Drum Awards for Marketing judges talk about how to write an award-winning report

During the online session, judges from the EMEA, Americas, and APAC competitions, including Dunkin CMO Hamza Ayub, Storycatchers Creative Director Dee Atkin, Central Retail CMO Rubisra Chirativat, Wishfin CMO Reem Saeed, and LinkedIn VP of Brand Marketing, shared their insights. provided. Santi Pochat and Octagon creative director Vanessa Tan will all be there as well.

You can watch each webinar again now. We’ve also picked out some of our judges’ top tips below to serve as a best practice guide when filling out award entries.

get off to a strong start

Getting started is often the most difficult part of any award entry, but too many people fall into the trap of starting by talking about themselves. The same goes for agencies pitching new business, which is a problem for Hamza Ayub at Dunkin.

he says: “Everyone often starts by talking about themselves: ‘Hey, this is our name. We’re doing this and we’ve been doing this for 10 years…’ Sorry. No, but no one cares. So when making your case in your entry, start with the problem you faced and then get into the solution. Finally, bring up the agency and explain why you were the trusted agency to solve this problem for the client. ”

Tell great stories and be authentic.

The strongest award entries always tell great stories. It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Or, in award jargon, outline the problem/challenge, the solution/implementation, and the final result and accomplishment.

“To stand out, make sure your entry presents a clear and compelling story that outlines a specific marketing challenge,” says Hamza. “Executive summaries are very important and judges always start there, so provide a clear and compelling overview of your submission, including objectives, X-factors, and results.”

He adds: “Entries must be genuine, which means the end result was born from a genuine business requirement. We need to see a genuine brief from the client. I’m not looking for a work of art. What I focus on when judging is the element of authenticity.”

be special

During the initial entry stage, think carefully about the category you are entering. Does your campaign fit neatly into that category? Also, ask yourself tough questions. Is your work really good and worthy of an award?

“For me, to win the job, you have to do something extraordinary and make an impact,” says Rubisra Chirathivat of Central Retail. “The work has to be memorable, and it has to stand out from other entries. That’s what I’m looking for. As for the criteria, I think the strategic plan , we look at how it was planned and whether it was executed well and shows innovation. I think the most important thing is to create a sustainable business effect. This campaign Promote, change, or influence?”

Wishfin’s Reem Saiid outlines what catches his attention: That’s the hallmark of a great idea, and that’s what I look for when judging. ”

Be disciplined – less is often more

When writing an award entry, it can be tempting to throw in every little detail, information and insight, every piece of data and outcome statistics, but this can be overwhelming for the judges. Remember, judges come to your marketing case cold for the first time, so trying to understand all the details can be confusing and often prevent them from understanding your story.

Santi Pochat from LinkedIn says: “I think the adage ‘less is more’ comes into play here. Sometimes you instinctively want to include every element of your campaign, but in reality it’s not going to move the story forward.” You end up with a ton of fluff that you can’t do. You have to think through your entries and make sure the story is very crisp and clear.”

Include a powerful video to explain your campaign

When entering The Drum Awards for Marketing, you may upload a video to support your written entry. This has become an increasingly important factor in the entry process in recent years. So how can participants ensure their videos have the most impact?

Chirathivat said: “Make sure to include a video pitch, but make sure to show the campaign and the idea behind it, not just the ad or creative work. A lot of people just put an ad campaign video in there. We’re not talking about what impact it had. A strong video will help your entry stand out, and the video will also be used as part of the final awards show, so we’ll be sure to It also helps promote the store.”

Craft your results well and make sure they’re relevant

Obviously, the results section is very important to any entry, but it can often be the most difficult. What do you include and what do you omit? How do you express them in the most positive light? Also, make sure that the results you present make sense and are consistent with the client’s original objectives. How do you check?

Dee Atkin of Storycatchers says: Judges aren’t stupid. He can’t polish his shit, but what he can do is clarify what he was trying to accomplish and how he accomplished it relative to the client’s goals. That sounds basic, but I’ve seen many cases where it hasn’t been done. When you get results, you ask yourself, “What was the purpose?” Is that what they were trying to do? ”

Let’s get the basics right!

Last but not least, get the basics right. There’s nothing more unpleasant for a judge than reading an entry littered with typos, bad grammar, and gibberish punctuation.

Awards expert Leslie Grant said: Be sure to continually proofread your input. Collaborate with your team and involve everyone involved in the success of your campaign. ”