The evening, held at the prestigious 5* Landmark Hotel was full of celebration of the incredible minds in the performance and affiliate marketing industries. Up on stage we saw some of the most creative and forward thinking members, and it was a pleasure to watch them celebrate their successes.
The IPMA winners presented inspiring diversity, innovation and experimentation. It seems the industry has developed astounding bravery following the pandemic, and this is shown by the extensive trialling and testing that is now being explored.
Matthew Wood, Founder of the IPMAs, said: “New partnerships and strategies that have emerged from the pandemic I’m confident will continue to evolve into 2022 and beyond. The last 18 months has proven to many outside of the channel how resilient, creative and strong we can be. The backbone being the technical advancements we’ve seen alongside incredible human partnerships that have thrived, in difficult circumstances. There were often just a few points between the winners and highly commended this year and I commend the fresh set of judges who debated and challenged to recognise the ultimate winners.”
The Book of the Night details all the incredible entries and judges’ comments that may inspire your future strategies and goals. Download now to fully digest the awards winners and recap the outstanding work that they produced.
Taking home the trophies
Amongst this year’s winners was Rakuten Advertising, taking home four awards. These awards were all for different entries, showing the company’s impressive performance across the board. The team won Best Retail and E-Commerce Campaign, Best Integrated Performance Marketing Campaign, Best Incentive Partner Campaign or Strategy and Best Performance Marketing Campaign (APAC). Judges commended the stellar results gained on every entry – a truly successful year for Rakuten Advertising!
This year saw the debut of the new One to Watch Award. Aiming to reward bright, ambitious and exceptional talent and changemakers working in the global performance marketing industry, the award was presented to Gabby Schnaid, Sr. Client Development Manager at CJ. With her consistent record of excellence, one could forget that Gabby only started her affiliate career four years ago – she is not only One to Watch, but one to learn from.
The winners of this year’s industry choice awards were Acceleration Partners, which took home the Best Performance Marketing Agency award, Awin, which was awarded the Best Affiliate Network, and the Best SaaS Platform Award was presented to impact.com‘s Partnership Cloud™. These teams all showed impressive dedication to their clients and customers, meaning they continue to be trusted stakeholders within the industry.
Commenting on the entries, Julia Stent, Commercial Director at Genie Ventures and Judge said: “As a judge returning to the IPMAs after several years, I was surprised and impressed by the innovation and diversity shown by this year’s entries. I think it’s important to see international brands from smaller markets scoring so highly alongside the big players.
“The innovation in this year’s entries takes many forms, from pioneering changes in core affiliate technology to the use of new channels like TikTok and Pinterest on a performance model. It’s also admirable to see how the industry has adapted and supported brands through COVID-19, driving low-risk performance at a time when companies need it most. Overall, it feels like a great moment in time for an industry we can be proud of.”
Fellow Judge Roger Lee, Head of Affiliate and CRM at Candlefox said: “Congratulations to the very worthy winners. This year there were strong entries across the board, with successful entrants overcoming the challenges of the pandemic to find the opportunities it presented. Innovation was key as it always is, with some impressive new adaptations to utilising existing technology.
“I also really enjoyed reading about the human contributions to each entry. Without cross company partnerships between advertisers, agencies and/or publishers most of the entries wouldn’t have been possible and most became much greater than the sum of their parts.”
On behalf of the International Performance Marketing Awards, advanced store and PerformanceIN, a huge congratulations to the winners and shortlisted entrants. Thank you to the sponsors and to everyone that attended.
Save the date for the PMAs
PerformanceIN can’t wait to see you next year at the Performance Marketing Awards.
The ceremony will take place slightly later in the year on 18 May 2022 back at the Grosvenor Hotel in London with categories being announced in just a few weeks time.
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