The Web Marketing Association judges will select the best online newsletters of 2018 in 86 industries as part of their 16th annual Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards. The IAC Awards are the first and only industry-based advertising award competition dedicated exclusively to online advertising. Companies or agencies wishing to nominate their work for consideration may do so at www.IACAward.org before the deadline of January 31, 2018.
“Online newsletters are a critical marketing tool for many companies trying to maintain an ongoing relationship with customers and prospects,” said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association. “Each online newsletter will be judged on copywriting, creativity, innovation, design, impact, and use of the medium. The IAC Awards provides an opportunity to find out who is doing an outstanding job creating online newsletters. It’s also a great marketing opportunity for the winners to promote their work to senior management, customers and prospects”.
“We believe that winning an industry specific award is more valuable to the participant. It allows the participants to be judges against their peers, just like in the marketplace,” said Rice.
Other Award Winning Online Newsletters included:
| Year | Entry Name | Winner | |
| 2017 | #YRMatters | The Regional Municipality of York | |
| 2016 | Town & Country Bank Website | Town & Country Bank | |
| 2015 | L’Oreal Paris USA’s Red Hot Holiday Trends | Acxiom Digital Impact | |
| 2014 | African Wildlife Online Newsletter campaign | Sanky Inc | |
| 2013 | WWF fundraising email campaign | rabbit eMarketing GmbH | |
| 2012 | Bing Travel Horizontal Scroll | Acxiom Creative | |
| 2011 | Manulife Solutions | BlueRush Digital Media Corp. | |
| 2010 | Online Newsletter campaign for VISIT FLORIDA | Miles Media | |
The 2018 Internet Advertising Competition Awards are open to all organizations and individuals (advertising and interactive agencies, corporate marketing departments, etc.) involved in the process of developing Internet advertising. Entries may be submitted online at IACAward.org. The deadline for entry is January 31, 2018 and will be judged on design, creativity, impact, innovation, copywriting, and use of the medium.
In addition to online newsletters, Awards will be presented within each of the industry categories and advertising formats such as:
Social Media Campaigns
Online ad (including banner, pop-up or interstitial)
Online ad campaign
Email message
Rich media ad campaign
Rich media online ad
Online newsletter campaign
Integrated ad campaign
Web sites (including microsites and landing pages)
Online Video
Mobile Apps
Interactive agencies that win multiple awards will also be in the running for Top Agency Award. In a change from prior years, each entrant will be awarded points based on the level of award for each award received. A Best of Show will be worth 5 points, Best of Industry 3 points and each Outstanding award 1 point. The agency with the most points will be awarded the Top Agency Award.
In an effort to recognize those organizations that demonstrate exceptional development skills across multiple entries, agencies that win more the 6 awards will also be recognized with an Outstanding Advertising Developer award from the Web Marketing Association. In 2017, seven agencies won this honor.
Judging for the IAC Awards will take place in February, 2018. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet advertising professionals with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web advertising. Past competition judges have included top executives from leading corporations, institutions and media organizations such as Arc Worldwide, Brunner Digital, Campbell-Ewald, CNN News Group, Deep Interactive Asia, Digitas, EuroRSCG 4D, Google, IBM Interactive, imc2, JWT, LeapFrog Interactive, Mass Transmit, McCann Worldgroup, Razorfish, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Tectis GmbH, TMP Worldwide, Universal McCann Interactive and Wunderman / Y&R.
The 2018 Internet Advertising Competition Awards are sponsored by iContact, PR.Com, EContent Magazine, WebMaster Radio and Website Magazine.