A record 870 entries have been submitted to the Festival of Media Global's awards scheme, with a 30 percent rise in applications for the 14 categories – which include Best Social Strategy, Best Use of Mobile and Best Use of Emerging Technology – since the awards' launch four years ago.

"It's fantastic to be able to announce more entries to the Festival of Media Awards than ever before. Not just that, but a significant leap in terms of the number received," comments Charlie Crowe, founder of the Festival of Media and chief executive of the event's organiser, C Squared.

The Festival of Media will return, with its awards programme, in April

"Competition will be particularly fierce this year and I know all the judges are looking forward to reviewing the submissions. Creativity and innovation will of course be paramount. We look forward to announcing the shortlist in due course."

Festival of Media Global 2012 will take place in Montreux, Switzerland from April 15th to 17th, with the conference theme 'When data becomes insight: the beauty in numbers and the science of storytelling' alongside the awards programme. Speakers from the conference will include representatives from MasterCard, Colgate Palmolive and Global Media among other international brands.