Newcastle based online news distribution company, webitpr, has been named 2007/08 digital innovator of the year at the North East Digital Awards for its introduction of the Social Media News Release – a new kind of press release tailored for the online world.
Funded by regional development agency, One NorthEast and developed by The North East Regional Portal, the North East Digital Awards is a regional event held in Newcastle designed to recognise and celebrate digital advancement within the area. The event took place at the Hyena Comedy Club in Newcastle on 15 May.
The award categories were split into three groups, Digital Users, Digital Suppliers and Digital Innovators and included individual awards within each category. Webitpr’s Social Media News Release won the Best Use of Emerging Technology award and went on to win the overall Digital Innovator award against another 13 entrants.
The level of competition from each entrant was impressively high and included nominations from a range of digital initiatives, such as a mobile marketing firm that includes Hilary Clinton as a client, to an advertising agency’s viral video for Middlesbrough FC.
The Social Media News Release concept was implemented by webitpr in 2007 and has since been used by a number of FTSE100 and Fortune500 companies including, ITV, Sage, Vauxhall and WebEx, as well as number of PR and marketing agencies based out of the UK and US.
It combines a traditional press release with multimedia content and social media elements from sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and is used as an online tool to help the PR industry embrace the growing importance of the online world.
Head of ebusiness at The North East Regional Development Portal, Pascal Fintoni, said, “Congratulations to webitpr on winning both the Best Use of Emerging Technology award and the overall Digital Innovator award. The level of competition from each entrant was extremely high but we were very impressed by the Social Media News Release concept and how it is helping to meet the needs of the PR profession in the digital world.”
Chief executive of webitpr, Adam Parker, said, “We’re absolutely delighted with winning both of the awards as it’s a testament to the hard work and effort we’ve put in to developing the Social Media News Release over this past year.”
Adam added, “Full credit to the North East Digital Awards organisers for staging a fantastic event which included a range of impressive digital initiatives from across the region. It just goes to show how important the digital sphere has become as it plays a role in each part of our day to day lives. It’s certainly an exciting area to be involved in at the moment.”
Further information on webitpr’s Social Media News Release can be found on the webitpr website: http://www.webitpr.com/realwire.asp?id=21 or by calling 0191 2155 007.