This category recognizes digital advertising and marketing professionals who typify visionary leadership by effectively guiding their organization or business unit to meet business goals while advancing innovation and inspiring their teams.

Finalists:
• How Jeremy Helfand is Re-defining TV Advertising (Jeremy Helfand)
• Programmatic pioneer Nicolle Pangis is reinventing TV (and everyone wins) (Nicolle Pangis)
• Sara Badler, SVP Programmatic Revenue (Sara Badler)
• LiveRamp’s Scott Howe: Psychic or CEO? (Scott Howe)
• Scott Rosenberg, General Manager of Roku’s Industry-Leading OTT Advertising Platform (Scott Rosenberg)

This category recognizes emerging leaders in digital advertising and marketing, with a focus on mid-level professionals under 40 years of age who already have demonstrated a track record of achievement, exceptional growth and huge potential to disrupt the industry.

Finalists:
• Anda Gansca, Empowering Brands to Become Better Storytellers Through Data (Anda Gansca)
• Adtech Privacy Champion Oversees Growth of LiveRamp to $1B in Returns, Providing New AdTech Software Solutions (Anneka Gupta)
• Jason Manningham: Innovation Pioneer Creating an Identity Layer for TV (Jason Manningham)
• From Chief of Staff to SVP, Strategy and Corporate Development: Lauren Wetzel’s pivotal role at Xandr (Lauren Wetzel)
• Marty Kratky-Katz, Co-Founder & CEO at Blockthrough (Marty Kratky-Katz)

This category draws from all award entries submitted and recognizes excellence in its service and contribution to stakeholders, such as marketers or consumers, and the industry at large. Entries will be judged on how clearly they align a product, service or campaign with proven results, innovation and creativity.

Demand for digital skills is outpacing the supply of available talent. This category recognizes the solutions or processes that cultivate mastery of data-driven marketing, with proven results.

Finalists:
• Certifiably the Best Education Program in Programmatic Advertising (Centro)
• Emodo Institute (Emodo)
• Jellyfish Helps Rackspace Deliver The Best Educational Tool Or Program (Jellyfish)
• Precision Discovery Journey – Publicis Media Precision’s Programmatic Training Suite (Publicis Media)

As programmatic has matured, marketers have been able to creatively apply the methodology. This category recognizes campaigns that applied programmatic concepts and techniques in unique ways, from their planning to execution, optimization and measurement.

Finalists:
• Pernod Ricard, 360i and Captify changed consumer perceptions that Malibu Rum is only for warm weather (Pernod Ricard, 360i and Captify)
• Using Innovation To Help Consumers “Make Google Do It” (Essence)
• Clinch’s AI powered platform helped deliver the most relevant ad experiences while driving brand loyalty and branding (Merkle & Clinch)
• HSBC: Building Savings for a Rainy Day or a Lifetime (PHD Media)
• A Programmatic ‘Fixer Upper’: How Full-Funnel Custom Optimization Took IKEA’s Ad Optimization Strategy from Drab to Fab (Xaxis)

This category recognizes nominees that have identified, targeted and purchased an audience on linear TV or over-the-top. They have also successfully measured the effectiveness of their buy.

Finalists:
• Challenging Conventions of AdvancedTV (Hearts & Science)
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise: “Yellow brick” TV everywhere campaign (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
• Performance Shoe Brand Gains 7% Brand Lift in New Market with Data-Targeted CTV (Jellyfish)
• Kellogg’s Pringles, Innovid and CBS Interactive: “Sad Device” Interactive Connected TV Ad (Kellogg’s Pringles, Innovid and CBS Interactive)
• NinthDecimal, Xandr/ WarnerMedia- Data Driven Linear TV Strategy Drives Incremental Store Visits (NinthDecimal, Xandr/Warner Media)

Among marketers’ most important jobs is evaluating the merit of marketing technologies and deploying solutions to maximum benefit. It’s easier said than done. This award recognizes those advertisers that have succeeded, whether it be with scaled platforms or custom setups.

Finalists:
• Kimberly-Clark (& Mindshare) Trading Desk: Running Towards Disruption in Digital Marketing (Kimberly-Clark and Mindshare)
• Uber Bidder 2.0 – Scaling globally through ML based targeting/bidding (Uber)

Call it “in-housing” or “hands on.” This award category recognizes advertisers who have built media-buying and advertising capabilities in-house. Winning entries will excel in one or more of these areas: data strategy, technology integration, supply relationships, creativity, measurement and continuous improvement.

Finalists:
• Bayer: Driving Performance with an In-House Strategy (Bayer)
• Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Trading Desk (Disney)
• Nestlé launches new model to boost accountability and effectiveness in online ads (Nestlé)
• Sprint’s In-Housing Early Success: Driving Exponential Omni-Channel Sales Growth (Sprint)
• Uber Bidder 2.0 – Scaling globally through ML based targeting/bidding (Uber)

Programmatic is confusing. This award recognizes firms that guide clients deftly through a complex landscape and help them determine how to best apply programmatic to achieve their business goals by, for example, better leveraging agency partnerships or taking programmatic in-house.

Finalists:
• Bringing a Massive Global Fashion Brand Portfolio In-House (Jellyfish)
• MediaLink: Architecting the Next Generation of Precision Marketing (MediaLink)
• The World’s Most-Experienced Programmatic Consulting Firm (Prohaska Consulting)
• Diageo’s In-Housing Story (WLxJS)
• Wyborcza.pl Programmatic Monetization Strategy (Yieldbird)

As the ad tech landscape continues to explode, agencies must have a deep understanding of platforms and how to best leverage them for their clients’ specific needs. Agencies nominated for this award have either demonstrated exceptional understanding and ability to work with top platforms in the space or built technology in-house to plug gaps in vendor solutions.

Finalists:
• Dynamic Media Activation with TRGR by Digitas (Digitas)
• Using AI To Generate Contextual Programmatic Ads (Essence)
• Omni by Hearts & Science (Hearts & Science)
• Powering Sales for Transamerica by Creating A Hub for Marketing Data (Merkle)
• Achieving Individual-Level Bidding in Retargeting Thanks to Predictive Visitor Scoring (Numberly)

Data has always been the lifeblood of media investments, but with the rise of digital, there’s more data today than marketers know what to do with. Agencies nominated for this award show a deft ability to not only leverage data to improve clients’ media investments, but to know which pieces of data can make media dollars work harder.

Finalists:
• Scoring a Spot on the Big Game Party Table (Cramer-Krasselt)
• DELVE Increases UNICEF USA New Donor Volume With Donor Segmentation Strategy in Google Cloud Platform (DELVE)
• Using First Party Data To Make Google Do It (Essence)
• A Random Walk Down Madison Ave: Combining network & time-series analysis to identify short and long-term marketing response (Marketscience)
• Driving More, Cheaper In-Store Visits Using Automation & Ad Format Diversification (Merkle)

This award recognizes agencies who have mastered programmatic buying – and not just by pulling levers on platforms. The best agencies have demonstrated programmatic excellence through a deep understanding of the vendor landscape. These agencies also take bespoke approaches to planning, optimizing and measuring programmatic campaigns to move the needle on clients’ businesses.

Finalists:
• Building a privacy-first global programmatic offering for the future (Essence)
• Goodway Group — Anytime Fitness New Membership Campaign (Goodway Group)
• Infiniti uses audience approach in Advanced TV to generate brand lift (OMD)
• Parodontax Digital Media Execution – Bleeding Gums are NOT normal (Publicis Media)
• The Publicis Media Platform by Precision: An End-to-End Resource Enabling & Optimizing Programmatic (Publicis Media Platform by Precision)

Data drives digital results. Publishers in this category used first-, second- and/or third-party data to skillfully generate insights, target campaigns or measure results and optimize in ways that increased effectiveness for their clients.

Finalists:
• Dotdash
• Brandscope: Contextual insights that help brands understand their audience (The New York Times Company)

Whether it’s a new integration or going deeper with an existing technology, leading publishers have found ways to make the tech work for them to boost results. This category recognizes publishers who have built, partnered or bought technology that is driving notable business success or audience growth.

Finalists:
• Concert: The best of the trusted web under one roof (Vox Media)
• DISH Media & FreeWheel: Innovative Yield Optimization Management Platform for Linear and Addressable Inventory (DISH Media & FreeWheel)
• Octopus Interactive – A Rideshare DOOH Platform, Available Programmatically (Octopus Interactive)
• WarnerMedia’s Data Driven Symphony Ad Platform for Advanced TV (WarnerMedia)
• Adidas Nite Jogger (WeTransfer)

Whether through thoughtful strategic or “test-and-learn” execution, the industry’s most innovative publishers have set a high bar for their use of technology, data, platforms, internal organization and partnerships to position themselves for success. This category recognizes publishers who have found new and creative ways to reach and monetize their audiences.

Finalists:
• Hulu’s Industry-Changing Ad Innovations (Hulu)
• IBM Advertising Accelerator with Watson, a new offering from IBM Watson Advertising (IBM Watson Advertising)
• Scopely: The Gaming Unicorn (MoPub)
• POPSUGAR – the #1 most engaged-with Women’s Lifestyle site in the U.S. (POPSUGAR)
• WarnerMedia – Most Innovative Publisher (WarnerMedia)

Ad tech is consolidating, but it’s also expanding. This award recognizes the best and most innovative of the new wave of technology firms. Applicants should have been founded less than three years ago.

Finalists:
• Blockthrough’s Adblock Monetization Platform (Blockthrough)
• Fyllo
• ID5 – an identity solution for a cookie-less world (ID5)
• KERV Interactive’s Patented Video Intelligence Platform (KERV Interactive)
• Publica – The advanced programmatic platform for Connected TV (Publica)
• Wurl: First Year as a Streaming and Advertising Service Company Exceeded Expectations (Wurl)

The human touch still matters, especially as technological complexity increases. The top platforms in this category help their customers resolve issues and succeed with outstanding personalized service.

Finalists:
• Experian partners with TV Providers, Agencies and Advertisers to coordinate impactful Advanced TV campaigns (Experian)
• Tech & Talent: How MediaMath Helps Brands Maximize Their Technology Investments to Drive Outcomes (MediaMath)
• How Movable Ink Helped Lenovo Lift Revenue by 26% and Cut Their Production Time in Half (Movable Ink)
• Publisher relationship helps Sovrn level-up (Sovrn)
• The Trade Desk – Driven to Provide Superior Customer Service (The Trade Desk)

Multitouch attribution or media-mix modeling? Mobile- or web-focused? Offline and cross-channel? This award recognizes the best in campaign measurement and analytics that cut through the noise and deliver meaningful insights.

Finalists:
• Project Gaudi – AI driven creative insight (Google)
• LoopMe, Best Measurement or Analytics Capability (LoopMe)
• Measured: Incrementality Measurement Reveals the Truth (Measured)
• Making Brand Advertising More Effective Online | Measurement Everywhere (Oracle Data Cloud)
• Teads VCPM and CPCV BUYS (Teads)

From industry stalwarts like DMPs to new data management and activation technologies such as customer data platforms, customer identity companies and data consortiums, this award recognizes the leading companies that bring data to bear in programmatic media.

Finalists:
• Amperity Customer Data Management Platform (Amperity)
• Transforming the Sleeping Giant of Linear TV for the Future with Data (Centriply)
• KERV Interactive’s Patented Video Intelligence Platform (KERV Interactive)
• Permutive and FT: excelling in a world without third-party cookies (Permutive and FT)
• Velocidi, Enabling a First-Party Data Economy (Velocidi)

Publishers need technology companies that drive their direct revenue and turn visitors into loyal or more valuable audiences. This category recognizes vendors that excel in helping publishers build stronger and more sustainable businesses.

Finalists:
• Adzerk’s APIs help Fortune 500 brands & tech unicorns build their own Walled Garden ad platforms (Adzerk)
• Nativo Accelerates the Open Web with Nativo Edge™ (Nativo)
• Permutive and FT: excelling in a world without third-party cookies (Permutive and FT)
• Publica – The advanced programmatic platform for Connected TV (Publica)
• Rubicon Project, Demand Manager (Rubicon Project)

With the rise of podcasts, streaming platforms and voice-activated devices, audio is rapidly becoming a crucial medium to engage with consumers. This award recognizes companies that have innovated their approach to the new world of audio, whether by experimenting with new ad formats or employing cutting-edge, data-driven buying methods.

Finalists:
• AdsWizz: Unleashing the Power of Audio (AdsWizz)
• iHeart AdBuilder – Self Serve Radio Advertising for Small Business Powered by Jelli, the Only Programmatic Solution for Radio (iHeart AdBuilder and Jelli)
• Propel and Pandora design a multi-dimensional audio experience (Propel and Pandora)

With a growing demand for integration from marketers, good agencies today have to put aside their competitive differences and collaborate on behalf of their clients. Agency teams nominated for this award have embraced a cooperative, partner-driven approach with other agencies on behalf of a client, whether within their own network or across holding companies.

Finalists:
• GroupeConnect, a bespoke agency for Bank of America (GroupeConnect)
• Havas North America Villages – Creative + Media (Havas North America Villages)

Brand marketers increasingly must show how their efforts contribute to business goals and the bottom line. At the same time, their role is increasingly intertwined with technology, consumer expectations are soaring and they must manage loads of agency and vendor relationships – all while guiding and inspiring their own employees. This award recognizes the brand leaders who have most deftly navigated this shifting landscape.

Finalists:
• Adam Benaroya – HPE’s digital transformation (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) 
• Driving enterprise level growth for Tyson Foods through paid media- Clare Liston (Mindshare)

The digital advertising and marketing industry is in a constant state of flux. This award celebrates the analysts who painstakingly cover the agency and programmatic landscape and help guide marketers, investors and journalists on where the industry is headed.

Finalists:
• AdProfs industry newsletter: This Week In Ad Tech (AdProfs)
• Emodo’s FIVE Podcast (Emodo)

Data drives digital results. Publishers in this category used first-, second- and/or third-party data to skillfully generate insights, target campaigns or measure results and optimize in ways that increased effectiveness for their clients.

Agencies and tech companies that represent advertisers in online exchanges face a complicated auction environment on one side and sophisticated clients demanding more data-driven results on the other. This award recognizes outstanding demand-side technology companies that consistently meet the highest standards.

Finalists:
• KERV Interactive’s Patented Video Intelligence Platform (KERV Interactive)
• The Pioneer of Programmatic is Cleaning Up the Ad Tech Ecosystem Once and for All (MediaMath)
• Verizon Media DSP – Driving Connections That Matter (Verizon Media DSP)
• Vistar Media, a Key Enabler of DOOH Industry’s Massive Growth (Vistar Media)
• Xaxis’ Copilot Empowers Brands to Achieve Business Goals Through Programmatic Advertising (Xaxis)

Whether it’s watched on a TV in a living room or a mobile phone, video poses unique challenges. The ad experience must be flawless, and introducing targeting and measurement to this format is paramount. This award recognizes innovative and powerful publisher-facing tech in the video space.

Finalists:
• Nielsen Makes Linear Addressable TV A Reality (Nielsen)
• Publica – The advanced programmatic platform for Connected TV (Publica)
• Snapchat Commercials Drive Success for Advertisers and Parent Company Snap Inc. (Snapchat)
• SpotX for Sling – Best Publisher Side Video Technology (SpotX)
• The Telaria Video Management Platform (VMP) (Telaria)

Data broadens how publishers can understand their audience. And it opens up new opportunities to monetize their readership and improve the experience for their readers. This category rewards tech that helps publishers make better decisions, gain insights from their readers or boost their revenue.

Finalists:
• FlowIQ: The Next-Generation of Direct-Sold Campaign Management (Ad-Juster)
• ProgrammaticIQ: Best-in-Class Advertising Reporting & Analytics (Ad-Juster)
• Permutive and FT: excelling in a world without third-party cookies (Permutive and FT)

Cords are getting cut at a rapid clip, more data is being introduced into linear buys and cutting-edge TV ad tech companies are emerging to meet the growing appetite for advanced television advertising solutions. This category recognizes the smartest ad tech in television.

Finalists:
• Amobee’s Platform Transforms Advertising Across Four Screens (Amobee)
• LiveRamp Shakes Up Advanced TV Universe with Outcome-based Solutions, Acquisitions and New Hires (LiveRamp)
• Nielsen Takes Addressable TV to New Heights for TV Buyers (Nielsen)
• Publica – The advanced programmatic platform for Connected TV (Publica)
• Simpli.fi’s OTT/CTV Advertising Solution: The Most Advanced Solution in the Market (Simpli.fi)

From games to utility apps to mobile news publishers, the app market is jam-packed with creative talent – but it’s the unsung heroes on the user acquisition and monetization teams that keep the lights on. This category honors the mobile app marketers who know how to keep a user base healthy, flourishing and profitable.

Finalists:
• NowThis – the #1 global news publisher on social and mobile (NowThis)
• The Dodo – the #1 most engaged-with media brand in the world (The Dodo)

Brands, influencers and audiences have converged on social media. Brands are turning to old and new partners to navigate these treacherous and lucrative social channels. This award is for the marketers behind the most creative and effective social media campaigns when it comes to achieving real business results.

Finalists:
• January Digital and BITE Beauty Increase Store Visits by 3x and Scale Overall Revenue +40% (January Digital and BITE Beauty)
• Pier 1 Holiday Strategy (Social Fulcrum)
• Tiger Pistol Enables Local Social Media Activation at Global Scale for Fortune 500 Beverage Company (Tiger Pistol)

Out-of-home marketing has seen a resurgence. Timeless billboard campaigns are reinvigorated by smartphone inventory and location data. In other cases, digital signage and smart devices provide OOH companies new ways to engage audiences or prove ROI. The Best Programmatic Out-Of-Home Activation will recognize the campaign that exemplifies the success and innovation in OOH marketing.

Finalists:
• Pernod Ricard x 360i: Blame it on my Juice (360i)
• Dunkin’ PM Break (Digitas)
• Havas Media and PUMA: NYC Flagship Grand Store Opening (Havas Media)
• BP Corporate: We See Possibilities Everywhere (Mindshare)
• Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home was the Winning Ticket for California Lottery (Vistar Media)