Barkley, MiQ & iProspect, PinkNews, Chewy and NBC News Custom Productions are among this year’s Digiday Video and TV Awards shortlist nominees

Another key throughline is how interactive content allows viewers to shape stories and experiences through their choices — paving the way for new shoppable content innovations. 

The first on the shortlist is Barkley, in five categories (the most of any entrant). One of those categories is Best Brand Film – Series for the ‘Pets Stay Free’ campaign with Motel 6. This campaign highlighted that Motel 6 is a welcoming place for all family members, including the furry ones. Barkley and Motel 6 did this through a “choose-your-own-ADventure” on Hulu that targeted pet owners with the question, “are you a cat or a dog person?” The ‘Pets Stay Free’ campaign was a success, receiving over one billion earned impressions,  widespread national outreach and earned media. All of this led to an increase in year-over-year sales for Motel 6. 

This year’s most-entered category was Best Ad Tech Innovation, in which one finalist’s project is striving to make a difference in the DEI space. MiQ and iProspect worked together on Hilton’s audience awareness campaign, which sought to reach current hotel stayers and LGBTQ+ and Black travelers by leaning into their motivations for travel. Through this ‘It Matters Where You Stay’ campaign, Hilton, MiQ and iProspect demonstrated how impactful care and comfort are on hotel stays. Users exposed to MiQ’s media ended up booking 37 days in advance — 19% higher than organic traffic to the site. 

PinkNews is a finalist for both Snapchat-oriented categories, with the most popular one being Best Snapchat Show. PinkNews saw a gap in the available content on Snap and aimed to fill that with its show, ‘Closet Critic.’ This fast-paced, snappy program details the fashion evolution of some of Gen Z’s favorite celebrities and their impact on the world, from Zendaya and Kim Kardashian to Jojo Siwa. The series combined PinkNews’ audiences’ love of fashion, celebrity and news content to create a premium viewing experience with viable sponsorship opportunities. Since its launch in December 2021, PinkNews has published 70 episodes, amassed 500,000 subscribers and reached 50 million unique users. 

For Best Multi-Platform Video Campaign, Chewy is a standout finalist with its ‘Chatty Pets’ campaign, capturing the world exclusively through the eyes, actions and humorous inner monologues of real animals. This campaign gave a voice to the universal excitement pets feel as they anticipate a Chewy delivery. The inspiration behind ‘Chatty Pets’ was from pet parents believing each pet has a distinct personality and people’s love for personifying their pets. The campaign resonated strongly with pet parents, generating the most organic video views of any video on Chewy’s YouTube channel at about 700,000 organic views. 

The highest-performing new category this year is Best Shoppable Content Strategy. The finalist highlighted is NBC News Custom Productions for its ‘Peacock Holiday Steals and Deals’ with Jill Martin franchise. This longstanding segment leveraged viewers that routinely tune in while introducing them to shoppable content across streaming and social platforms. This program incorporated new technologies and brought in elevated production components, including an indoor drone camera, and drove the highest viewership days for TODAY All Day in 2021. Peacock also promoted the special on its interface by listing the channel in the number one spot and including hero images on its homepage. The special secured Peacock Premium subscriptions and increased revenue by more than 30% year-over-year. 

Stay tuned to find out who the judges will select as this year’s winners. In the meantime, check out the complete list of finalists below.

Best Ad
Big Day the Agency – HexClad Brand Awareness TV Commercial
Calix
CallTower
CHS & Hyperoptic – Ready to Reach Hyperspeed?
Sony Interactive Entertainment & MOCEAN
The Woo

Best Ad Tech Innovation
Ampersand & Hill’s Pet Nutrition
Curastory
Extreme Reach, Diversity in Ad Creative, launch of first-ever, at-scale report
Introducing CTV Ad Enhancements by Sharethrough
Mars, Incorporated and Realeyes – Using Attention AI To Predict Real-World Outcomes
MiQ & iProspect – Hilton’s Audience Awareness Campaign

Best Advertiser in TV or Video
Calix
Quigley & Ball Aluminum Cup

Best Brand Film – Series
Barkley
Calix
NetApp TV – The IT Office
VICE Media Group, DeVito/Verdi, and Laurel Road – I’m Also A Doctor Docuseries

Best Brand Film – Single
AMC Networks Content Room
Barkley
INNOCEAN USA
Roku Originals -WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story
The Woo

Best Brand Studio
Roku Brand Studio

Best Connected TV Platform
Beachfront | The Sell-Side Ad Server Built for Convergent TV
Digital Remedy
Premion
Publica

Best Digital Video Monetization Program
EX.CO’s Publisher-First Video Platform for BoardingArea
STN Video
VDO.AI – Ad Monetization Platform

Best Digital Video Platform
In The Know
NetApp – Launch of NetApp TV
OnlyFans – The OnlyFans Creative Fund: Fashion Edition
Publica
ViewLift

Best Distribution Strategy
Jellysmack
Roku Brand Studio — Roku Rundown: House of the Dragon

Best FAST Channel
Pocket.watch – Ryan and Friends Channel
Tastemade
The Hill TV – Best FAST Channel
The Vevo Pop Channel

Best Live Video Strategy 
Cheil USA & Samsung Electronics America – Samsung Live
Firework & The Fresh Market – Launch Thanksgiving Video Commerce Campaign
PPK
The Washington Post

Best Multi-Platform Video Campaign
Chewy
EA and mSix&Partners – Launch of Madden22
HBO Max x ATTN: – Recommended By campaign
Magnite Helps Travel Texas Expand Cross-Platform Audience Reach With Programmatic Addressable
Roku Originals -WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story
Sony Interactive Entertainment & MOCEAN

Best Original Programming
“New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce,” a JUKES original production presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment
Hulu
In The Know
LADbible Group
NetApp TV – Watts the Future
South China Morning Post

Best Production Strategy
Goldthread
Quigley & Ball Aluminum Cup
TheSoul Publishing

Best Shoppable Content Strategy 
AMC Networks Content Room
E! News: “Shop LivE! for the Holiday Season”
Firework & The Fresh Market – Launch Thanksgiving Video Commerce Campaign
Horizon Media & Petco
Peacock Holiday Steals and Deals with Jill Martin – NBC News Custom Productions

Best Snapchat Show
Insider
Insider
LADbible Group
PinkNews

Best Snapchat Shows Producer
E! News The Rundown
Jellysmack
LADbible Group
PinkNews

Best Social Video Campaign
Barkley
CHS & The Allianz Group – What would you tell your 8-year-old self?
INNOCEAN USA
Jungle Creations for Heinz – Heinz & Twisted: Sandwich Goals
La Mer – Global Hero Product Launch – Video Campaign
Quigley & Ball Aluminum Cup

Best Streaming Service
Hulu
Local Now
Paramount+
Paramount+
Tubi

Best TV/Streaming Ad Sales Program or Product
AMC Networks Content Room
AMC Networks Content Room
Nexstar Digital
Octillion
Premion
The Trade Desk

Best Use of Instagram Reels
Goldthread

Best Use of Stories 
An Even Playing Field Profiling the US Adaptive Open Presented by the USGA & Golf Digest
Barkley
Barkley
Calix
Insider
VICE Media Group, DeVito/Verdi, and Laurel Road – I’m Also A Doctor Docuseries

Best Use of TikTok
amika
Blue Hour Studios & LikeMeat – LikeWings #WingIt2WinIt
Concacaf World Cup TikTok Launch
INNOCEAN USA
OLAPLEX
The Washington Post

Best Use of YouTube
Insider
MiQ & Dentsu
Overtime – Best of YouTube
South China Morning Post
The Social Standard x Adobe
The Task & Purpose YouTube channel

Digital Studio of the Year
TheSoul Publishing
We Are The Mighty

Video Executive of the Year
Erica Berenstein, News and Documentary – Insider
Micah Gelman, The Washington Post
Oliver Warley, PinkNews
Qian Dai, Goldthread
Rob Schneider, Chief Strategy, Content & Development Officer, Learfield

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