Sponsored by The Financial Times

In modern marketing, where brands are built step-by-step at every customer touchpoint, consistency is crucial. That’s why The Drum has teamed up with the FT once again to recognize the importance of long-term thinking, investment and planning to marketing success, as part of The Drum Awards for Marketing 2022.
In the wake of the pandemic, this year’s award will celebrate those brands that have shown resilience in the face of change, overcoming the pressures of short-termism to continue to invest in the creation of long-term brand equity. Judges will consider the different perspectives of what investment in brand could mean, recognizing the strategies that successfully balance social purpose, sustainability, communication and growth.
How to take part:
> We will ask our experts in The Drum Judges club and our editorial team who will draw on their vast industry experience to put forward brands to be considered.
> They will be asked to nominate a brand, based on the above criteria, who they think should be considered for this award
> All nominations and supporting reasoning and evidence will be submitted via the form attached by March 23 deadline.
> The shortlist will be revealed in May and assessed by the Marketing Awards judging panel
Nominate a brand here
Sponsored by PromoVeritas

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.
CAMPAIGN / STRATEGY
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
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
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.
SECTOR
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
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
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.
TEAM / INDIVIDUAL
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
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.
RESEARCH-BASED AWARDS
Exclusive and free of charge, these two award categories will be selected through a rigorous research process taken from client recommendations, industry peers and additional The Drum research sources.
Rising Star of the Year Award
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 and would love to hear your nominations
here
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.
Peer nomination deadline: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Client rating deadline: Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Agency of the Year Award
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 client recommendations, industry
peers and additional The Drum research sources.
We would love to hear your agency nominations here.
Additionally, the winning agency 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.
Peer nomination deadline: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Client rating deadline: Wednesday, May 4, 2022