2016 IAB MIXX Awards Winners Announced, Honoring This Year’s Most Noteworthy Digital Marketing

REI and Venables Bell & Partners’ ‘#OptOutside’ Awarded Best-In-Show

Lockheed Martin, McCann, UM New York, Weber Shandwick, Momentum Worldwide, and Framestore VR Studio Receive Special Mention for Technology…Re-Imagined for Their Work on ‘The Field Trip to Mars’

NEW YORK – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed the recipients of the international 2016 IAB MIXX Awards at an annual dinner and celebration honoring today’s best and brightest in digital advertising. The winning work raises the bar for innovation in interactive marketing and points to a dynamic future for the industry.

“Hold the Hands of the One You Love”

The biggest accolade of the evening went to REI and Venables Bell & Partners, which took the coveted Best-in-Show for “#OptOutside,” a viral social media campaign inspiring consumers to take part in outdoor activities instead of retail shopping on Black Friday—a message further enforced by REI’s day-of store closure.

Lockheed Martin, McCann, UM New York, Weber Shandwick, Momentum Worldwide, and Framestore VR Studio earned the Special Mention for Technology…Re-Imagined award, specifically created this year to honor “The Field Trip to Mars.” It recognizes the campaign for its first-of-its-kind innovative execution that transforms a school bus into an immersive virtual reality experience and adds a dimension of making VR “social,” something the jury, comprised of experts in creativity, brand and media, believes is fundamental to the future of digital marketing.

“The IAB MIXX Awards showcases the power of digital and its ability to transform advertising into a deftly rich and unifying storytelling experience,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “We look forward to seeing how this year’s elite work will inspire tomorrow’s interactive marketing campaigns.”

Matt Murphy, Partner and Executive Creative Director, 72andSunny, served as Jury Chair for this year’s 12^th annual MIXX Awards and oversaw a panel of 33 industry leaders representing preeminent marketers, agencies, and publishers.

“The winners bring to light the power of today’s digital advertising – that it can ignite cultural change,” said Murphy. “Campaigns which received top honors elevated their message with never-before-used tactics, prompting their audience to interact in tangible and meaningful ways.”

“The IAB MIXX Awards honors those digital marketing campaigns which dare, utilizing pioneering techniques to reach audiences in increasingly compelling and socially driven ways,” said David Doty, Executive Vice President and CMO, IAB. “We were thrilled to see so much innovative work entered into the awards and tonight we are honored to celebrate the exemplary marketing that represent the best of today’s industry.”

IAB MIXX Awards Winners

2016 IAB MIXX AWARDS JURY

Joining Jury Chair Matt Murphy, Partner and Executive Creative Director, 72andSunny, the 2016 judging panel included:

Agency leaders:

• Jeff Benjamin – Founder, Disco
• Lincoln Bjorkman – Global Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman
• Brad Brinegar – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, McKinney
• Vida Cornelious – Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Walton Isaacson
• Scott Donaton – Chief Content Officer, DigitasLBi
• Sebastian Garin – Executive Creative Director, Grupo Gallegos
• Richard Guest – President, North America, Tribal Worldwide
• Judy John – CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Canada
• Kim Kadlec – President, Global Client Solutions, Publicis Groupe
• Nick Law – Vice Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA
• Pete Lerma – Founder and Principal, Richards/Lerma
• Pierre Lipton – Chief Creative Officer, 360i
• Tom Markham – Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director, BBDO NY
• Erik Rogstad – Managing Director, AKQA
• Rosemarie Ryan – Co-Founder, Co-CEO, co:collective
• Ciro Sarmiento – Chief Creative Officer, Dieste
• Joyce King Thomas – Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, McCann XBC
• Debbi Vandeven – Global Chief Creative Officer, VML
• Steve Wax – Partner, Chief Narratologist, The Cooke Wax Partnership

Brand marketers:

• Maryam Banikarim – Global Chief Marketing Officer, Hyatt Hotel Corporation
• Andy Goldberg, Chief Creative Officer, GE
• Jack Haber – Former Vice President, Global Advertising and Digital, Colgate-Palmolive Company
• Brian King – Global Officer, Marriott Signature Brands & Global Sales, Marriott International
• Laurie Koehler – Former Brand Experience Director, Intel Corporation
• Jonathan Mildenhall – Chief Marketing Officer, Airbnb
• Lou Paskalis – Senior Vice President, Enterprise Media Executive, Bank of America
• David Roman – Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Lenovo
• Shiv Singh – Head, Global Brand Marketing and Transformation, Visa

Publishers:

• Jack Bamberger – Senior Vice President, Global Head of Agency Development, AOL
• Pat Connolly – Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy, 23 Stories x Condé Nast
• Alex Lord – Senior Director, Global Ad Creative Technology, Yahoo
• Suzie Reider – Managing Director, Brand Solutions, Google~YouTube
• Derek Scott – Creative Lead, Facebook Creative Shop

To view the complete gallery of 2016 IAB MIXX Award winners, go to iab.com/mixxawards/gallery2016.

Jivox and iHeart Media are the VIP Sponsors and SteelHouse is the Supporting Sponsor for this year’s IAB MIXX Awards, held at Tao Downtown in New York City.

About the IAB MIXX Awards

Founded in 2004 to honor creativity and effectiveness in interactive advertising, the IAB MIXX Awards have become the premier honor in digital marketing. In 2015, Best-in-Show, the awards’ top prize went to ALS Association for “The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge,” a campaign with a cause-related message and call-to-action that were optimized through the power of digital distribution, resulting in hundreds of thousands of Facebook and Twitter posts, as well as millions of dollars to benefit the organization’s efforts. Last year’s other IAB MIXX Award winners included many of the most prominent brand marketers around the world, including Taco Bell, Unliver, IKEA Candada, and Toyota, as well as leading agencies such as BBDO, DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group, and Wieden+Kennedy.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. It is comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. Together, they account for 86 percent of online advertising in the United States. Working with its member companies, the IAB develops technical standards and best practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. The organization is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the IAB advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. There are 42 IABs licensed to operate in nations around the world and one regional IAB, in Europe. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City and has a West Coast office in San Francisco.