NEWSQUEST Media Group, publishers of the County Gazette, has picked up a major innovation award for its digital advertising products.

The group, which also publishes the Bridgwater Mercury, Chard and Ilminster News, Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News and the Mid Devon Star, was named Most Innovative Publisher at the Drum’s Digital Trading Awards.

The award reflects the innovative work achieved through the launch of a series of business specific local display advertising products.

David McMurtrie, Google’s head of publishers, UK and Ireland, said: “The Drum Digital Trading Awards are unique in covering digital trading across the entire ecosystem, recognising excellence in planning, creativity and execution.

"In a short space of time they have becoming a benchmark for the digital advertising industry.”

Mark Smith, digital director of Newsquest, said: “The challenge facing us was to make it easy for our local sales teams to provide our clients with not just standard display advertising but the same level of sophisticated targeting which national brands can access, while keeping the product, the sale and the process as simple as possible. 

"I’m delighted that our digital display team rose to that challenge and they thoroughly deserve the accolade.”

The new suite of products was developed by Newsquest’s central digital display team who created highly targeted advertising packages for specific client categories which were then rolled out across the group.  

This enabled local sales teams to easily and simply offer highly effective digital display campaigns for smaller clients that dramatically improved the advertising performance.     

Newsquest’s digital display director, Simon Sarahs, said:  “By putting our clients’ needs front and centre we were able to truly understand their business objectives, and then ensure that their advertising was in front of the right audience, at the right time and in the right environment.”

The new products provided huge improvements to operational efficiencies while increasing average campaign values by 29 per cent, yields by 207 per cent, campaign CTRs by 325 per cent and viewability by 16 per cent.

  • For more information on digital advertising options available across Somerset, contact Sara Lumley on 01823 365025, or click here to email her