Introducing the 9:16 Awards: Honoring Innovation in Vertical Video Format

Adil Sbai, CEO of WeCreate, has come up with a new award format

On the evening before the start of the OMR digital marketing trade fair, an award in the field of vertical video will be presented for the first time at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. Brands and creators can apply for the awards until tomorrow; the Federal Society for Digital Media will make the selection.

Brands and influencers have been reaching an audience of millions with videos on TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels for several years. Since these social media platforms are designed for the portrait or 9:16 screen format of smartphones, corresponding content and forms of display have become established. This paradigm shift from classic video content to smartphone content is now to be taken into account with a new award series.

On May 6th, the evening before the start of the OMR 2024, the 9:16 (pronounced: “nine sixteen”) Awards will be presented for the first time at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. The leading agency WeCreate and the Federal Society for Digital Media (BGDM) want to honor the most creative and innovative performances in vertical video format. Nine creators and six brands will be honored in various categories, and the “Golden Oßkar – Social Award” will also be presented for special social commitment in the 9:16 format. The laudatory speech will be given by content creator Malte Zierden, who regularly supports charitable projects and especially animal protection on his social media channels. The award is named after his pigeon Oßkar, which flew to him and became a media star thanks to Zierden. The influence of TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels on the modern entertainment and advertising landscape has continued to grow over the past three years. “With the introduction of the 9:16 Awards, we not only want to create the ‘Oscars of smartphone content’, but also give shape to the entire 9:16 scene and set the next milestone in this development,” says WeCreate CEO Adil Sbai .

Hans Neubert, Chairman of the Board of BGDM, adds: “The consistently high user numbers clearly show that 9:16 content plays an important role in people’s everyday lives, and for many people it probably plays a larger role than they even realize at first glance. The 9: 16 awards are the logical next step to honor the most creative minds from this mass.”

WeCreate did not want to reveal in advance which brands and creators had already applied so as not to distort the ongoing competition with the resulting stronger online presence of individual creators. The jury with the glamorous name 9:16 Academy is made up of a total of 916 marketing professionals, who, in addition to content creators, also include representatives of the press, corporations, agencies and associations in the DACH region. Among them you will find well-known names such as: Diana to the Lions (Content Creatorin), Old You (CEO All in), Liam Carpenter (Content Creator), Sarah Emmerich (Emmerich Relations), Jan Koenig (Odaline), Thilo Wessel (Kaufland), Rolf Herrmann (OMR), Marlis Jahnke (Equalizer) and Micha Fritz (Live with Water).

The large number of jury members is intended to reduce the subjectivity of the award to a minimum by making individual votes less important and the winners being chosen with a broad consensus. The Federal Society for Digital Media is responsible for putting together, organizing and supporting the Academy. This also takes care of the application and evaluation process of the submissions, which is carried out using analysis software provided by Kolsquare. All vertical video campaigns created since January 1, 2023 can be submitted. The application period for the awards runs until Friday, March 15th, and participation is open here possible.

Brands have the chance to win an award in the six 9:16 categories of Best Advertising, Best Campaign, Best Strategy, Best Community Management, Best Brand Face and Best Brand Account. Creators can be awarded in a total of nine categories: Best Editing, Strongest Community, Tastiest Content, Most Inconvenient but Most Honest Creator, Best Storytelling, Best Newcomer, Most Unproblematic Creator, Best Persistence and Most Uncancelable Creator. There is also the above-mentioned “Golden Oßkar – Social Award”, which is given in the area of ​​best commitment to a good cause.

2024-03-14 22:10:59
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