The Contently Awards Finalists, or Why Content Marketing’s Future Is Looking Bright

We haven’t even announced the winners of the first annual Contently Awards, and already they’ve been an amazing success. The sheer number of quality submissions we received is stunning, and we’re thrilled at what that means for content marketing’s future. Companies big and small are pushing the envelope and creating branded content that’s bigger, better, and more beautiful than in years past—and, because of that, selecting finalists was WAY harder than we’d imagined.

Our judges chose three finalists in each of our three categories: startup, mid-market, and Fortune 500. Judges reviewed a diverse pool of submissions that included video, infographics, long form content, and more. The finalists demonstrated not only innovative thinking and creativity, but also a commitment to defining, and delivering on, strategic content goals.

Here they are:

Startup

Asana: “Workstyle” is an editorially driven destination for lessons, ideas, and stories from forward-thinking teams and leaders.

South African Tourism (U.S. Office): “What’s Your BIG 5?” is a campaign encouraging United States travelers to visit South Africa by highlighting what the country has to offer through stunningly beautiful short videos.

HireAHelper: “Moving 101” is an educational resource for people planning on moving that provides tips about how to best combine DIY moving with professional movers.

Mid-Market

CPA Australia: “The Naked CEO” is a content campaign centered around a mentoring opportunity for students and young professionals, fronted by CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley. In addition to videos and articles, the content includes a book, which is then promoted through digital content.

Scripps Networks Interactive: “Fueling Life” is a campaign on behalf of Chevron that highlights the relationship that forms between a person and their vehicle in an empowering, entertaining way.

W.L. Gore & Associates: Experience More is a monthly digital publication brought to readers by GORE-TEX® that uses longform articles and striking visual images to tell human-centered stories for adventure junkies.

Enterprise

JPMorgan Chase & Co.: “From the Ground Up” is a series about the community of Brownsville, Brooklyn, one of the most dangerous areas in the New York City area. It uses videos and articles to tell stories of people and issues that make a community strong.

ING Group: ING World is a bilingual digital publication (English and Dutch) that provides readers with the latest information about ING’s performance and strategy in an engaging and educational way.

Thomson Reuters: “9 Billion Bowls” is a campaign that address global food issues through educational content, including videos and longform articles, from industry experts.

In addition to many submissions from Fortune 500 companies, close contenders included small businesses that are investing significant time and resources in creating great content, like Williamsburg Charter Sails, for example, and Crunch Accounting.

Judges will select the winning content marketing submissions based on their innovation, creativity, strategy and results. The winners will be announced at the inaugural Contently Summit at the Altman Building in New York City on November 5.