HBO's True Blood Wins IAB MIXX Best in Show

Last night, the Interactive Advertising Bureau held its sixth annual MIXX Awards to "recognize the brand marketers and agencies responsible for the most innovative and effective interactive advertising of the year."

This year, Best in Show went to HBO's True Blood and Digital Kitchen for their "Hacking Reality" campaign for the second season launch of the vampire series. The work integrated digital and traditional media, with online, outdoor, print, stunts and a series of brand partnerships.

The second season of True Blood was teased through a mix of media tactics including vampires in faux blogs and online editorials as well as in traditional advertising and editorial takeovers. The strategy included co-branding with products like Geico, Harley-Davidson and Gillette, a host of classified ads, viral videos and a serialized weekly Inside Edition-type show covering all things vampire.

The worked seemed to have paid off since it resulted in True Blood season 2, episode 1, being the most-watched show on HBO On Demand, with an average of 12.6 million gross viewers per episode for the season, up 62% over the previous year.

In addition to Best in Show, HBO won across other categories for its "HBO Imagine" integrated campaign, created by BBDO New York, winning golds in Brand Awareness and Positioning and Digital Integration. Another big winner was Volkswagen for the launch of its GTI, taking home golds in Experimental and Innovative and Product Launch for "Real Racing GTI," created by agency AKQA, and silvers in Games - Single Execution and Mobile Platforms for the Tribal DDB London work on "The GTI Project."

Of the entrants and winners, IAB SVP and CMO David Doty said, "Tonight was a showcase for a critical moment in digital marketing and advertising. We are at an inflection point where we are seeing, for the first time, the seamless integration of paid and earned media into brilliantly executed advertising campaigns that connect consumers with brands in ways that were never possible before digital media. The MIXX judges did a superb job in surfacing what advertising can be in the digital age - and this is just the beginning."

The Complete List of 2010 MIXX Award Winners:

Best in Show
HBO's True Blood & Digital Kitchen for "Hacking Reality"

Brand Destination Site
GOLD: Hasbro & Tribal DDB London for "Monopoly City Streets"
SILVER: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A & Saatchi & Saatchi LA for "NASCAR Sponsafier"
BRONZE: HBO & HBO.com for "The Pacific Website"

Branded Content
GOLD: Frito Lay & OMD for "Only in a Woman's World"
SILVER: Lion Nathan & ZenithOptimedia Australia for "6 Beers of Separation"
BRONZE: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A & Saatchi & Saatchi LA for "Toyota VENZA Appetite for Life"

Interactive Video / Online Commercial
GOLD: Coca-Cola & Definition 6 for Coca-Cola "Happiness Machine" Video
SILVER: Cisco & OgilvyWest & Neo@Ogilvy for "The New York Times Disruption with Video"
BRONZE: Jay Jays & Visual Jazz for "Dance Off 3D"

Rich Media Display Ad
GOLD: T.G.I. Friday's & Digitas for "Call Woody"
SILVER: T.G.I. Friday's & Digitas for "DeBurger Woody"
BRONZE: Unilever's Dove & Mindshare, Ryan iDirect & Yahoo! for "Dove Men+Care featuring Drew Brees Execution"

Digital Out-of-Home Advertising
GOLD: Unilever & SapientNitro for "Smile Activated Vending Machine"
SILVER: Mars' Snickers & MediaVest for "Snickers Snacklish GPS"
BRONZE: PepsiCo's Sobe & Firstborn for "SoBe ReSkin"

Viral
GOLD: AMC & Deep Focus for "Mad Men Yourself"
SILVER: American Honda Motor Company & RPA for "Everybody Knows Somebody Who Loves a Honda"
BRONZE: OfficeMax & JibJab Media, Elm Public Relations & Grand Central Marketing for "ElfYourself 2009"

Games - Single Execution
GOLD: Hasbro & Tribal DDB London for "Monopoly City Streets"
SILVER: Volkswagen United Kingdom & Tribal DDB London for "The GTI Project"
BRONZE: Kia Motors America & Initiative + for "Kia Soul Launch XBox"

Mobile Platforms or Apps - Single Execution
GOLD: Microsoft Bing & Point Reach for "Bing for Mobile"
SILVER: Pizza Hut & imc2 for "Pizza Hut iPhone App"
BRONZE: UrbanDaddy & Big Spaceship for "The Next Move"

Cross-Media Integration
GOLD: HBO's True Blood & Digital Kitchen for "Hacking Reality"
SILVER: Nissan North America & TBWA\Chiat\Day for "Cube Mobile Device"
BRONZE: Mazda & Doner for "33 Keys"

Experimental and Innovative
GOLD: Volkswagen & AKQA for "Real Racing GTI"
SILVER: Paramount Pictures & MEC for "Paranormal Activity"
BRONZE: CBS & Pepsi Max & OMD for "Mondays to the Max: Video in Print"

Direct Response
GOLD: Burger King & Crispin Porter + Bogusky for "BK Dollar Holiday Cards"
SILVER: Mars Direct & imc2 for "MY M&M's Valentine's Day 2010"
BRONZE: Travelers Insurance & SapientNitro for "The Manifesto Campaign"

Digital Integration
GOLD: HBO & BBDO New York for "HBO Imagine"
SILVER: Kraft Foods' Lacta & OgilvyOne Worldwide, Athens for "Love in Action"
BRONZE: Nationwide Insurance & McKinney for "The World's Greatest Spokesperson"

Business-to-Business
GOLD: IBM & Ogilvy New York for "TheSmarterCity"
SILVER: Qwest Communications & McKinney for "Puzzles"
BRONZE: Qwest Communications & McKinney for "Listening Not Talking"

Games - Campaign
GOLD: Unilever & Mindshare for "AXE Deodorant Bodyspray Education--Double Pits to Chesty"
SILVER: Hershey's & OMD for "Reese's Perfect XBox Live Halloween Event"
BRONZE: Nestle's Butterfinger & Threshold Interactive for "Dude, Where's my Bar?"

Search Marketing
GOLD: Adobe & Covario for "Connect & Conserve"
SILVER: Coca-Cola & AKQA Search for "Coca-Cola Live Positively"
BRONZE: General Motors Company & SMG Search for "GM Cash for Clunkers"

Brand Awareness & Positioning
GOLD: HBO & BBDO New York for "HBO Imagine"
SILVER: AMC & Deep Focus for "Mad Men Yourself"
BRONZE: Kimberly-Clark & Organic for "U by Kotex"

Mobile Platforms and Apps - Campaign
GOLD: Microsoft Bing & Point Reach for "Bing for Mobile"
SILVER: Volkswagen & AKQA, for "Real Racing GTI"
BRONZE: MasterCard Worldwide & McCann Erickson for "Priceless Picks"

Multicultural
GOLD: Degree Men & BrightLine iTV for "Degree Futbol"
SILVER: Sprint & Telemundo.com & Mindshare Worldwide for "Perro Amor Sprint Integration"
BRONZE: Ford Motor Company and Telemundo.com & Zubi Advertising for "Perro Amor Ford Integration"

Product Launch
GOLD: Volkswagen & AKQA for "Real Racing GTI"
SILVER: Frito Lay Canada & Proximity Canada & BBDO for "Doritos Viralocity"
BRONZE: Discovery Networks & PHD for "Discovery Channel's LIFE Premiere Tune-in Campaign"

VOD & Interactive Television
GOLD: Abreva & BrightLine iTV for "Cold Sore Confessions"
SILVER: Burger King & BrightLine iTV for "BK Steakhouse"
BRONZE: Polaris Industries' Victory Motorcycles & The Integer Group & The Band for "Fuel It"

Lead Generation
GOLD: MetLife & Neo@Ogilvy for "2009 Term Life Insurance"
SILVER: RBC Royal Bank & Proximity Canada for "RBC 2009 Campus Campaign"
BRONZE: Children International & 15miles, the interactive-media division of TMP Directional Marketing for "Online Donations Up, Economy Down"

Public Service / Not for Profit
GOLD: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum & The Martin Agency, Domani Studios & AOL for "We Choose The Moon"
SILVER: Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada & Ogilvy Montreal for "getyourbuttseen.ca"
BRONZE: National Women's Law Center & The Concept Farm for "Being a Woman is Not a Pre-Existing Condition"

Social Marketing
GOLD: Travelocity & McKinney for "Choose the Gnome's Adventures"
SILVER: Kraft Foods' Lacta & OgilvyOne Worldwide, Athens for "Love in Action"
BRONZE: McDonald's & Marketing Store & Oddcast for "Avatarize Yourself"

You can see the complete gallery of the winners' workhere.