truth

Best Use of Video to aid CSR
AXA Group and Navigate Video
Deloitte and The Edge Picture Company
LNER (The Reserves)
LNER and CALM
Springboard Charity and DRPG

Best Use of Video to Assist Reputation Management
Enviva and Narrative Content Group
LNER
Royal Boskalis Westminster and MunzMedia
Skanska UK and Connected Pictures-The Beautiful Truth
Tata Consultancy Services – Europe and UK

Best Use of Video for the Employer Brand
Baillie Gifford and Heehaw
LNER
Spirit Energy and Comprend
Telegraph Media Group and That Little Agency

Style/creativity

Best Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality
SEGRO

Best Animation
Baillie Gifford and Heehaw
MyCSP on behalf of Civil Service Pensions
Rolls-Royce and Bloc Digital

Best Use of User-Generated Content
Anglo American and Investis Digital
Emperor
LNER

Best Data Visualisation
Rolls-Royce and Bloc Digital

Best Viral Video
Vodafone

Best Live or Experiential Video
Dentsply Sirona
MyCSP on behalf of Civil Service Pensions

Best Video in a Documentary Style
Doddington Dairy and Visual Punch
LNER
Network Rail

Best Creative Execution
Children's University Aspire and Heehaw
MyCSP
SEGRO

Best Use of Video with Social Media
Atos
LNER
SEGRO

Strategy

Best Use of Video as Part of an Integrated Campaign
Atos
Caledonia Private Capital and Bladonmore
Royal Boskalis Westminster and MunzMedia
Vodafone

Best Measurement or Evaluation Strategy
AXA Group and Navigate Video

Best Long-Term Video Strategy
LNER
MyCSP on behalf of Civil Service Pensions
Tata Consultancy Services – Europe and UK

Best One-Off Video Campaign
LNER – Celebrating Yorkshire Day
LNER – Celebrating International Women’s Day
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and DRPG
Philip Morris International and SuperHumans

Best Portfolio Approach
Edinburgh Business School and Heehaw

Best Copy Style/Tone of Voice
MyCSP
MyCSP on behalf of Civil Service Pensions
Symrise AG and PRessPlayMovies

Best Creative Strategy
Dignity and SequelGroup
DP World
Philip Morris International and iVision

Sectors

Best use of video from a charity, NGO or not for profit
HighTide and Lansons
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and DRPG
Springboard Charity and DRPG

Best use of video from the energy and utilities sector
Enviva and Narrative Content Group

Best use of video from the engineering and manufacturing sector
Rolls-Royce and Bloc Digital

Best use of video from the financial services sector
AXA Group and Navigate Video
Caledonia Private Capital and Bladonmore
MyCSP on behalf of Civil Service Pensions

Best use of video from the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector
AstraZeneca and Edelman

Best use of video from the public sector
LNER

Best use of video from the real estate, construction and facilities management sector
Livv Housing Group
SEGRO
Skanska UK and Connected Pictures and The Beautiful Truth

Best use of video from the sport, travel, leisure and tourism sector
Team GB and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Best use of video from the technology, media and telecommunications sector
Tata Consultancy Services – Europe and UK
Telegraph Media Group and That Little Agency
Vodafone

Best use of video from the transport and logistics sector
LNER - Keeping People Safe On Trains During Covid-19
LNER – Launching Azuma
Royal Boskalis Westminster and MunzMedia

Winners of the ‘Video Production Company of the Year’ and ‘Corporate Video of the Year’ will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 24 March in Central London.