Agency of the Year: What makes a winning entry?

EVENT CONTENT

The Agency of the Year awards, now in its 23rd year, is one of the region’s most prestigious awards that celebrate achievements in the media and advertising industry.

With over 800 entries last year, the bar just keeps rising. 2016 is going to be even bigger, if not more challenging. There have been leadership changes at several agencies, calls for transparency in the wake of the ANA report and a spree of acquisition activity.

There is a lot of consideration and debate that goes into selecting the best, which is why entries need to showcase their best.

So what makes a winning entry? We spoke with former jury members and top client marketers to give you an idea of how to shape your entries, what to avoid, and what you absolutely must include.

The Do’s:

• Be innovative - Strong evidence of results that breaks the rules and delivers something amazing
• Show your expertise - Agencies are not brief-takers. They should use their excellent knowledge of their clients to deliver groundbreaking work.
• Bring the facts - This is easy: actual business results (sales, market share, gains, profit)
• Strike a balance - A well-written entry that walks the judges through the various criteria in a logical fashion, creating a story that articulates the agency’s achievements is a plus
• Use your milestones - Clarity and specific examples of achievement, and numbers that can be substantiated
• Let the work speak for itself - High level of client satisfaction

The Don’ts:

• Don’t lose focus - Where entries go wrong is that they focus too much on campaigns or the work. It has to be about people, relationships because that is what builds real business value over time.
• Don’t leave the details out - Avoid general sweeping statements
• Don’t keep the judges guessing - Don’t leave questions unanswered

We encourage you to join the legacy of the Agency Awards and enter your agency today. For the past 23 years, Campaign Asia-Pacific’s prestigious Agency of the Year Awards have gathered the top creative and media agencies to recognise inspired leadership, management excellence and outstanding business performance. In its commitment to transparency and celebrating industry-wide success, the Awards appoint PricewaterhouseCooper to tabulate the results, and the programme itself is the only one that honours agency performance at both local and regional level. The Awards are now open for entries for all media, advertising, digital, PR, independent and specialist agencies from all countries in the Asia-Pacific region (including Australia and New Zealand).

For further details on how to enter visit the Agency of the Year website here: AOYAwards.com