AMA AMYs – Tips for Creating a Winning Award Submission
It’s that time of the year again. 2012 is in full swing, companies are working hard starting the year off right and the AMYs committee is planning March 29, the 2012 AMY Awards. We are eagerly awaiting submissions from individuals and companies whose “Big Ideas” during 2011 truly inspire all of Atlanta and awaken our minds.
The AMY Awards is back at The Fabulous Fox Theatre to honor programs and campaigns with innovative strategies, unforgettable creative and outstanding results. Submissions are being accepted for all categories, including the newly added Innovation in Marketing Research. Check out all the entry categories here.
Success in marketing takes more than great creative and strategy, it takes solid leadership. AMA Atlanta is looking for this year’s corporate and agency Marketer of the Year, and we need your help. Who do you know that has led their team to execute Big Ideas to drive Big Results? Nominate them for Free today. Nominations are being accepted through February 10.
What Qualifies as a Good Entry?
We want to make you successful. To ensure you bring attention to the right information in your entries, we asked our 2012 judging panel what exactly they were looking for in a winning submission.
When judge Laura Davis-Taylor of BBDO looks at a marketing program, she seeks to understand:
- The business challenge at hand, the key insights considered and how the program/idea uniquely addressed both
- How the idea was woven into the other marketing channels
- The results—both direct (transactional) and indirect (loyalty and brand perception)
For judge Laurie Hood of Silverpop there are two keys to success:
- Clear goals for a campaign and some kind of measurement. Why did you do this, what did you want to achieve, and what did you achieve?
- Explain their company and what the company does – entrants should never assume their judges are familiar with them or their products
And last, yet definitely not least, judge Lynn Moss of Allconnect, Inc. says, “I’m most interested in strategy and results. Judging creative to be innovative and memorable can be subjective; therefore, I’m more interested in the following questions.”
- Strategy: How did you decide on the marketing campaign? Who was it targeted to? How was messaging developed? How did the creative support the messaging? Why email, social media, print or event marketing? Was it integrated across media?
- Results: What was the measure of success? Was the campaign considered a success? Were there key learnings? Perhaps it wasn’t deemed a success, yet the learnings are helpful for future campaigns.
Are all of these expectations ones you can fill? After reading this do you feel like you deserve a Red Pencil sitting on your wall or desk? Well then, submit your entry here: http://www.amyawardsatl.com/submissions.
When filling out the AMYs submission form, be sure to answer the essay questions with the information needed, while keeping in mind the judges’ suggestions. Incorporating what the AMYs committee needs with what the judges want to see will help you get that much closer to the Red Pencil.
Early entry submissions end January 27, 2012. Entries received after January 27 will be eligible for the late entry deadline, February 10.
We look forward to all of your submissions and can’t wait to see everyone at The Fox Theatre on March 29, 2012.
