The PromaxBDA North America Awards recognize the best in entertainment marketing and design across every screen: on air, online, and on mobile devices. PromaxBDA Awards Committee Chair and AT&T Entertainment Group SVP, Advertising and Creative Services Roger Hyde spoke with Daily Brief about the new categories introduced for 2016, and discussed what it takes to nab a PromaxBDA Award.

DAILY BRIEF: Why did the Awards Committee feel this was the year to introduce these particular categories to the PromaxBDA Awards?

ROGER HYDE: As is our annual practice, we do a serious post-mortem after every conference and look at membership response rates to existing categories to determine which of them no longer support our ever-changing industry. Because there are so many diverse aspects to the promotion and marketing of entertainment, we have many different areas where we are able to recognize excellence.

But as consumers start to experience entertainment in new and different ways, we have to remain relevant, and so we “prune” those categories that are either unpopular or where we see submission numbers wane, and instead create new ways to make the competition more representative of new and growing media options. That is why every year you will see a few new categories in the mix.

What do you think this says about the evolution of the industry and the challenges facing you and your peers in entertainment marketing?

We are once again facing a monumental crossroads in our industry. With the introduction of non-traditional content providers, over-the-top services, binge viewership and TV Everywhere, not only is primetime in jeopardy, but so is the living room itself!!! Clearly we aren’t in Kansas anymore, and so my peer group and I are once again caught with a whole new lexicon of issues that threatens to derail the status quo of how we need to go about connecting content to consumers and vice versa.

How does the Awards Committee decide on the categories to include? And who sits on the committee?

We have a very diverse group that not only represents the networks and studios, but also distributors, creative agencies and over-the-top players. We all make suggestions and agree as a group to replace older categories with new ones that we feel represent our constituents more accurately.

Half of the new categories deal with brand integration and consumer tie-ins. Why did the committee feel this was an area that was particularly important to include this year?

We dipped our toe into the integrated campaign water last year, and the response was bigger than we had predicted. So now we are investing more substantially in what is obviously a growing trend within our businesses that deserves recognition. Don’t forget: it’s hard enough producing promotional content for a network, but now you have to work with a consumer brand as well. Think about all those extra rounds of reviews…

What makes something award-worthy? What’s the key to winning a PromaxBDA Award?

Every year it gets harder and harder for creative teams to come up with something truly original. Every now and then we see a genuinely —and I hate this cliche— out-of-the-box idea, only to see it plagiarized and plagiarized to the point of asphyxiation. So for me, originality is one of the two most important keys to being recognized for top honors. The second is obviously execution. You can’t have one without the other—and both have to be excellent.

The PromaxBDA North America Awards 2016 is accepting entries until February 25. Winners will be presented on the closing night of PromaxBDA: The Conference 2016, June 14-16 at the Hilton New York Midtown Hotel.

PromaxBDA Awards 2016: — Learn More and Enter

PromaxBDA: The Conference 2016 — Learn More and Register

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