• by August 1, 2004

Make way for a new interactive awards program. The Interactive Advertising Bureau and MediaPost Communications today announced a call for entries to the Online Media, Marketing and Advertising Awards, (the OMMA Awards), a program created to honor excellence in interactive marketing and advertising.

The OMMA Awards will honor creative teams and agencies that continue to push the creative potential of interactive advertising. An awards ceremony will be held on September 21, the second night of Interactive Advertising World (IAW) and Advertising Week in New York City at the IAW event site- the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Hotel in New York. A dedicated Web site for the awards is live at www.omma-awards.com.

The call for entries opens today at www.omma-awards.com, and closes on August 27, 2004. The awards show will feature the industry's best interactive marketing and advertising campaigns from the following categories: Product Launch, Brand Awareness/Positioning, Direct Response, Public Service/Not for Profit, Purchase Intent/Sales, and Best in Show (among all winners). In addition, the OMMA Awards will include two editorial awards, with winning selections being made by the IAB and MediaPost editorial staff. Categories for the editorial awards are Innovation and Creativity, Marketer of the Year, Lifetime Achievement.

The entries will be judged primarily by senior client-side brand marketers. The judging panel will choose four finalists in each category, and an overall category winner. In addition, "Best in Show" will be awarded to the best ad across all of the categories. Campaigns will be scored against the following criteria: Campaign Strategy, Use of Media, Creative and Effectiveness. The recognized winners in each of the judged categories will include the entire team responsible for the campaign: Creative Director, Media Director, Account Manager, and the client. All finalists will be awarded a prize basket, and the winners will be awarded a trophy. Ads from all of the finalists will be featured during the show.

Agencies and clients interested in submitting their campaigns should visit www.omma-awards.com to review the OMMAs rules and procedures. Entries can be submitted online only. Campaign teams with questions regarding the OMMAs should contact Lexi Frank by phone at 212.204.2006, or e-mail at lexi@mediapost.com.

--Staff Report