The Real Media Collective says the Real Media Awards will merge its 2021 and 2022 years.
It has announced a gala event for September this year. Kellie Northwood, chief executive officer at The Real Media Collective, says, “With Western Australia border now open and New Zealand opening in April we are able to confidently provide a true Trans-Tasman gala event as we have successfully achieved over the past seven years. Borders and density restrictions across the event in Melbourne were all factors in considering the merge of the two years and ultimate extension for all our entrants.”
The Real Media Awards celebrate all things print, marketing, and brand. Categories cover brochures, print collateral, catalogues, magazines, property portfolios, signage, point of sale, and direct mail. The Real Media Awards aim to celebrate printers and customers together.
Recognising exccellence
The awards recognise effectiveness, craft, creativity, and innovation. They attract some 700 entries. Over 600 guests attend the Australian gala, while the Auckland Industry Insights event hosts around 100. Northwood says, “The Real Media Awards are a unique industry Awards programme connecting our customers with our industry. More than an industry only event, the Real Media Awards showcase our channel in celebration with our customer’s successes.
“Not having the opportunity to do this together with our usual Gala event was something we felt wouldn’t provide the same opportunity for our customers, members or industry entrants. We did not want to cancel, nor run another virtual event, so we went to work on how to navigate with the best outcome for our industry.”
Fresh categories
New categories this year include ‘Packaging and Labels’ under Excellence in Craft and ‘Digital’ as a standalone, both for the first time. “Packaging and Labels’ has been a growth sector for The Real Media Collective with the Two Sides – Packaging campaign development and Love Paper inclusion of packaging research. ‘Digital’ will celebrate the partnership print and digital have working together for optimal output.
Northwood comments, “Many of our members have diversified into packaging and labels and as such, it was fitting to include this growth sector. We also hosted webinars with designers, retailers and agencies throughout the year and they indicated how much digital and print work together. It made sense in our connection with printers and customers to introduce these Award categories.”
Support sponsors on board include Australia Post, IVE Group, Ovato, Ball & Doggett, Currie Group, HP, Media Super and Sierra Delta, with more to be announced as the new categories are attracting much interest.
Northwood adds, “The Real Media Awards has grown year on year in both entries and sponsors, as an opportunity for our industry and their customer’s to be recognised for their campaigns and partnerships. The Design and Print industries bring our customer’s visions to life, what better way to celebrate our craft than with our customers. That is the uniqueness of the Real Media Awards from agencies to designers, printers to paper distributors, we are one collective industry that is awarded and recognised for our individual roles. I love nothing better on the night than watching our members and their customers celebrate what they produced together.”
