The Agency of the Year award celebrates the very best and most recommended agencies from around the globe. Exclusive and free of charge to agencies recommended by The Drum, the award winner will be selected through a rigorous research process taken from direct recommendations from clients, industry peers and other research sources.

To be in with a chance of winning you must be registered with The Drum Recommends and have a minimum of three positive client ratings for the specific service for that award. Find out more and get started on your journey to becoming recommended today.

The Rising Star of the Year Award highlights individual excellence in advertising and marketing and celebrates the pioneers of tomorrow.

This is a research-based award. Nominated by their peers, Rising Stars must have worked in the industry for three years or less (as of January 2022) and be someone to have made significant progress in an important area for your business.

Description
This category, in partnership with PromoVeritas, will reward the best and most effective use of a prize promotion, either standalone or part of an integrated multi-media campaign. The entry might be a prize draw, a competition, a giveaway, a reward scheme, an experiential or an instant win campaign. Any type of marketing activity as long as it involves prizes. 

Criteria
Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: innovation and creativity, does it have the ‘wow factor’; clear strategic thinking, how good a fit was the promotion with the brand positioning and relevance to target audience & the task; effectiveness and tangible results against objectives.

In your main entry report, you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above. Testimonials and key visuals and results are encouraged and will aid the judge's decisions.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will award the entrant who can demonstrate an effective customer focused product or service launch. You could touch on things such as challenges you overcame and the positive results derived from your launch, impact your launch had on customer perception, increase in loyalty, sales, etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will award a creative branded content strategy or campaign that can clearly show what was achieved - ROI, impact on the brand, consumer attitudes, etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will award the best mobile strategy or campaign that can demonstrate impressive results or engagement.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

Best Technology-led Innovation of the Year will showcase how the technology strategy fits with the core brand values and how the technology returned impressive results, tying into the key business objectives.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

You should be able to demonstrate that your development or extension of the brand was successful. You could give insights into areas such as: barriers you overcame, evidence of the success and impact it had on revenue, customer perception. You may even want to demonstrate cost effectiveness and how you applied learning from this progression.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

Judges will be looking at how data and insights were used to inform a smart strategy or campaign. You should demonstrate elements such as segmentation or targeting to improve the end users experience with a brand, product or service.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

Effectiveness is key and the judges will be interested in elements such as number of people attending, increase in perception, change in customer attitudes, commercial successes, transcendence to the digital space and any other evidence that can support the entry.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a sponsorship strategy or campaign that can demonstrate innovation and creativity whilst driving impressive results, whether that be engagement numbers, increase in sales or just a very effective activation that achieved set objectives.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a digital strategy or campaign that can demonstrate tangible results e.g. website traffic, click through rates, page views per visit and average time spent, changes in customer attitudes, etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will award the entrant who can demonstrate an effective customer focused re-brand or re-launch of the year. You could touch on things such as challenges you overcame and the positive results derived from your launch, impact your launch had on customer perception, increase in loyalty, sales, etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a B2C strategy or campaign that has used at least three types of media. You should be able to demonstrate impressive results or engagement. This is your chance to showcase innovation and creativity.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a B2B strategy or campaign that has used at least three types of media. You should be able to demonstrate impressive results or engagement. This is your chance to showcase innovation and creativity.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

The best design development for a product, campaign or advert. The judges will be looking for a clear demonstration of a solution that interpreted the client's objectives.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category celebrates brands that have shown outstanding results in a partnership or collaboration. You will need to clearly demonstrate how the strategy was designed to be mutually beneficial to both parties and the positive outcomes the partnership achieved. Whether that is increased reach, an increase in sales, or a change in perception.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For an SEO strategy or campaign that resulted in impressive results and engagement.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a social media strategy or campaign that can demonstrate clear and concise results. It could include your use of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Tik Tok etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

At The Drum, we believe that marketing can change the world. We want to give recognition to modern-day marketing that drives forward socially responsible marketing and brand purpose. Judges will be looking for campaigns that demonstrated real impact and creativity.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

Judges will be looking for a longer term marketing strategy that can demonstrate successful results or metrics. When completing your entry you must set out the long term goals under 'Objectives' outline how the goals have been broken down across a timeline under 'Strategy' and share the results (as far as you possibly can) so that the judges can measure the long term success.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

The judges will want to see how you used data or analysis to give insights into your customers. You may have used this insight to come up with a new pricing structure or incentive, how you communicated with your customers or how you targeted them effectively. This category will go to an entrant who can demonstrate they knew their customers on a much deeper level and used this information to inform a smart marketing execution.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a media planning or buying strategy that can prove a solid return against the set objectives.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will recognise and reward creative and innovative thinking/swift action, where a business can demonstrate a change in model/product to enhance experiences or in response to an external factor.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

The winner of this category will be decided by research by The Drum. More details will be available shortly on how you can be included in this research.

Description

Discuss the history of the brand. Describe the brand’s marketing activities over the past year. Demonstrate results produced by these activities and how they impacted the overall company and brought the brand to the forefront of it's sector.

Description

Discuss the structure of the team. Describe the team’s marketing activities over the past year. Demonstrate results produced by these activities and how they impacted on the overall company.

Description

This award will recognise an agency who has demonstrated excellence over the past year. Only companies entering other categories in the awards may enter for Agency of the Year. Include details about your diversity and inclusivity progress over the past year.

Please provide examples of

1. Growth of revenues

2. Acquisition of clients

3. Success of campaigns

4. Testimonials from clients

You may also use other evidence such as new innovations, internal changes or other specific achievements that showcase the differences your agency has made over the past year.

Description

Discuss the structure of the team. Describe the team’s marketing activities over the past year. Demonstrate results produced by these activities and how they impacted on the overall company.

Description

This category will recognise those who demonstrate the strongest commitment to diversity and inclusion, both in the day to day, as well as through specific activities and initiatives. Judges will be looking for examples of activities that have promoted the building of diverse teams, creation of inclusive working environments or driving culture to create marketing/products/services that are inclusive of a diverse audience. We are looking to reward those companies who are pushing boundaries and shaping their own journeys.

Description

For a campaign or strategy for any public sector organisation, service, government body, or individual project.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any FMCG business or organisation.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any organisation in the music and entertainment industry.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale. 

Description

Judges will be looking for an advertising strategy or campaign that can demonstrate results that fulfilled the set objectives - for example, increase in revenue, consumer attitudes, website traffic, etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

A campaign or strategy for any sport or leisure business or organisation.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any organisation in the leisure and travel industry.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For work briefed and implemented for a charity or not for profit organisations. Please supply the registered charity number for the client within the accompanying report.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

This category will award the best PR strategy or campaign that can demonstrate impressive results or engagement. 

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

Any campaign or strategy for any financial or professional service including insurance, banking, accountancy, engineering etc.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any organisation working in the automotive and transport industry.

Criteria

For a strategy or campaign created for any FMCG business or organisation. Hide criteria Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any retail or ecommerce business or organisation.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

For a strategy or campaign created for any B2B sector organisation, service or project.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation/creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness, and tangible results. In your main entry report, you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.

Description

A campaign or strategy for any healthcare or pharma business or organisation.

Criteria

Judges will review entries based on the following criteria: Innovation / creativity, clear strategic thinking, effectiveness and tangible results. In your main entry report you should use the following structure: Objectives, Strategy, Results and address any specific key points stated in the category description above.

Entries must have been live to market at some point between April 2021 and April 2022. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.