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Ten years of the NMA Effective Awards highlight the growth and development of the industry. Emma Rubach looks at past Grand Prix winners to see what we can learn
The NMA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix winners have represented the best of the best in digital media, highlighting organisations that have raised the bar by using the tools available to the best of their abilities.
Looking back over the first ten years of the Effectiveness Awards shows that the list of Grand Prix winners also represents a useful way of wandering down the memory lane of cyberspace, showcasing the historical moments when foundations were laid for today's digital economy.
"The Grand Prix winners have tracked the progress of the internet," says NMA editor-in-chief Michael Nutley. "Back in 1997, Amnesty International and in 1998 Associated New Media both illustrated early experiences of the online environment. Then Freeserve came along with the first example of a model that empowered its audience, as did Justgiving.com and BT Click&buy. Then, with MU.tv in 2003, we see broadband really starting to penetrate, while interactive TV starts to come through in 2005 with the BBC's How To Sleep Better documentary. By the time we get to last year's winner, we're seeing massive integration across multiple channels."
Even the two now-defunct winners - Global Farmers, which still exists but offline, and Letsbuyit.com, which folded in 2002 - illustrate the way the internet has developed. "We see the dotcom bubble bursting with Letsbuyit.com and, with Global Farmers, I think we saw a site that was built before its time," says Nutley. "Now, with Web 2.0, we're seeing the original promises of the internet fulfilled and ideas are reappearing. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw other incarnations of both these ideas re-emerging."
The NMA Effectiveness Awards 2007 are now open for entries, deadline Wednesday 28 March.
nmaawards.co.uk
Winner 1997
Entry: Refuge! Human Rights Have No Borders - refuge.amnesty.org
Client: Amnesty International
Agency: Bates Interactive
As Amnesty International's website educating people about refugees showed, the organisation's fundamental commitment to developing a forceful communication strategy was already transferring well to the internet in 1997. Ten years later, it's embracing the web as a key channel.
Amnesty International's main site was originally used as a place...