Gold standard: This autumn, Communicate magazine’s Digital Impact Awards and Corporate Engagement Awards recognised excellence in digital stakeholder communications and in corporate engagement, sponsorship, partnerships and CSR, respectively. The winners at each awards represent the ways in which communications has developed in those areas and the effectiveness of communications at solving business issues

Digital Impact Awards

In 2010, the UK’s digital landscape looked vastly different than it does today. Tech City was still a few upstart firms looking for convenient office space, now it’s a powerful association of leading social and digital businesses. Creatives across the comms industry were just coming to terms with the incorporation of digital media into their campaigns, now digital is almost always an essential addition to any communication.

For the fifth time, the UK’s digital and creative industry gathered together to celebrate the best in digital stakeholder communications at the annual Digital Impact Awards. The 2014 awards showcased an industry that exhibits a maturity in the use of digital and social media across corporate communications.

This year’s Grand Prix winner, the Royal Navy and its partner E3, shows an innate understanding of how the organisation’s target audience wants to be communicated with. The Navy’s rebranded website approaches digital storytelling in a novel way and has seen a high level of engagement as a result.

Other winners include Beats by Dr. Dre and this year’s Digital Agency of the Year R/GA London, which has time and again engaged with a difficult Millennial audience in a way in which that audience is open to. It integrates social media into the brand proposition with ease and thus makes its communications more effective and efficient. Creativity was one of the night’s key characteristics as winning companies are thinking more laterally about their use of digital. Campaigns like Pepsi Max’s augmented reality bus stops combine humour and a solid message with a creative idea that bring communications to life through digital media.

“Digital is in the heart of communications and it is becoming increasingly integrated into campaigns,” founder of Cravenhill Publishing, Andrew Thomas, says. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate the digital components of successful campaigns, be they digitally integrated or digital-first campaigns in their own right. We congratulate all of the winners and shortlisted companies at this year’s Digital Impact Awards.

”Winners were announced at the annual awards gala at which guests were treated to dinner, a magician and the comedic stylings of Dominic Hall.

Corporate Engagement Awards

Collaboration has changed the way business interacts with the world around it. That was readily apparent at last month’s Corporate Engagement Awards.

The awards honoured the best in European sponsorship, partnerships and corporate social responsibility. In the hundreds of entries judged, those that won exhibited true collaboration between partner organisations or within an internal community.

The night’s Grand Prix winner, which also took home four other gold awards and one silver was a collaboration between over six partners. The Build-it programme, supported by Cospa, brought public, private and third sector stakeholders together in south London’s borough of Lambeth to allow young people out of traditional education to build skills while helping to regenerate their local community.

Tim Reading, director of Cospa, which coordinated the Build-it programme, says, “It’s tremendous to see Build-it recognised for the impact its having in helping young people to learn valuable new vocational skills and access employment opportunities whilst improving social housing in local communities. At the same time, I’m really pleased that the awards have highlighted and acknowledged the collaborative, cross-sector partnership approach that underpins and drives the programme.

”The next two most successful programmes included a collaboration between Camden Town Unlimited, the Camden Council and the Mayor of London (Greater London Authority) to support SMEs and artists in the Camden area and KPMG’s longstanding pro bono programmes with partners ranging from Restless Development and Fairtrade to Shelter and the National Literacy Trust.

The awards were presented by Paralympic basketball medallist and television presenter Ade Adepitan. This year, those taking home trophies hailed from companies as big as Telefónica and McDonalds to as locally-focused as the Saffron Lane Neighbourhood Council and PT Bank Mandiri, from Indonesia.

“The Corporate Engagement Awards are a brilliant showcase for the outstanding work happening in corporate social responsibility teams and beyond. Businesses who engage effectively with non-for-profit organisations can make a real difference in solving society’s problems and in encouraging opportunity and quality of life for all. They also help companies to increase the retention and enthusiasm of their own staff, and help employees to reach their potential. It was a delight, as a judge to see so many strong entries in the awards. We uncovered many great examples of how partnerships can work in practice, demonstrating clear passion for the causes being supported,” says David Hamilton, a CEA judge and head of PR and engagement for Action for Children