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Hall of Fame

Get It? It’s a Conversation, Not a Platform

In the decade-and-a-half that min has been covering magazines’ halting move to digital media, the legacy brands generally have been playing catch-up with Web innovations. Even when print purported to “get” digital in the 2000s, that usually meant treating the Web as just another distribution channel for content. Many of the winners of the 2012 Best of the Web Awards demonstrate that magazines really get it now – being digital really means leading, following participating in the cultural conversation.

When Essence relaunched last year, it reimagined the site as a neighborhood beauty shop, where African-American women could gather to set their own agendas on the topics of romance, fashion and celebrity. When The New Yorker and Parenting considered how best to mobilize their brands, they crafted genuine companions that answered a need and a question rather than pushed articles and images. When JCK knit its new site into its event experiences, it turned the brand into a continuous relationship with the industry that blurred old platform silos in b2b.

And for all magazines, innovative uses of Facebook, Twitter and now Pinterest demonstrated just how well trusted media brands could lead the conversation online when they stopped merely publishing and started joining, listening and sharing. Congratulations to our Hall of Fame inductees, BOW winners and honorable mentions. You really get it.

View pdf of the special Best of the Web Issue
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Digital Hall of Fame

Rich Antoniello, CEO, Complex Media
Bob Cohn, Editorial Director, The Atlantic
John French, CEO, Cygnus Business Media
Michael Friedenberg, President and CEO, IDG Enterprise
Dirk Standen, Editor-in-Chief: Style.com
Kristine Welker, VP, Chief Revenue Officer, Hearst Digital Media

Digital Teams of the Year

Cygnus Business Media
Style.com
InvestmentNews
Lucky
Saveur
The Atlantic
Ziff Davis Enterprise

Advertiser Program/Partnership

Most Decisive Super Bowl Moments Presented By Bing: Sports Illustrated

Honorable Mentions:

Bonnier Corp: "Brunch Week" on Saveur.com: Saveur; Bonnier Corp.
Forbes Media: Forbes & Dell: Human Ingenuity Program
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.: Hillshire Farm
Condé Nast: Love Your Lunch: Lucky & Revlon "Empower Her World"
Rodale, Inc.: Organic Gardening - Nature's Path Gardens for Good Grant
Time Inc.: People.com & ABC "Pan Am"
Fairchild Fashion Media: Style.com

Blog

Fit Pregnancy's "Ask The Labor Nurse-Blog": American Media, Inc. (consumer winner)

JCK's Cutting Remarks: TMG Custom Media (b2b winner)

Honorable Mentions:

Real Simple: Simple Tip
Slate Magazine: Slate's "Weigel"
Allure Magazine: Daily Beauty Reporter
Entertainment Weekly: EW.com's PopWatch
Condé Nast: Healthy SELF, Self.com
Scientific American: A Blog Around the Clock

Community/Social Networking

Lucky Social Community: Lucky (Co-Winner)

JCK's Community Dashboard: TMG Custom Media (Co-Winner)

Honorable Mentions:

Glamour magazine: Glamour.com
Mental Floss
Rodale Inc.:Organic Gardening

Contest/Online Games

Red Carpet Trivia Live: People.com

Honorable Mentions:

This Old House:"This Old House Reader Remodel Contest" sponsored by GMC
InStyle.com: Instant Stylist & Nordstrom
UBM Electronics: UBM Electronics' Drive for Innovation
The Studio at Condé Nast: Van Cleef and Arpels: Hidden Gems

Digital Magazine

Gourmet Live: Condé Nast

Honorable Mentions:

Parents: October 2011 Digital Edition
Teradata Corporation: Teradata Magazine Online
Traditional Home: Tradhome

Editorial Excellence – Overall

Condé Nast: Wired

Honorable Mentions:

American Express Publishing: Travel + Leisure
Time Inc: Time
Sports Illustrated: SI.com
Slate Magazine: Slate
HarpersBazaar.com/Hearst Digital Media:Spring 2012 Fashion Week

Editorial Excellence – Special Section

Project Recovery: Southern Living
AgWeb Harvest Maps: AgWeb

Honorable Mentions:

CareerCast.com: CareerCast.com's Jobs Rated Report
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc: Design-It-Yourself Weddings Center on MarthaStewartWeddings.com
Scientific American: Education channel on ScientificAmerican.com
The Parenting Group, Bonnier Corp.: Parenting.com Family Health Guides

Email Newsletter/s

BT To Go: Budget Travel Magazine

Honorable Mentions:

TMG Custom Media: JCK News Daily
Real Simple: RealSimple.com's Your Daily Holiday Treat
Saveur, Bonnier Corp.: We're In Your Inbox: Saveur Newsletters:

Genius Award

Lisa Brewer, Director, Digital Audience Development, Style & Entertainment Group
Time Inc

Honorable Mentions:

Anthony Adams: Ziff Davis Enterprise
Michael Beller: Source Interlink Media

Integration with Print

Condé Nast: Self's Drop 10 Challenge
TMG Custom Media: JCK magazine, JCKonline.com, JCK News Daily, JCKtv

Honorable Mentions:

Scientific American: "Cities: Better, Greener, Smarter"
Crain Communications Inc. Pensions & Investments
Real Simple: Real Simple's Take Back Dinnertime

Marketing Campaign

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.: Ball Canning and MSLO - You CAN Do It!

Honorable Mentions:

Jakarta Fashion Week: Radio Star
SAE International: Lubrizol Custom Digital Magazine
Complex Media: G-Shock Influencer

Microsite/Custom Website

Women's Health Guide To Your Breasts: Women's Health Magazine

Honorable Mentions:

EW.com: Emmys Dashboard
People.com: People.com - Royals
Time Inc.: The L'Oréal Paris Academy

New Site

Rodale Inc. Fitbie.com (consumer winner)
UBM TechWeb, The BrainYard (b2b winner)

Honorable Mentions:

B5Media: The Grindstone
The Atlantic: TheAtlanticCities.com

Overall Digital Excellence

newyorker.com: The New Yorker

JCK Online: TMG Custom Media

Honorable Mentions:

Time Inc.: Time
Investors Business Daily, Inc.: Investors.com
Rodale Inc: Men's Health
Meredith Corporation: Recipe.com
The Week Magazine: TheWeek.com

Premium Content

ForeignAffairs.com: Foreign Affairs

Honorable Mentions:

Traditional Home: TRADhome
Ward's Automotive Group: WardsAuto.com

Redesign

Essence.com: Essence Communications (Consumer Winner)

Nightclub.com: Questex Media Group (b2b Winner)

Honorable Mentions:

American Media, Inc.: Fitpregnancy.com
CNN: CNN Money
Forbes: Forbes.com
Women's Health: WomensHealthMag.com

Relaunch: Consumer

Hearst Digital Media: GoodHousekeeping.com (consumer winner)

TMG Custom Media: JCK Online (b2b winner)

Honorable Mentions:

Allure : allure.com
Cygnus Business Media: 31 Launches in 12 Months
Essence Communications: Essence.com
TMG Custom Media: BIZTechMagazine.com

Smartphone App - Free

The New Yorker Goings On: The New Yorker

Honorable Mentions:

Meredith Corporation: Must-Have Recipes from Better Homes and Gardens
Real Simple: Real Simple Holiday Gift Guide App
Source Interlink Media: Truck Trend Insider

Smartphone App - Paid

Parenting.com's Can I Eat It? The Parenting Group; Bonnier Corp.

Honorable Mentions:

Sports Illustrated: SI Swimsuit 2011

Tablet App - Free App

Time Inc.: Time-Populist

Honorable Mentions:

InStyle: InStyle Hairstyle Try-On
Sports Illustrated: Sports Illustrated Football Rivals
New York Media: The Cut on the Runway
Time Inc.: Time - Populist

Tablet App - Paid App - Interactive

Time Inc.: Cooking LIght's Quick & Health Menu Maker App
UBM Studios: UBM Electronics ARM TechCon (b2b winner)

Honorable Mentions:

Time Inc.: Fortune 500+ app
Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Journey to the Exoplanets App for iPad
Source Interlink Media: SAIL Launches New Sailboat Review iPad App