Peoples Choice Spotlight: Brand of the Year

Our Effective Mobile Marketing Awards celebrate the best and brightest that the industry has to offer, and as a part of that, we think its important that the industry itself has a voice in who receives our coveted awards.

With that in mind, our Peoples Choice categories let the mobile marketing industry vote for a winner from our shortlist of deserving nominees. Voting has already begun, but this week, well be shining a spotlight on each of the different Peoples Choice categories to give you more information before you make your decision.

Once youre ready to vote, head to our survey to pick your winners before midnight UK time on Friday 29 September. The Peoples Choice winners will be announced alongside the rest of our Awards at our lavish ceremony on Thursday 16 November. You can book your place at this annual highlight here.

Brand of the Year


Amazon – Few can deny the impact that Amazon has had on the digital landscape this year. With the retail giant bringing in $91.4bn (£69bn) in revenues from its core retail business alone in 2016, it continued to go from strength to strength in 2017. The Amazon Echo and its Alexa virtual assistant proved the brand to beat in this exciting new space, while its purchase of Whole Foods made even the largest traditional retailers worry about the disruptive power it could bring to the grocery sector. Add in its growing Web Services business and you have a true digital titan.

Disney – The House That Walt Built has always been a leader when it comes to technology, and this year proved to be no exception, as Disney continued to embrace mobile in all its forms. From partnerships with platforms like Snapchat, Uber and Google Home to innovative campaigns that make use of interactive video and virtual reality, Disney has led the way when it comes to a mobile-first approach to marketing, and with plans to launch its own streaming services in the new year that will compete with rivals like Netflix and Amazon, it’s just beginning to flex its muscles.

Monzo – Since its launch in 2015, Monzo has been the poster child for the new wave of fintech disruption, challenging old assumptions about what a bank has to be. This year, the mobile-first platform officially became a fully authorised digital bank, opening the window to a much wider range of financial products, and celebrated reaching both 100,000 and 200,000 customers within the space of just three and a half months, demonstrating an astonishing speed of growth and a huge demand for its app-focused money management.

N26 – Founded in 2013, N26 was one of the pioneers of the mobile banking movement, and has spread across Europe at astonishing speed, with a presence in 17 countries now and over 500,000 customers. In 2017 alone, it added around 1,500 new accounts every day, while increasing total card transactions by 176 per cent year on year. The firm also launched a wide range of new products this year, including business accounts, savings and even insurance, becoming a true mobile hub for financial services with over $55m under its management.

Pizza Hut – Mobile and convenience have always gone hand-in-hand, so it’s no surprise that a brand like Pizza Hut has leapt into the mobile world from the beginning, constantly working to improve its app and mobile web channels while also producing innovative marketing that seamlessly integrates the latest tech. This year, the firm has collaborated with Amazon to deliver flexible ordering via the Alexa digital assistant, launched a new pizza tracker that provides customers with text alerts, and even debuted a line of promotional connected shoes that could order pizza at the touch of a button.

Sony – As a global technology brand, it’s only natural that Sony’s marketing would incorporate the latest cutting-edge developments. As well as facilitating the rise of VR this year with over 1m Playstation VR headsets sold, the brand launched creative digital campaigns featuring virtual reality, AR, vertical video and even a digital treasure hunt that drove people to real world locations in search of mobile rewards. Add in growing investment in its ‘mixed reality’ Hololens device which is being targeted at business users, and Sony continues to innovate and excel.

Dont forget to cast your vote in all our Peoples Choice categories here before midnight UK time on Friday 29 September, and good luck to all our nominees.