First Webit Awards for Digital Effectiveness Recognize 12 Online Campaigns Among Participants from 22 countries

27 October 2011, Sofia, Bulgaria

At the end of the first day of Webit Congress 2011 (October 26) the winners in the First Webit Awards for Digital Effectiveness in Central and Eastern Europe were announced. The prestigious awards were handed over by Webit Ambassadors and presented by the Chairman of the honorary Board of Webit Ambassadors Allain Heuriux, as well as by Paul Berney and Plamen Rusev, Webit Ambassadors of Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia. Besides them, awards were given out by Edward Opara - Pentagram, and Rick Kelley - Facebook. The ceremony turned into a real gig with the appearance of Lior Raz (Shpigler the Shark), whose video advice to Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google and other global technology giants became one of the most shared videos on social networks. The ceremony was attended by over 1000 top specialists from the digital industry in 45 countries, including top executives from Google, Facebook, eBay, Yandex, PayPal, Microsoft Advertising, etc.

The awards were organized for the first time this year and they aim to promote the most effective digital campaigns in Central and Eastern Europe. The competing campaigns were nominated by Webit Ambassadors in Central and Eastern Europe. The Webit Amassadors then voted for the most effective campaigns, without the right to choose a campaign from their country of origin. There were campaigns and projects from 22 countries in the first edition of the Awards. E-Academy Ambassadors in Bulgaria are Nikolay Nedelchev, CEO of Publicis MARC Group, Ivo Tzekov, General Manager of Piero-97, and Nenad Lozovic - Managing Partner at New Moment New Ideas, and they nominated digital campaigns for Bulgaria.

Nominations were divided into 12 categories and the winners are:

  • Category "Charity and Voluntary Sector" – the campaign "Battle for the babies: action for donation of 100 incubators", created by Saatchi & Saatchi Belgrade for Foundation B92 Foundation.

  • Category "Entertainment" - the campaign "Nokia Angry Birds Tournament", created by CARAT/ JWT/WUNDERMAN for Nokia.

  • Category "Online / Mobile Banking and Personal Finance" - the campaign "UniCredit Bank - Mobile Banking", created by Grey Ljubljana & Httpool & Publicis for UniCredit Bank.

  • Category "Consumer Products and Services "- the campaign "Peugeot Summer star", created by PHD Slovenia (Omnicom Media Group) for Peugeot Slovenia.

  • Category "Media" - the campaign "Story Magazine digital edition series for iPad", created by Sanoma Media Budapest Zrt.

  • Category "Travel" - the campaign "Air France - take your seat!", created by CarnationGroup for Air France.

  • Category "Best Use of Mobile" - the campaign "Cornetto Multiplayer Interactive Wall Projection Game", created by Mobilera / Outeractive Media for Unilever - Cornetto.

  • Category "Best Use of Social Media" - the campaign "Rediscover Romania", created by iLeo Marketing Interactiv for OMV Petrom SA.

  • Category "Best Use of Viral Marketing" - the campaign "Webit Most Influential People", created by Sociable! for the Webit Congress.

  • Category "Best Use of Web" - the campaign "LifeCoach branded content column on Life.hu", created by OMD for Rauch.

  • Category "Special Award for Technology Innovation in Central and Eastern Europe" - winner is 3G Multimedia Ltd.

  • Category "CEE Creative Agency of the Year" – winner is CarnationGroup.

An additional award was given, especially prepared by the Chairman of the Board, e-Academy, Honorable Ambassador and Member of the Webit Ambassadors Honorary Board - Plamen Rusev. The special award for "Adviser of the Year" was handed over to Shpigler the Shark, who until last year headed the Interactive Creative Department at BBDO Israel. He now runs the production company Kookooruza designing brand entertainment production both for traditional television and online media. Shpigler the Shark has rapidly gained popularity worldwide for his video "Shpingler the Shark gives advice to Mark Zuckerberg."

Webit Congress 2011 continues today, October 27, at Inter Expo Center – Sofia.

Detailed information about the programme and all the speakers as well as high-resolution event pictures from the event first day are accessible on the official website: http://www.webit.bg.

For additional information, please, contact:

Simeon Polimenov, Event Manager, Webit Congress, telephone: + 359 886 606 222, email: simeon@e-acad.eu

Dimitar Sabev, Account Executive, All Channels|PR, telephone: + 359 2 434 03 67, mobile: +359 878 610 600, email: dsabev@all-channels.com


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