Social Marketing & Digital Agency

Judging the Digi Awards for Corp Comms Magazine today is going to be tough.

Going through the usb stick full of entries over the weekend (what dedication to the cause when I could have been sunbathing, or indeed sailing in the Solent!) I was struck at the diverse and innovative approach businesses and agencies are taking in the application and use of digital media to increase sales, engage with customers and help boost brand reputation.

I am directly judging five categories – Best use of digital media in customer services; Best use of Twitter; Best digital campaign; Best integrated campaign; and Best agency – and I have to say I am deeply impressed by the calibre of entries that Corp Comms Magazine have attracted for this their first Digi Awards. Best use of Twitter is going to be particularly hard one to decide on – I anticipate a fight, actually, they are all that good!

While I can’t allude or comment on any of the individual entries until the final decisions are made with my fellow judges and then announced in September at the Monster Digirati Party, what I can say is that you are in for a treat – and if you haven’t booked to come and join the fun, then get on it immediately, there’s the most amazing digital treats planned and the entries themselves have been superb.

Independent News & Media has partnered with iome to launch the first white-labelled social event planning tool on The Independent newspaper’s website. The service creates new web and mobile revenues for the publisher, as part of its 2010 digital media strategy.

The free-to-access service provides the 10 million* monthly visitors to the
Independent’s website with a useful tool that helps them plan their social
lives and make savings via discount vouchers.  In this socially-connected
world, with demands on people’s time and money, consumers want to easily
discover new things to do and places to go, find offers and share that
information with friends; until now, no one service has been able to
provide consumers with an easy way to do so.  The iome white-label service
fills this gap.

The Independent will generate new revenues through the service, on
purchases made through the portal (such as theatre tickets and restaurant
bookings) in addition to advertising and sponsorship.  And, by partnering
with iome, the Independent has been able to go to market with its new
branded service in less than three weeks from inception of the project,
enabling readers to start using the service in time to organise their
Christmas events.

Bill Swanson, managing director (Digital), Independent News and Media (UK)
said: “We are very excited to be the first business to launch this service
in the UK.  It not only enables us to extend our reach to readers, but also
to create new revenues via web and mobile.  We recognise that consumers are
hungry for new ways to organise their social lives through the web – this
service is the first of its kind to enable people to organise themselves,
make savings and interact with friends in a single location.  Plus, the
service has the ability to learn behaviour including likes and dislikes,
giving us the opportunity to deliver highly targeted services and offers.
This is a significant step forward with our digital media strategy for
2010.”

Added Phil Eames, CEO, iome: “People like to share information online and
there are a plethora of sites out there that help with individual elements.
The iome service lets people not only identify what’s going on near them,
but also access discounts, make bookings, create plans and share them with
friends via Facebook and other such sites.  It gives businesses the
opportunity to develop a better understanding of their consumers, allowing
for greater targeted services, content and advertising to be offered in the
future.”