Judging
Meet the Judges
The Judging Process
Our panel of seasoned digital experts carefully review each nomination against the below judging criteria. Scores are collated and discussed with groups of judges moderated by our content team at our Judging Day, which takes place in July and August. After much deliberation a winner is chosen.
The Grand Prix winner (the stand-out nominee) is also decided after plenty of consideration.
Ad Sales Criteria
Open to – Sales Professionals (Individuals) within Publisher and Vendor organisations only. No joint entries.
The Judges will be awarding a Sales Professional that has truly innovated and excelled with their channel strategy.
Entrants should demonstrate how they have embraced or assisted in the development of the channel within the digital ecosystem by following the category criteria. This could be at a campaign level, by using the channel to increase customer engagement, influence, purchase behaviour and drive the customers ROI.
- Demonstrates thorough understanding of client business objectives including performing competitive analysis
- Demonstrates ability to align products with clients business objectives
- Produces clear and concise proposals in response to briefs and/or RFP’s
- Uses research and insights to base recommendations
- Demonstrates thorough understanding of client raw data points for incorporating into campaign briefs and recommendations
- Can accurately calculate digital metrics
- Demonstrates trust, ethics and integrity in all dealings
- Looks for opportunities to Upsell
- Conducts unbiased debrief at end of the campaign
- Delivers ROI in-line with customer objectives
Open to – Sales Professionals (Individuals) within Publisher and Vendor organisations only. No joint entries.
The Judges will be awarding a Sales Professional that has truly innovated and excelled with their Video strategy.
Entrants should demonstrate how they have embraced or assisted in the development of Video advertising within the digital ecosystem by following the category criteria. This could be at a campaign level, by using Video to increase customer engagement, influence, purchase behaviour and drive the customers ROI.
- Demonstrates ability to align the different video formats with clients business objectives
- Demonstrates understanding the nuances of the various video formats and being able to guide and educate their clients to clearly understand the possibilities as well as any limitations
- Can accurately calculate Video metrics and demonstrates an understanding of the technical aspects of video and how these may impact metrics
- Can clearly articulate the buying model i.e. CPM, CPV, CPCV etc.
- Demonstrates trust, ethics and integrity in all dealings
- Looks for opportunities to Upsell
- Conducts unbiased debrief at end of the campaign
- Delivers ROI in-line with customer objectives
Ad Operations Criteria
Open to – Junior Ad-Ops Professionals (Individuals) within Publisher organisations only.
Judges will be awarding an Ad-Ops Junior that has truly excelled in their role.
Entrants should demonstrate how they have embraced and owned their role within their company by meeting and exceeding all the judging criteria.
- Less than 3 years experience in Ad-Ops
- Demonstrates a basic understanding of the Digital Advertising Ecosystem
- Demonstrates sound understanding of Campaign Goals
- Demonstrates sound communication skills
- Demonstrates opportunities to implement solutions that increase the effectiveness and efficiencies of the Ad Ops department, including the development of tools, process and reports related to job responsibilities
- Demonstrates the ability to accommodate evolving responsibilities and last minute changes
- Demonstrates a keen interest in developing ad-ops skills
- Demonstrates a flexible, personable attitude
- Demonstrates attention to detail
- Demonstrates the ability to deliver campaigns on time
- Handles troubleshooting and discrepancies professionally
Open to – Senior Ad-Ops Professionals (Individuals) within Publisher organisations only
Judges will be awarding an Ad-Ops Senior that has truly excelled in their role.
Entrants should demonstrate how they have embraced and owned their role within their company by meeting and exceeding all the judging criteria.
- More than 3 Years experience in Ad-Ops
- Demonstrates an advanced understanding of the Digital Advertising Ecosystem
- Demonstrates sound communication skills
- Manages start to finish of the campaign process, tracking pixels, troubleshooting tags, targeting, optimization, and reporting
- Analyses performance metrics for all online ad campaigns, measuring dozens of variables across multiple dimensions
- Identifies trends in data and deciphers underlying causes. Proactively make changes based on given data to increase in performance and margins
- Utilizes multivariate testing and other analytics tools to improve insights
- Stays abreast of trends in online advertising, product development, and yield optimization best practices
- Can manage and mentor a team of Campaign Managers if required
Creative Categories Criteria
Creative Award – Best Use of Mobile (As judged and presented by the IABNZ Mobile Advertising Council)
Open to: Vendors (stand-alone), Media Companies (stand-alone), Vendors partnering with: Media Companies, Creative Agencies, Media Agencies, Advertisers. This category is not open to Agency/Advertisers stand alone.
Judges will be rewarding a Mobile Campaign that has truly innovated and excelled with in its creative strategy. Entries must be specifically developed for mobile display in New Zealand. Any entries for Social or Paid-search campaigns for mobile (e.g. Facebook, Instagram or Google) are not permitted and will be disqualified from this Award category
- Demonstrates thorough understanding of client business objectives
- The entry MUST provide details of how unique and innovative the creative execution was and the outcomes it delivered
- Include research and insights as basis for creative recommendation
- Include post-campaign digital metrics
- Delivers ROI in-line with campaign objectives
Open to: Vendors (stand-alone), Media Companies (stand-alone), Vendors partnering with: Media Companies, Creative Agencies, Media Agencies, Advertisers. This category is not open to Agency/Advertisers stand alone.
Judges will be rewarding a Digital Led Campaign Best Use of Data that has truly innovated and excelled with in the category.
- Entrants should demonstrate how they have used intelligent use of internal or external data to bring a competitive advantage. Success could be defined as new customer acquisition, retention, engagement or anything else displaying a competitive advantage.
- You should also demonstrate how the use of data has driven client or campaign success, with a clear line to connect implementation and results (ROI).
Open to: Vendors (stand-alone), Media Companies (stand-alone), Vendors partnering with: Media Companies, Creative Agencies, Media Agencies, Advertisers. This category is not open to Agency/Advertisers stand alone.
Judges will be rewarding a campaign’s Best Use of Native Advertising that has truly innovated and excelled with in the category.
- Entrants should demonstrate how they have developed your native advertising or sponsored content strategy including creative and innovative production to the execution, distribution and promotion of the Content.
- You should demonstrate how your native advertising or sponsored content, across multiple platforms – engaged, informed and promoted a brand, product or service to customers.
- You should demonstrate how your native advertising or sponsored content achieved success, with a clear line to connect implementation and results (ROI).
Open to: Vendors (stand-alone), Media Companies (stand-alone), Vendors partnering with: Media Companies, Creative Agencies, Media Agencies, Advertisers. This category is not open to Agency/Advertisers stand alone.
Judges will be rewarding a Digital Led Campaign that has a Best Use of Video which has truly innovated and excelled with in the category.
- Entrants should demonstrate how they have developed their Video advertising strategy including creative and innovative production to the execution, distribution and promotion of the Content.
- You should demonstrate how your Video advertising engaged, informed and promoted a brand, product or service to customers.
- You should demonstrate how your Video advertising achieved success, with a clear line to connect implementation and results (ROI).
Other Award Criteria
This award will be presented to a New Zealand publisher that can demonstrate innovation in developing a product that has delivered advertisers with demonstrably successful digital advertising campaigns and ROI.
- Open to Products developed in New Zealand only
- Demonstrate how and why the Product was developed in New Zealand i.e. specifically for the NZ market
- Demonstrate reach by size and type
- Demonstrate Audit Method
- Demonstrates Relevant revenue / profit figures
- Demonstrates Growth statistics
- Other performance statistics and results / evidence of success
- Website data: page impressions (monthly / yearly), monthly unique users
- Any additional online data
Open to – Digital Agencies, Creative Agencies, Media Agencies, Performance Marketing Agencies
This award will be presented to a Digital Agency that can demonstrate innovation in developing and implementing digital executions that have delivered advertisers with successful campaigns and ROI.
- Entrants must derive at least 30% of their revenue from Digital channels
- Entrants should show how their executions have been innovative and successful and – from the perspective of advertisers – what makes them stand out from the crowd.
- Entrants should provide a case study which includes: reach by size and type, Audit Method, Relevant revenue / profit figures / ROI, Growth statistics, Other performance statistics and results / evidence of success
- Website data: impressions (monthly / yearly), monthly unique users
- Any additional online data
Open to – Trading Desks at Digital Agencies, Media Agencies, Programmatic Agencies
This award will be presented to a Trading Desk that has delivered the highest level of service and innovation in programmatic performance over the previous year.
- Entrants should profile the trading desk team, their capabilities and how they focus their energies on strategy, analytics, trading, products and supply
- Entrants should demonstrate the number of campaigns/clients managed and how these accounts have grown over the last year
- Entrants should demonstrate what technologies are used on their trading desk, how you use them & why they help you deliver results
- Entrants should demonstrate how data is used in buying strategies
- Entrants should provide a case study on how metrics are used in programmatic buying/selling to increase client ROI
- Entrants should show how the team has innovated or added value to a client campaign over the year
- Entrants should explain how the trading desk performance is reviewed and optimized as well as how buying improvement is assessed against other digital channels
Open to – Member’s of IABNZ Councils
This award celebrates the commitment and contribution of an IABNZ member to help grow and shape the industry by participating in one or more of the IABNZ Councils.
This category is community sourced and we are keen to hear your nominations for dedicated council members. Members can also nominate themselves.
- Material contributions to tiger team outputs – on time and on brief
- At least 80% attendance of council meetings throughout the year – 70% if belongs to more than one council
Open to – Individuals from Publisher Organisations with Digital Led roles
This award is for a ‘Rising Star’ in the industry i.e. those with less than 3-years experience, who have displayed commitment, motivation, a willingness to learn, courage under pressure, self confidence, organisational skills and a readiness to go the extra distance for both internal and external customers.
- Less than 3-years experience in a Digital Media role with an IABNZ Member
- Demonstrates commitment to their role and to their organisation
- Demonstrates self motivation in their role and within their team
- Demonstrates a willingness to learn and develop their skills by taking part in internal/external training or L&D, attending industry events, working with mentors etc.
- Demonstrates an ability to thrive and deliver under pressure or has shown personal growth in dealing with pressure situations
- Demonstrates an ability to be highly organised
- Demonstrates an ability to go the extra distance as an individual, team player and for their customers/clients
This award celebrates a long-standing individual who has helped to grow and shape the industry over the last ten years.
This category is community sourced and we are keen to hear your nominations for extraordinary industry leaders.
- 10+ Years involvement in the Industry
- Highly credible
- Demonstrates strong & consistent leadership
- Demonstrates thought leadership
- Demonstrates the ability to Innovate
- Demonstrates the ability to take risks
Overall individual winner from either the Sales or Ad-Ops Categories. The Grand Prix Winner will receive a trip to Barcelona to attend the ‘Mobile World Congress’ in February 2019.