WAN-IFRA’s global president Fernando de Yarza Lopez-Madrazo, chief operational officer Thomas Jacob, former president Jacob Matthew and WAS-IFRA’s South Asia’s managing director Magdoom Mohammed handed over the awards to representatives of the winning media.
Head of strategy and transformation of Prothom Alo’s parent company Transcom Limited, Zaraif Aayat Hossain, Prothom Alo’s chief business officer Jabed Sultan and digital marketing lead Mahbub Javed, accepted the awards on behalf of Prothom Alo.
India’s The Quint won the highest number of awards this year. Prothom Alo came up next with five awards. India’s The Hindu won four, with Indian Express and Jagaran winning three each. Anandabazar Patrika and BBC News won two awards each and NDTV, Hindustan Times, Afghan Woman News Agency, Deutsche Welle and India Today one each.
Prothom Alo won gold in the Best Digital Advertising Project category for its special digital initiative ‘bKash Eid Ayojon’. Prothom Alo undertook this initiative jointly with the mobile finance company bKash last Eid ul Fitr. In the same category, Prothom Alo bagged silver for Abashon Mela, a virtual real estate fair.
Another silver was won by Prothom Alo in the Best Engagement category for its initiative on the inauguration of Padma Bridge, which included writings, videos, photographs and social media content. Prothom Alo won the bronze in the ‘Best e-paper Concept’ and ‘Best Subscription Initiative’ categories for its e-paper site eprothomalo.com, an exact replica of its print edition, which readers access through paid subscription, the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
The South Asian winners of gold in 13 categories will be considered for contesting in the World Digital Media Awards to be held in Taiwan this June.
On the first day of the Digital Media India Conference, Jabed Sultan highlighted Prothom Alo Digital’s innovative business initiatives. Prothom Alo’s expansion and innovations in digital business received praise at The Secret Sauce Behind Maximising Digital Revenue seminar.