The Bookmark Awards celebrate the country’s most creative and high-impact digital executions and rewards excellence in digital advertising and publishing work, benchmarked against the highest international standards.

“The Channels category is important because it serves two purposes,” says Fred Roed, head of IAB SA’s Agency Council. “Firstly, it rewards those who find creative ways to exploit the opportunities prevalent in each communication channel, where others may only see constraints. Secondly, it serves to communicate to others in the industry the importance of a multi-pronged, cross-channel approach to digital marketing, and the possibilities that it can unlock.”

The Channels category comprises the following subcategories:


  • Paid Search Marketing;
  • PPC or other use of search marketing to achieve campaign goals;
  • Organic Search Marketing;
  • SEO and other organic search marketing techniques to achieve campaign goals;
  • Display Advertising;
  • Banners, page take-overs and any similar mechanics in the bought-media space. Think any banner on any homepage near you;
  • Native Advertising;
  • Advertiser-sponsored publisher-carried content designed to market a product or service through content development. Think Vice Media;
  • Branded Content;
  • Content developed or supported by a brand to advertise a product or service where the content remains the hero. Think Aston Martin in James Bond;
  • Social Paid Advertising;
  • Campaign run through bought media on social media platforms. Think your favourite clever Facebook campaign;
  • Innovative use of Media;
  • Demonstrable innovation in digital media placement or buying. Think Bud Light on Tinder;
  • Use of an IAB Rising Stars Ad Unit;
  • Specific use of an IAB Rising Stars ad unit to achieve greater engagement with an audience;
  • Email;
  • Use of email in a marketing campaign or to achieve campaign success. Think Obama 2008;
  • Rich Media Advertising for Mobile; and
  • Mobile advertising that pushes the boundaries beyond the illegible banner ad.

“The Channels category presents prospective entrants with the opportunity to evaluate the individual components of their campaigns,” says Roed. “In addition to entering their overall campaigns in other categories, the Channels category allows entrants to enter the most successful components of campaigns individually.”

Digital campaigns have become one of the standout attributes of a strong digital marketing strategy,” says Roed. “Because of the interactive element offered by digital platforms, the possibilities far exceed those offered by physical campaigns. The success of campaigns, with a clear beginning and end, are also easy to measure, to give clients an exact indication of the return on their investment.”

The Campaign category comprises the following subcategories:

  • Digital Strategy: Excellence in digital strategic thinking and planning. The winner will demonstrate the ingenuity of the strategy (not the work) and how it led to success;
  • Content Strategy: Excellence in the strategy behind a content execution – not the content itself;
  • Digital Campaign: Excellence in digital marketing campaign using one primary digital channel (not multi-channel);
  • Mobile Campaign: Campaign run primarily through mobile channels;
  • Data-driven campaign: Marketing campaign that has used data in an interesting, groundbreaking way in achieving its success; and
  • Integrated Multi-platform Campaign: Campaign that uses 3+ digital channels to achieve a marketing goal. Think 'Be The Coach'.


“We understand that collecting all the relevant information on a campaign can be no small task, which is why we have moved the deadline,” says Roed. “The online entry form is also set up in such a way that entrants do not have to fill in the entire form at once, but can add and delete elements and information online until it is ready for submission. You can log back into the system at any stage after payment to review your entries in the Manage Entries section. You will be able to add and finalise media and print out any forms, labels and invoices as well as edit credits and descriptions until the closing date.”

The absolute final deadline for entries is Monday, 30 November 2015. Those who have not yet done so can submit their entries at iabsa.net/bookmarks.

For more information, visit iabsa.net. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, on Twitter or on LinkedIn.