5TH ANNUAL SECOND STREET AWARDS HONORS MEDIA COMPANIES FOR EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IN ONLINE PROMOTIONS
Awards Webinar Recognizes Top Performing Media Companies in 27 Online Promotions Categories
ST. LOUIS (December 17, 2013) – At the 5th annual Second Street Online Promotions Awards, media companies from across North America were honored in 27 categories for their outstanding contests, ballots, and deals programs. Second Street announced the finalists and winners during a webinar held on December 12, 2013.
“Media companies drove substantial results by executing contest, deal, and ballot programs,” said Matt Coen, president and co-founder, Second Street. “The volume and success of promotions has grown significantly since our first awards presentation five years ago. This year’s slate of nominees and winners represent millions of dollars in revenue for media companies and phenomenal results for their advertisers.”
Borrell Associates’ research shows that online promotions will grow to an $80 billion dollar industry by 2017, and the results represented in the Second Street Awards proved that to be true.
Some of the categories that were recognized include Best Photo Contest, Best Sports Contest, Best Recreation Deal, Best Deals Store, and Best Overall Promotion. A few new categories were Best Deal Card, Best Metro Ballot, and Best Niche Ballot. The ceremony also recognized the media outlets with the overall promotions performance covering small, mid-sized, and large market properties.
“It was fantastic to see some new categories gain momentum this year. The Best Metro Ballot was awarded to The Signal, a small paper in Santa Clarita, CA, who generated $75K with their annual “Best of Santa Clarita Valley” program,” Coen said. “In the niche category, we saw Best of Holiday Shopping, Best of High School Football, State Fair Favorites and more.”
For three years running, the Second Street Awards have recognized a Best Overall Promotion. This year, Quad-City Times, a Lee Enterprises property in Davenport, Iowa, was given the award for their overall promotions strategy that included contests, deals, ballots, and email and drove significant revenue and database growth for the paper. Quad-City Times was also the first company that won both Best Mid-Size Market for Deals and Contests.
The finalists for the Best Sports Contest category made up a total of over $600K in revenue and came from a variety of types, including auto racing, football, golf, and basketball.
The winners and finalists from the 2013 Second Street Awards are:
Best Overall Promotion:
- Winner: Quad-City Times’ Promotions Program
- Finalists:
○ The Roanoke Times’ Best of Holiday Shopping Ballot & Deals Store
○ UpNorthLive.com’s Deal Cards
○ Entercom’s National Contests
CONTESTS
Best Sports Contest
- Winner: The Wisconsin State-Journal’s Mulligan Match-Up
- Finalists:
○ WNOR-FM & WAFX-FM’s Auto Racing Challenger
○ The Roanoke Times’ Fearless Forecasters
○ Community Publisher’s High School Football Frenzy
○ Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bracket Fiasco
○ The State Journal Register’s Pro Football
Big Giveaway
- Winner: WSB-FM’s Lake Lanier Islands Dream Wedding
- Finalists:
○ KCTV-TV’s National Mortgage Giveaway
○ WRAZ-TV’s Hardee’s Tailgate Takeout Man Cave Giveaway
Best Video Contest:
- Winner: WRAZ-TV’s The Fox 50 Lip Dub Project
- Finalists
○ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Oh Say Can you Sing?
○ Entercom’s Sing Like Brad Paisley
Best Bracket Contest
- Winner: Herald & Review’s Fan Friendzy
- Finalists:
○ Republican-American’s Pick a Pizza
○ Gambit’s Bar Wars
Best Photo Contest:
- Winner: WEZB-FM’s Baby Bash
- Finalists:
○ WSAZ-TV’s Cutest Pets
○ WJRR-FM’s Ultimate Couple Contest
Best Sweepstakes:
- Winner: Omaha World-Herald’s Nebraska Crossing Outlets Giveaway
- Finalists:
○ WFTS-TV’s iPad-a-Day Giveaway
○ Popular Woodworking’s 31 Days of Christmas
Best Advertiser Campaign:
- Winner: Entercom New Orleans’ $500 Bank Sweepstakes
- Finalists:
○ KULR-TV’s Pick a Beet
○ Quad-City Times’ Christmas in July
BALLOTS
Best Metro Ballot:
- Winner: The Signal’s Best of Santa Clarita Valley
- Finalists:
○ Naples Daily News’ Southwest Florida Choice Awards
○ U-T San Diego’s San Diego’s Best
Best Niche Ballot
- Winner: The Roanoke Times’ Best of Holiday Shopping
- Finalists:
○ The Signal’s Prep Football Fans’ Choice Awards
○ MetroFamily’s Family Favorites
○ The State Journal-Register’s Illinois State Fair Top Ten
DEALS:
Best Event Deal:
- Winner: Provo Daily Herald’s Stadium of Fire
- Finalists:
○ Everett Herald’s Warm Beach Camp
○ Miami Herald’s Taste of Brickwell Food & Wine Festival
Best Restaurant Deal:
- Winner: Tri-City Herald’s Cedars Restaurant and Lounge
- Finalists:
○ Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s KFC Hawaii
○ HalfPriceCincy’s Boi Na Braza Churrascaria Brazilian Steak House
Best Recreation Deal
- Winner: HalfPriceCincy’s Belterra Casino Resort
- Finalists:
○ Post and Courier’s Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry
○ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Deertrak Golf Club
Best Retail Deal:
- Winner: Omaha World-Herald’s Bellino Fireworks
- Finalists:
○ Baton Rouge Business Report’s Chris’ Specialty Meats
○ Charlotte Observer’s Perry’s at SouthPark
Best Travel Deal
- Winner: Quad-City Times’ Grizzly Jack’s Grand Bear Resort
- Finalists:
○ KMOV-TV’s The Lodge of the Four Season
○ KSTP-TV’s Whitefish Properties
Best Service Deal
- Winner: Billings Gazette’s CARNU Auto Detailing Center
- Finalists:
○ KTUU-TV’s Kreative Audio & Security
○ Kansas City Star’s Travel Clean Car Wash
Best Beauty Deal:
- Winner: Miami Herald’s Aveda Seven Seas Spa and Salon
- Finalists:
○ Charlotte Observer’s The Spa at Rock Barn
○ Reading Eagle’s East West Massage
Best Deals Store:
- Winner: Quad-City Times’ Cyber Week
- Finalists:
○ Miami Herald’s Holiday Gift Guide
○ Miami Herald’s Best of 2012
Best Deal Card:
- Winner: UpNorthLive.com’s Golf Card
- Finalists:
○ WNWO-TV’s Golf Card
○ Fresno Bee’s Golf Card
MARKET WINNERS:
Best Small Market Contest Partner:
- Winner: KSBY-TV
- Finalists:
○ DurhamRegion.com
○ KFDX-TV
○ KTUU-TV
○ Record-Journal
Best Small Market Deals Partner:
- Winner: UpNorthLive.com
- Finalists:
○ Billings Gazette
○ Augusta Chronicle
Best Medium Market Contest Partner:
- Winner: Quad-City Times
- Finalists:
○ Calgary Sun
○ KPTV-TV
○ KY3-TV
○ The Roanoke Times
Best Medium Market Deals Partner:
- Winner: Quad-City Times
- Finalists:
○ Omaha World-Herald
○ KY3-TV
Best Large Market Contest Partner:
- Winner: Toronto Sun
- Finalists:
○ Chatelaine Magazine
○ KVVU-TV
○ Omaha World-Herald
○ U-T San Diego
Best Large Market Deals Partner:
- Winner: HalfPriceCincy
- Finalists:
○ St. Louis Post-Dispatch
○ Charlotte Observer
Best Major Market Contest Partner:
- Winner: WAGA-TV
- Finalists:
○ Atlanta Journal-Constitution
○ KTLA-TV
○ WCIU-TV
○ WFLD-TV
Best Major Market Deals Partner:
- Winner: Miami Herald
- Finalists:
○ Fort Worth Star-Telegram
○ Greater Media Philadelphia
About Second Street
Second Street is a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and affiliate success services for media companies. Second Street’s platforms include contesting, ballots, deals, photo e-commerce and publishing, and email and text messaging communications. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, the company serves more than 3,000 media companies across North America including print, television, radio, and online only outlets. For more information, please visit secondstreet.com.
