Winner: Community Photo Contest Campaign from The Pilot

This is an incredible example of a media company pivoting in a time of unknown – and generating revenue and engagement for a client at the same time. Chick-fil-A has been a long time sponsor of The Pilot‘s Athlete of the Week, but COVID-19 put sports on hold. The team at the paper switched to a monthly photo contest. This reached the “entire family” not just student athletes. They retained the $24,000 investment, and the new campaign allowed them to cast an even wider net for the sponsor and keep their presence strong in the community.

---

Best Advertiser Lead-Gen Campaign

Winner: Allen Services Air Conditioning Sweepstakes – Fort Collins Coloradoan

Runners-Up:

• Montcalm Community College Stay Close, Go Far Survey – The Daily News
• Spice Hunter Campaign – St. Louis Magazine
• The Great 2020 Gas Giveaway – Federated Fort Wayne
• The Toilet Topper Giveaway – WKBT-TV

---

Best Advertiser Showcase

Winner: Virtual Home and Garden Show​ – Leighton Alexandria

Runners-Up:

• 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways​ – WILX-TV​
• Hurricane Expo – ​Sun Coast Media Group
• Now Hiring Job Fair – Chattanooga Times Free Press​

Read more about the top 2020 Advertiser Showcases!

---

Best ‘Best Of’

Winner: Readers’ Choice – Billings Gazette

Finalists:

• 2020 Best of the Best​ – Chattanooga Times Free Press
• B1039 Palm Awards​ – WXKB-FM
• Best of NOCO – NOCO Style
• Best of Palm Beach​ – Palm Beach Post

---

Best Birthday Email

Winner:WTTS-FM

Runners-Up:

• Beasley Philadelphia
• Daily Herald​
• Distinctly Montana Magazine
• WGN-TV

---

Best Branded Content

Winner: The Culligan Water Trivia Quiz – KAVU-TVV

Runners-Up:

• 2020 Census quiz – Pocono Record
• AAA College Admissions Guide: Financing College Quiz – Newsday
• Revolution Farms Lettuce Campaign – GRKids.com
• The Human Trafficking Quiz – The Daily Sentinel

---

Best COVID-Inspired Campaign

Winner: Chime in for Changemakers – Gannett

Runners-Up:

• AutoNation Mask Up – South Florida Sun Sentinel
• Community Over Crisis – The Sumter Item
• Park City Community Bulletin Board – Park Record
• Salute to Healthcare Workers and Emergency Personnel – Renda Broadcasting
• Support Local Sweepstakes – WMEE-FM & WGHQ-FM

---

Best Editorial or Programming Campaign

Winner: Dave and Chuck Fan Feud Ballot – WRIF-FM

Runners-Up:

• Chicago Madness: Best Moments in Chicago Sports History Bracket – WGN-TV
• Florida Covid-19 Lockdown Poll – Northwest Florida Daily News
• Music to My Beers Beer Bracketology Bracket – WRBR-FM
• The Father’s Day “Dad jokes” Sweepstakes – WDAF-TV

---

Best Email Campaign

Winner: Country 102.5 Artist Targeted Emails​ – WKLB-FM

Runners-Up:

• Community Marketing Grant Email​ – The Taos News
• Enter to Win: Bob Seger Prize Pack – ​WCSX-FM​
• Warehouse Liquidation Sale​ – KYTV-TV​

---

Best Email Newsletter Campaign

Winner: From the Newsroom – Green Valley News​

Runners-Up:

• Bengals Newsletter – WKRC-TV
• Coronavirus News – Southeast Missourian
• Weekender – Durham Magazine​

---

Best Event Sign-Up

Winner: Women’s Virtual Expo – News Tribune

Runners-Up:

• Back to School: Coping with Anxiety​ – KPRC-TV​
• Be Well 2020 Campaign​ – St. Louis Magazine​
• Teddy Bear Clinic​ – Fredericksburg Parent and Family
• Voters’ Choice Awards Virtual Event​ – WRAL-TV​

---

Best List-Builder Campaign

Winner: The Great Gas and Grocery Giveaway – WJHL-TV

Runners-Up:

• Million Dollar Mondays – WBYT-FM
• Taco Madness Bracket – Austin Monthly
• The Cover Kids Search – Metro Family Magazine

---

Best National Sweepstakes

Winner: Gary & Nelson’s $15,000 Year End Bonus​ – KFGE-FM​

Runners-Up:

• $15K Sweeps​ – WBFF-TV
• Groceries for a Year ​– KNDE-FM
• The Bear’s Bankroll ​– WRBR-FM
• The Great Auto Sweepstakes! – Pocono Record

---

Best Niche Ballot

Winner: Best Wedding Services in Calgary​ – Avenue Calgary

Runners-Up:

• Best in Business 2020​ – Colorado Springs Business Journal​
• Hannaford Recipe Contest​ – Keene Sentinel​
• HighSchoolOT Honors – WRAL-TV
• Salute to Nurses​ – The Oklahoman​

---

Best Photo Contest

Winner: Military Photo Contest Projects – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette​

Runners-Up:

• 225 Acadian House $10K Kitchen Giveaway ​– 225 Magazine​
• Backyard Makeover & Miracle on Your Street ​​– The Daily News​
• Michigan Wildlife Council Fishing Photo Contest​ ​– Detroit Free Press​
• Win a Free AC Unit with Installation​ – WBYR-FM​

Read more about the top 2020 Photo Contests!

---

Best Poll

Winner: Editorial Polls Series​ – Chattanooga Times Free Press

Runners-Up:

• Blitz Game of the Week Polls​ – WOI-TV​
• Drag Queens Reading at the Library Poll​ – Idaho State Journal​
• Hash House A-Go-Go | Offensive Lineman of the Year​ – KHKR-AM
• The Fluoride Poll​ – KXLY-TV​

Read more about the top 2020 Polls!

---

Best Quiz

Winner: Test Your Home Buying IQ​ – KLQQ-FM

Runners-Up:

• Financial Preparedness Quiz​ – syracuse.com​
• Summer of Gordon – Name the Ingredient – WFXG-TV​
• Test Your Medicare Knowledge​ – Palm Beach Post
• Who’s Your Dave & Chuck Lockdown Twin? – ​WRIF-FM​

Read more about the top 2020 Quizzes!

---

Best Recurring Revenue Campaign

Winner: All Things Culinary & Ozarks Big Bites – KYTV-TV

Runners-Up:

• Amazing Teachers – Ocala Star & Gainesville Sun
• Baptist Health Juice Quiz Campaign – WJXT-TV
• St. Louis Hometown Champions – St. Louis Magazine

---

Best Sponsored Campaign

Winner: Philadelphia’s Virtual Dog Walk – WMGK-FM

Runners-Up:

• In Utah Bracket Challenge – KSFI-FM
• The 2020 Coors Light Pro Football Contest – Leighton St. Cloud
• The Support Local Restaurants Sweepstakes – Times Colonist
• Volunteers Count Sweepstakes – KXLY-TV>

---

Best Sweepstakes

Winner: The Traeger Grill Giveaway – Citrus County Chronicle

Runners-Up:

• 2020 Blue Water Spa Refresh & Restore – WRAL-TV​
• Mr. Electric LED Landscape Lighting Giveaway – WMEE-FM​
• The FUGE Wedding Reception Sweepstakes – Bucks County Courier Times​
• Wild & Wonderful Summer Getaway Giveaway​ – New South Media​

Read more about the top 2020 Sweepstakes!

---

Best Video Contest

Winner: Oh Say Can You Sing​ – WJXT-TV

Runners-Up:

• Battle of the Bands​ – Folio Weekly​
• My Kids Got Talent – ​Daily Journal​
• Rockin’ Wars 2020​ – WCSX-FM​
• Thank a Nurse​ – Austin American-Statesman​

Read more about the top 2020 Video Contests!

---

Best Voting Bracket

Winner: Mutt Madness– WKML-FM

Runners-Up:

• Card of the Month Bracket – ​Creative Scrapbooker​​
• Christmas Movie Bracket​ – WDIV-TV​
• ROH Bracket of Honor​ – Ring of Honor​​
• STL Sports Showdown​ – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Read more about the top 2020 Voting Brackets!

---

Best Advertiser Program

Winner: The Oklahoman

Runners-Up:

• Holland Sentinel
• Herald-Mail
• Indy’s Child
• KXLY-TV
• WBYT-FM

---

Best Email Program

Winner: Beasley Media Group

Runners-Up:

• Black Press
• Swift Communications
• Wick Communications

---

Best Small Market Program

Winner: The Pilot

Runners-Up:

• Beasley Augusta
• Holland Sentinel
• Leighton Alexandria
• WDTV-TV

---

Best Mid-Size Market Program

Winner: syracase.com

Runners-Up:

• Chattanooga Times Free Press
• Federated Fort Wayne
• KXLY-TV
• KYTV-TV

---

Best Large Market Program

Winner: WJXT-TV

Runners-Up:

• Avenue Calgary
• Palm Beach Post
• The Arizona Republic
• WKLB-FM
• WRIF-FM

---

Best Group-Wide Strategy

Winner: Gannett

Runners-Up:

• Adams Publishing Group
• Beasley Media Group
• Graham Media Group
• Nexstar Media Group

---

 

2020 brought compelling success stories from both our runners-up and winners. This year reminded us that promotions and email isn’t just a tool for a single department, it’s a resource for your entire media company. Driving outstanding results for programming and content teams to sales teams and advertisers, this year proves promotions and email are more important than ever before.