Panel Comprised of Fifteen Senior Marketing Executives from Leading Brands Including Visa USA, Reebok International, Revlon, Masterfoods and Others
New York, NY (Sept. 13, 2004) – Distinguishing itself from other awards shows, the IAB and MediaPost Communications today announced the judging panel for the OMMAs, comprised solely of senior client-side brand marketers in addition to Bob Liodice of the ANA. The OMMAs, honoring excellence in interactive marketing and advertising, will be held on September 21, 2004, 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 special website for the awards is live at www.omma-awards.com.
The judges are:
• David Adelman, Media Director, Johnson & Johnson
• Michael Balsama, Relationship Marketing Manager, Masterfoods
• Phil Bienert, Manager of CRM and E-Business, Volvo Cars of North America
• Aaron Finn, Vice President of Acquisition and Analysis, Classmates.com
• Marc Fireman, Global Director, Interactive Marketing, Reebok International
• Jack Haber, Vice President of E-Business, Colgate-Palmolive
• Daniel Harley, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Natasha Householder, Director of Media Planning and Buying/Marketing Information Systems, Ernst & Young
• Edward Kim, Interactive Media Manager, Unilever U.S.
• Bob Liodice, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of National Advertisers
• Tom Lynch, Vice President of Brand Strategy and Advertising, ING
• Kimberly Lyons, Media and Internet Manager, Revlon
• Jon Raj, Director of Advertising, Visa USA
• Geoff Silvers, Director of Merchandising, Orbitz
• Sher Taton, Senior Manager of Interactive Marketing Communications, IBM
The OMMAs are sponsored by DoubleClick, also throwing a post-ceremony celebratory cocktail party, and by Tribal Fusion, who will be offering a sampling of their private label beer throughout the ceremony. The event is moderated by Neil Perry, Principal, Neil Perry Associates and formerly head of interactive advertising for McDonald’s. All winners and finalists will receive Apple iPod mini’s with matching speakers, and the winners will also take home stunning trophies.
Hundreds of entries have been submitted, including spots from TeamOne Advertising (Lexus), Grey San Francisco (Sun Microsystems), DeepFocus (Interscope Records and Miramax Films), Carat Interactive (Adidas), connect@jwt (Nestle), Squeaky Wheel Media (Pepsi), Digitas (Best Buy) and many others.
Entries will be judged within 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 OMMAs will include three editorial awards, with selections being made by the IAB and MediaPost editorial staff. These are: Innovation and Creativity, Marketer of The Year and Lifetime Achievement.
“The commitment of time and effort from these respected marketing professionals enables the OMMAs to confidently select and recognize the industry’s best talent and achievement,” said Ken Fadner, MediaPost Communications.
“Based on the outstanding submissions we have received, the OMMA judges are facing a tough challenge in narrowing the categories down to just a few finalists and an ultimate winner,” said Greg Stuart, President and CEO, IAB.
The judging panel will choose four finalists in each category, and then 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. Ads from all of the finalists will be featured during the show.
About the IAB
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) represents leading interactive companies that are actively engaged in, and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. IAB member companies include: AOL, CNET Networks, DoubleClick, Forbes.com, Google, MSN, The Wall Street Journal Online, The Walt Disney Internet Group, Yahoo! and over 180 others. On behalf of its members, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research and educates the advertising industry regarding the use of interactive advertising. For more information please visit www.iab.net.
About MediaPost:
MediaPost is an integrated publishing and content company whose mission is to provide an array of resources to super-serve media planners and buyers. Since 1996 MediaPost Communications has been the leading advertising and media publisher providing news, how-to-information, analysis, research, opinion, planning tools and directories to help more than 53,000 media decision makers better plan and buy both online and traditional advertising. MediaPost publishes and presents MEDIA magazine, MediaDailyNews I,II,III, The Online Spin, Just an Online Minute, The Research Brief, The Email Insider, Real Media Riffs, MediaPost.com, Forecast Media Conference, The Outfront Conference, and The Media
Marla Nitke IAB
Nick Friese – MediaPost