Drive Tribe's Richard Hammond to judge The Drum Online Media Awards 2019

Hammond said: “Having been involved with one or two television series over the years – actually it’s hundreds but that just makes me seem old - I’ll aim to bring a critical eye, used to working with film crews and producers that operate to the highest-levels of production quality.

"It’s an ethos I’ve tried to adopt in my own TV and Content production company, Chimp Productions, while also remaining open to emerging technologies and new approaches to video distribution."

Hammond started his career in BBC local radio before moving to daytime shows and motoring programmes on cable television. In 2002 he landed his role in the newly launched BBC Top Gear, one of the BBC’s most commercially successful programmes and the most widely broadcast factual television series in the world.

In November 2016, along with the launch of Amazon Prime’s The Grand Tour, Hammond turned his hand to digital entrepreneurship, co-founding and investing in DriveTribe, an automotive social media and lifestyle platform that has seen rapid commercial and audience growth.

“My involvement with the startup social platform DriveTribe, brings with it a vested interest in seeing how brands can integrate and engage with communities,” he explained.

“When judging, I’ll be particularly looking for context and quality – the idea has to fit seamlessly with the audience interests, while the quality of delivery and content has to engage and add value to the surroundings. If executed well, branded content can drive a deep connection with its target group, building positive brand associations and advocacy.”

He's especially keen to see the latest in branded content and video work and how it plays out in a social media and community context. “It’s an area of media that seems to invent itself by the day, adapting on the fly to new legislation and the much-debated role of the social media influencer.”

He concluded: “The Drum, like the industry it represents, has never been afraid to provoke and push the boundaries in its own approaches to marketing. I’m confident it will attract an equivalent level of award entrants, all looking to cajole, entertain and inspire their customers in equal measure.

The awards are a celebration of the great and good in media, championing the efforts of both new and legacy publishers to adapt to the constantly shifting media space. Media disruptors from the likes of Bloomberg, BBC World Service, Al Jazeera and Channel 4 took home trophies in 2018.

Hammond will be joined by the likes of Pink News, Global, Jungle Creations, Press Association, Zenith, the Daily Mail and Hearst UK. The deadline for the awards has passed but you can still enter by applying for an extension.

These awards are sponsored by the Press Association.