Amasa Award entries open

The annual Amasa Awards celebrate excellence in media strategy, media planning and the creative and innovative use of the media mix. A panel of expert judges will be looking for entries that demonstrate sound insights, creative thinking, innovative strategy, impeccable implementation, and outstanding and measurable results.

Media practitioners nationwide are invited to submit entries showcasing their best campaigns implemented between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. These will be judged in a number of different categories and will compete for the renowned Roger Garlick Grand Prix, which is presented for the best work overall.

The newly introduced Amasa Agency of the Year Award will be presented to the agency that achieves the greatest number of points for both shortlisted work and awards achieved.

The top awards in the 2018 Amasa Awards programme are:

• New: Amasa Agency of the Year: This award recognises the most awarded agency in the awards programme and includes a motivation to a senior panel of experts.
  
• Roger Garlick Award: This award is presented for the best overall campaign of the year.

The other categories in the programme are:

1. Best Integrated Campaign: FMCG
   
2. Best Integrated campaign: Transport
   
3. Best Integrated Campaign: B2B
   
4. Best Integrated Campaign: Financial
   
5. Best Integrated Campaign: Public Services
   
6. Best Integrated Campaign: Travel, Entertainment & Leisure
   
7. Best Integrated Campaign: Retail (including e-commerce & QSR)
   
8. Best Integrated Campaign: Media
   
9. Best Integrated Campaign: Other Consumer Goods (including durables & telco)
   
10. Best Branded Content Campaign
    
11. Best Experiential/Event Campaign
    
12. Best Online Campaign
    
13. Best Social Media Strategy
    
14. Best Use of Mobile
    
15. Best Use of Technology/Data
    
16. Best Sponsorship
    
17. Best Contribution by a Media Owner
    
18. Best Tactical Use of Media
    
19. Best Trade Marketing
    
20. Best Pro Bono Campaign
    
21. Best Use of a Small Budget (under R150k)
    
22. Ignition Award for Students (students only)
    

How to enter:

1. Visit the Amasa Awards page on the Amasa website - http://www.amasa.org.za/amasa-awards-2018/.
   
2. Download the Amasa Awards 2018 entry form from the website and complete your entry.
   
3. Obtain a letter of consent from the clients whose campaign/s you are entering for consideration.
   
4. Gather all supporting documentation. If this includes a link to a video hosted online, ensure that the URL (web page address) is included on your entry form.
   
5. Email your entry form and supporting documentation, including your letter of consent and proof of payment, to moc.liamg@8102sdrawA.asamA.
   
6. Entry forms and supporting material will only be accepted in digital format, and only via the email address provided.
   

For any further information about the Amasa Awards entry process, please email: moc.liamg@8102sdrawA.asamA.

Special notes:

A maximum of five supporting documents are permitted per entry. This excludes the entry form but includes photographs, videos and .pdf documents submitted in support of the entry.

Entrants are welcome to enter the same campaign into various categories if they would like to do so. They are also encouraged to submit a video supporting their entry, but this is not a requirement.

Campaigns entered should be authentic and signed off by the relevant client.

Entries should indicate how the campaign delivered on the quantifiable goals set in the media plan and how it generated sound commercial results.

Costs:

The cost for a general entry is R1,700 and the cost for an Ignition entry is R800 excluding VAT. All entries must be accompanied by proof of payment. Amasa’s banking details are given on the entry form.

The Awards Ceremony:

The awards will be made at the prestigious Amasa Awards Ceremony Gala:

Date: 10 October 2018
Time: 19h00 for 19h15
Venue: The Hilton, Sandton
Tickets: R750 per person or R700 per person for a table of 10

Ticket sales open 15 August 2018. The price includes a three-course plated dinner, a bottle or wine per table and entertainment.

Category details:

Best Integrated Campaign

Campaigns entered for consideration in this category must demonstrate the use of two or more types of media (e.g. screens, digital, outdoor, etc.). They will be judged on how well the chosen media types are integrated and entries must demonstrate how successfully the different media types complement and build on one another to communicate the brand’s overall message.

Judges will be looking out for evidence of media-neutral planning, in which the best insights and thinking have resulted in the use of a media mix that demonstrates creativity, consistency of brand message and achievement of the client’s objectives. Entrants should please specify any third-party contributions on the relevant campaign.

Best Integrated Campaign: FMCG

This category encompasses all fast-moving consumer goods, including beer, wine, spirits, liqueurs, cocktails, tea, coffee, still and carbonated drinks, juices, mineral waters, chocolates, sweets, chewing and bubble gum, potato crisps, nuts, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, cream, butter, cheese, eggs, margarine and spreads, cakes, biscuits, desserts, sugar, jam, honey, peanut butter, bread, flour, baking ingredients, breakfast cereals, meats, fish, seafood, soups, delicatessen products, fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, sauces, oils, spices, herbs, pre-cooked and prepared meals, baby foods and baby milk, detergents, cleaning products, air fresheners, insecticides, foil and other food packaging, light bulbs, batteries, paint, varnish and wood protectors adhesives, tools, garden tools, pet food and pet care products, soap, shower and bath products, deodorants and body sprays, skin and nail care products, oral hygiene products, toilet paper, tissues, nappies, shaving products, insect repellents, diet products, adhesive plasters, skin remedies, condoms, pregnancy tests, contact lenses, vitamins, alternative therapies and medicines, and virility drugs.

Best Integrated Campaign: Transport

This category encompasses all vehicles and related products, including cars, jeeps and four-wheel drives, pick-up trucks, vans, lorries, motorbikes, tyres, auto products and services, spare parts, accessories such as in-car hi-fi, petrol stations, petrol, oil, breakdown and servicing companies, car dealerships, and car finance and leasing.

Best Integrated Campaign: Other Consumer Goods (including durables & telco)

This category encompasses all consumer durables, including consumer electronics. It includes house and garden furniture, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, fridges, freezers, cookers, microwaves, kitchen utensils, appliances and crockery, glassware, bed and table linen, baths, showers and toilets, wall and floor coverings, televisions, cameras, video cameras, film, hi-fi equipment, personal stereos, CD players and MP3 players, DVD and Blu-ray players, personal phone equipment such as mobile phones and smartphones, tablet computers, musical instruments, sports equipment, bicycles, boats and caravans, toys, board games, computer games, game consoles, home computers, clothing, footwear and accessories, sportswear, handbags, belts, luggage, jewellery, watches, sunglasses, and spectacles.

Best Integrated Campaign: Financial

This category encompasses all providers of financial and related services, as well as all providers of property, building and infrastructure services and products. These include banks, building societies, credit cards, current and savings accounts, mortgages and loans, investment companies, health and building insurance, car insurance, pension and retirement plans, real estate investment, building development, and road construction.

Best Integrated Campaign: Public Services

This category encompasses consumer telecommunication services, internet service providers, cable and satellite providers, TV providers, directories, postal services, electricity, gas, power and water utilities, private education institutions, private healthcare providers and clinics, providers of optical services, providers of medical and dental services, prescription drugs, hearing aids, hospital aids, hospital and dental equipment, psychiatrists, sex therapists, plastic surgeons, etc.

Best Integrated Campaign: Travel, Entertainment & Leisure

This category encompasses all transport, travel and tourism service providers and related products, including airlines, train and bus companies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tourist boards, hotels, resorts, city and bus company promotion, car hire, travel passes, leisure and theme parks, gyms, health and diet clubs, sporting events, music festivals, orchestras, exhibitions and shows, nightclubs, bars, museums, art galleries, cinemas and theatres, golf and country clubs, the National Lottery, and gambling.

Best Integrated Campaign: Retail (includes e-commerce & QSR)

This category encompasses all retailers, including e-commerce and QSR providers. These include home shopping networks, restaurants, fast-food outlets, department and specialist stores, supermarkets, DIY stores, pharmacies, opticians, hairdressers, beauty salons, laundry service outlets, estate agents, photo-processors, video and DVD rental stores, mail-order companies, online shopping sites, and auctioneers.

Best Integrated Campaign: Media

This category encompasses newspapers, magazines and supplements, books, records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs and Blu-ray discs, TV and radio stations, networks and programming, and movies.

Best Integrated Campaign: B2B

This category encompasses business phone and computer equipment, office furniture and stationery, accountancy, conference and events services, business postal services, courier services, employment agencies, and agriculture and manufacturing equipment.

Best Branded Content Campaign

This category focuses on content creation and is open to all brands, agencies and production organisations that are dealing with brands in order to devise, create and distribute branded content. The work involved may have been executed for broadcast or for distribution in the online video market. It may also have been delivered via publications or through apps. It could be ‘native’[u5] or exist as independent scalable content.

The judges will be looking for innovative content that aligns with the brand’s strategy and values, and which addresses a clearly defined marketing challenge. The way in which that content is leveraged – whether through licensing and rights selling or through engagement in social media (as evidenced by shares, likes or other engagement metrics) - will be an important consideration in judging. This category is all about ‘owned’ media.

Best Experiential/Event Campaign

This category recognises brands that deliver experiential campaigns for consumers via events, stunt advertising, guerrilla marketing, projections, and roadshows or through sponsorship of an existing events property. The experiential campaign must be fundamentally physical in its core, but should include virtual elements.

Best Online Campaign

This category recognises campaigns that demonstrate an understanding of the digital landscape and have been integrated into it. It covers all forms of digital media, including the web, mobile media, apps, blogs, IPTV, and gaming and search. Its reach extends into affiliate marketing and campaigns should demonstrate great examples of interaction using digital media’s unique properties. Judges will be looking for campaigns that have successfully made use of digital media in a creative and innovative way, and which have been executed with a high level of quality in order to promote the brand and its message to target audiences.

Best Social Media Strategy

This category rewards innovation in social media strategy. The winning campaign should be able to demonstrate great results through the use of social media. It may have been delivered via a social media platform or via an online initiative using existing or new social networks. It could also be a campaign in which an initial idea, experience or message has been actively distributed and/or adapted by a participating key audience to positive brand effect using social channels. Entries will be judged on the creative use of social platforms and a sound understanding of online consumer behaviour, and should all be backed up by substantive metrics that prove campaign success. Judges will be looking for examples of fantastic consumer-driven campaigns, community building, targeting, engagement, and conversational marketing strategies.

Best Use of Mobile

This category recognises the innovative use of mobile channels to reach and engage consumers. Any form of mobile media will be considered, including mobile apps, .mobi sites, mobile content or any form of mobile advertising, provided it shows how the advertiser has used mobile in a creative and engaging way to obtain great results based on clear objectives.

Best Use of Technology

This award will be made to the campaign that is seen to exploit new technology to its full potential in the marketing environment. The winning campaign should be able to demonstrate a good brand/technology fit and show innovation in the use of the new technology to reach an audience or multiple audiences. This category is open to any existing media channel or any new one created by the use of the technology. Judges will be focussing on the innovative nature of the technology and how it has been applied to meet a specific marketing challenge.

Best Sponsorship

This category focuses on campaigns that promote a brand’s value and position by going beyond traditional advertising channels and by using generated content. They may include, for example, the seamless integration of a product into a television programme or advertiser-funded programming (AFP). The judges will be looking for campaigns that use sponsorship as the primary element in the communications strategy and will focus on the part of the campaign owned by the agency that contributed most to the success of the sponsorship.

Best Contribution by a Media Owner

This category recognises the efforts made by media owners, when partnering with advertiser clients, to connect directly with target audiences. Judges will be looking at partner behaviour, innovative strategies, and the creative application of ideas. Entries will be judged on the level of creative thinking involved, the depth of consumer insight, and the level of success for the client. The winning campaign could be based on a multi-platform strategy or could be a single execution. The entrant must be the media owner.

Ignition Award

The Ignition Award is aimed at current students, and rewards the best example of work submitted from media and advertising students.

Best use of a Small Budget (under R150k)

This category recognises the most creative and far-reaching campaigns executed on a shoe-string budget. The judges will looking for ingenuity when it comes to getting clients the most bang for their buck!

Best Pro Bono Campaign

This category honours outstanding campaigns developed on a pro bono basis and focusing on causes as varied as environmental protection, wildlife conservation, child abuse and road safety. The judges will be looking for campaigns that have not only raised money which have also publicised important issues.

Best Trade Marketing Campaign

Primarily for media owners, the Best Trade Marketing Campaign category seeks to celebrate the exceptionally creative trade campaigns that typically target media agencies and clients directly. Entrants will have to be clear about what the objectives of the campaign were and about how they achieved what they set out to do. Judges will be looking for originality, innovation and a clear understanding of how the execution linked back to the organisation’s media offering.

Best Tactical Use of Media

This category recognises the tactical use of one media channel only. The judges will be looking at the entrant’s ability to use innovative thinking in order to make one particular media channel stick out and deliver results for the client.

Media Agency of the Year

All entering companies will score points based on the number of campaigns shortlisted, the number of highly commended awards received, the number of gold awards received, and the points received for winning the Grand Prix. Once all scores have been tallied, a shortlist will be generated, after which each company will need to present to an expert jury, which will decide the final Agency of the Year winner.