Who can enter?
You can enter if you are an agency within the marketing mix disciplines or part of The Drum Network. The awards are global, so there really are no barriers to enter.
About
Why enter?
Motivation
Picking up an award proves that all the hard work was worth it. It gives your team the energy to keep pushing boundaries and raising standards.
Client relationships
It's good to remind your clients why they work with you from time to time. Having the work you've done for them recognised by the industry is powerful stuff. Even more so if you bring them along to the awards night to pick up the trophy with you.
Recruitment
If you pick up awards, it also picks up the interest of new talent. You can expect smart people to be knocking at your door to see if you have a desk for them.
New business
Good clients who are after good work keep an eye out for the good businesses who are winning awards. A few extra trophies can give you a real advantage when you're hunting for new business.
PR
There's no better way of getting publicity than for being excellent. The Drum will cover all of the shortlisted work on thedrum.com. With over 1 million unique visitors and over 200,000 social followers, that’s no small deal. And we recommend that you use an award win for further PR opportunities too (but we don't need to tell the PR industry that!). If you achieve something this special, you really should make a noise about it.
Knees up
Then, of course, there's the awards show. And our awards shows are legendary. They're a great opportunity to reward your staff, pamper your clients and let your hair down.
How much does it cost to enter?
Standard - First entry - £295 + VAT
Standard - Additional entries - £155 + VAT
- You may enter as many categories as you like, however each entry must be treated as a separate entry and payment made for each.
- In order to get the discounted rate for any additional entries, please ensure you enter them all at once.
- If you are a charity you will receive 40% off your entries.
- If you are a Drum Network Member, your first 2 entries are free, this should automatically be deducted at checkout, contact charlotte.mann@thedrum.com if you have any questions
- If you aren't a Drum Network member but would like to join. Please contact memberships@thedrum.com
How will my entry be judged?
Regardless of budget, size of the project or scale of the resource, entries will be judged objectively in their own merit. It's a fair playing field for the large and small projects.
After the entry deadline, the judging panel will be given access to read your submission and view your images, videos and links. The jury will be looking for evidence of:
• Clear strategic thinking using research and insights
• Creativity and Innovation
• Tangible results and outcomes
• Proof of effectiveness and organisational impact
• Measurement
After the panel have carried out their pre-judging, they will meet virtually to discuss the entries and decide on the finalists, commendations and award winners.
Key dates
Put these in your diary right away...
Early bird deadline: 10 July 2020
Entry Deadline: 4 September 2020
Extended deadline: on request, with late fee
Nominations announced: 8 October 2020
Winners announced: 23 October 2020 - Virtual ceremony during Agencies4Growth Festival
Entry rules
Your Agency Business entry must adhere to the rules below:
- Entries must be received no later than the published deadline date.
- All submissions must be made online.
- Entries must have been live to market at some point between September 2019 and September 2020. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.
- Do not include password protection or if essential, include passwords for judges to access.
- All entries must be supplied and conform to the category rules/submission formats.
- Work entered into more than one category must be treated as a completely separate entry. Multiple entries can be made but separate payment must be made for each. Please note: you will ONLY receive the 2nd entry rate if you enter all your submissions at the same time. Leave your entries in your basket until you are sure they are complete. Refunds will not be given.
- The judging panel will only read and use the entries/reports for the purposes of the judging and are required to sign NDAs.
- The judges reserve the right to re-allocate entries that in their view are entered in an incorrect category. The judges also reserve the right to remove categories where entries do not meet the standard for nomination. These entries will not be refunded as they will have been judged accordingly.
- The judges’ decision is final.
- Due to the number of entries received, the awards cannot give feedback on individual entries.
- The organisers reserve the right to verify that all entries have been commercially produced for a commercial client where relevant.
- All entries submitted must be legal. Any entries containing offensive material will be disqualified. Any entry that has a complaint upheld against it by the Advertising Standards Authority will be disqualified.
Entry tips
• Give each entry a unique title to grab the judges' interest - try to avoid generic names.
• When writing your report, don’t assume the judges have seen the work or campaign. Give clear concise answers on the brief, objectives and results. Figures should include the starting point and any increases in numeric terms, not just in percentages.
• Only use additional password protection if it’s absolutely necessary.
• Please include usernames and passwords, if required, for the judging; i.e. a private YouTube video and make sure the links work.
Entry templates
Your entry template is your entry report, once completed you must convert to PDF and upload under the Entry Report section at the time of submitting.
About the Drum Network
The Drum Network is an organisation that helps make marketing service agencies more successful – by giving them the skills and tools to build a higher profile and the knowledge to increase their profits.
This is the Drum Network Awards and anyone can enter! But only if you are as passionate about great marketing as us… we throw a kick ass party to celebrate it too!
For one low annual membership fee, The Drum Network helps get its agency members on to the radar of potential clients, recruits and other business partners by giving them access to The Drum’s wide range of on and offline editorial products and channels; these include the UK’s largest marketing website, visited by more than 600,000 marketers a month, and the UK’s Business Magazine of the Year 2013.
On another level membership also plugs ambitious independent agency owners into our vast range of contacts, helping to facilitate their development and the honing of the key business skills that are vital to winning in today’s fast moving agency sector.
Contact Chris.Morton@thedrum.com if you are interested in joining...