Top magazine editors will come together tomorrow for the launch of the Kidspot Voices of 2013 contest, a competition aimed at uncovering the top blogging talent in Australia and helping them fine-tune their art.
While the official launch has not yet occurred, the event is already under way after 700 bloggers were nominated in January and whittled down to 100 in April to form the final series. Each of the 100 bloggers involved will be vying for the the winning prize of a $15,000 New York trip, a Ford Territory or Ford Focus for a year, depending on which on the winner chooses, plus a $6,000, 12-week paid writing contact with Kidspot’s Village Voices.
No prizes for guessing that Ford is one of the major sponsors of the Voices of 2013 initiative. Also joining in support of the program is Vogue, Australian Good Taste and the Good Guys, with the complete prize pool valued at over $100,000.
“Voices of 2013 is our way of recognising the talent and creativity of Australia’s blogging community,” Kidspot executive ALLdirector Alex Brookes said.
“We’ve been supporting and paying bloggers since 2009 and this program acknowledges the power of digital content creation which connects with people, inspires them to comment and interact with each other in Australia’s digital ecosystem. Bloggers deliver all kinds of fascinating content, but usually to a niche audience, and this program gives them all kinds of promotional and paid opportunities.”
Blogging is becoming a more prominent part of today’s media environment, but has not been without its controversy as bloggers with no media training begin to gain large audience shares thanks to the easy and cost-effective entry through online media. But part of the Voices of 2013 program’s aim is to help bloggers learn about both the editorial aspect of writing as well as the business side of owning and running your own media outlet.
Voices of 2013 was created as a Kidspot-branded vehicle to capitalise on the digital trend of bloggers emerging into the mainstream and wielding more influence online. Commercial opportunities were developed by plugging advertisers into the program through key sponsorship positions that integrate brands into the blogger ecosystem. The program uses the support of these sponsors to guide and mentor bloggers on how to successfully commercialise their blogs, and facilitates introductions to premium brands that are involved.
“The past two years has seen blogging in Australia kick out of the shadow of social media and into the limelight,” Kidspot marketing manager Imogen Griffiths said in a statement. “More Australians, especially women, are engaging through blogs – reading them or starting their own. Unique visitors to blogging platforms are growing faster year-on-year than any other social media in Australia bar Facebook and YouTube. Blogspot grew by 1.3 million unique Australian visitors in 2011, 128% more than Google+ and 63% more than Twitter.”
The 100 bloggers still in the running are split into four categories with five from each being named as finalists. An awards ceremony will take place late November to announce the winners.
This article first appeared in the 17 May 2013 edition of AdNews, in print and on iPad. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.
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