BROOKLYN — HUGE won four prizes at the 2010 OMMA Awards, including Best in Show for Integrated Online Campaign for the Pepsi Refresh Project. HUGE Design Director Felipe Memoria accepted the award at the gala in New York, thanking the client, partners, team and, most importantly, the users.

The Pepsi Refresh Project also took home the title for Best Integrated Online Campaign in the Non-Alcoholic Beverage category. With its success and sustained popularity, Pepsi recently announced plans to extend the groundbreaking marketing platform for social good to Europe, Asia and Latin America in 2011. Thus far, the program has accumulated 42 million votes on over 7,500 submissions.

Reuters.com and History.com were honored for Web Site Excellence in the News/Politics and Non-News Entertainment: TV categories, respectively. The redesigned Reuters.com delivers all the news and content that time-strapped business professionals need to know through a dynamic, highly customizable interface. History.com was praised by OMMA for “refocusing the cable network's web presence from an emphasis on show promotion to a destination” where “users can search a vast database for articles, videos and photos on historical topics - all connected via a newly custom-tailored taxonomy.”

The new AlvinAiley.org was also nominated for Web Site Excellence in the Charity/Non-Profit Organization category. HUGE Creative Director Claudia Chow served as an industry judge and presented the award for Best in Show in Online Advertising Creativity.

The OMMA Awards recognize those who push the boundaries of creative work, and each year honor the very best in online media, marketing and advertising.

BROOKLYN — Penton Media, one of the world’s leading B2B media companies, relaunched nine websites this week, each reengineered to better deliver on its promise to disseminate the vital content that moves markets. The releases represent the first step of a larger, company-wide strategy by Penton to translate its authority in print to digital, unify its extensive network of brands online as well as transition many of its B2B sites to the new, content-driven platform over the coming months.

HUGE completed strategy and build for the platforms, collaborating with Penton over the past year to create business-transforming resources that would not only capitalize on its massive influence across multiple industries, but drive revenue through new opportunities for advertising and sponsorships. Months of customer research and a full evaluation of editorial workflows were integral to the overhaul, after which HUGE developed a content strategy that was more intuitive and relevant for the professionals visiting the site, allowing them to analyze and compare products as well as access important reference, training and how-to materials.

“You might say that we started from scratch – except for the rich content we already own – knowing that our goal was to attract more users, make the user experience more robust, and have a much more modular component architecture that enables editors to introduce new features,” Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Penton Media, explained. “The work takes us from the legacies of magazines’ companion sites to providing full-fledged Web-first products.

The new sites for Delta Farm Press, Southeast Farm Press, Southwest Farm Press and Western Farm Press feature enhanced navigation, fresher content and plenty of interactive media like blogs, videos, podcasts and webinars. Five other properties are set to launch in the coming weeks, including Farm Industry News, Corn and Soybean Digest and National Hog Farmer.

“These redesigns are far from being merely cosmetic; they have been designed to serve readers, who will be able to quickly access relevant content and solve business problems,” said Rowlands. Nino Tasca, Penton’s vice president of Internet technology added, “We have changed the functionality so that there is a better relationship between the user and the content. As Penton continues to launch the other sites within our vertical markets, we will leverage that relational data so both our advertisers and readers have a superior digital experience.”

With these sites and those to launch in the near future, Penton is redefining the marketplace for B2B media sites, delivering the essential tools, analysis and news that help professionals solve business problems and grow their enterprises.

BROOKLYN — Following an exceptionally successful year, Pepsi announced that it will expand the popular Refresh Project to Europe, Asia and Latin America in 2011 while continuing to fund projects in the U.S. and Canada. Originally considered a social media experiment by many in the industry, the award-winning marketing campaign has garnered 45 million votes on over 7,500 worthy ideas since its launch in January, becoming a full-blown global marketing platform for one of America’s most trusted brands.

"The Pepsi Refresh Project has demonstrated that bringing simple ideas to life can create a powerful impact in local communities," said Lauren Hobart, CMO sparkling beverages, PepsiCo Beverages America. "Over the past year, we've been inspired by the quality and impact of the ideas put into action by Pepsi fans across the U.S. And we're excited to extend the impact of the program next year in the U.S. and around the world.”

HUGE completed strategy, design and development for the community-focused platform, which continues to build momentum with a growing number of votes and idea submissions each month. "When you look at the powerful movement that we are creating, there's no question that we have on our hands something big. Good ideas need to expand. They cannot be encapsulated, especially when something is working for the brand,” Ami Irazabal, marketing director at Pepsi, told Advertising Age regarding the expansion. “Pepsi Refresh Project is going to be an integral part of the brand going forward."

The iconic brand has awarded 256 grants since it decided to funnel its annual Super Bowl budget into a program that empowers those who want to better their communities. Starting next week, Pepsi will also tap its largeFacebook community, which has grown fourfold to over a million fans since the project’s inception, for ways to strengthen the program.