The WARC Awards 2020, an annual international case-study competition in search for next-generation marketing effectiveness, is now open for entries.
Organised by WARC, the global authority on advertising and media effectiveness, the WARC Awards are free to enter and open to submissions from any country and communications discipline. Campaigns can be entered into four categories, each one with its own distinguished judging panel and set of Special Awards.
The Effective Content Strategy category, which rewards branded content strategies that can demonstrate a business outcome, will be chaired by Ash Tailor, Global Brand & Marketing Director, LEGOLAND. Ash heads up global brand and marketing for LEGOLAND, which covers 20 sites with more than 20 million visitors a year. His role includes new campaign development, partnerships and the development of new rides and experiences.
The Effective Use of Brand Purpose category is for marketing initiatives that have successfully embraced a brand purpose and achieved commercial success as well as a benefit for a wider community. This category will be chaired by Ivan Pollard, Senior Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills, who leads a team focused on advancing capabilities, community and creativity for the 1,000+ marketers working around the globe. He has introduced new data-driven approaches to connections planning, management of digital platforms, media, sponsorships, and content creation.
The Effective Innovation category recognises innovative thinking that has transformed a business or disrupted category conventions to deliver tangible results. Jane Wakely, Lead Chief Marketing Officer, Mars & Mars Pet Nutrition, has been appointed jury chair. Jane has spent the last 18 years honing her career at Mars where she has been part of the Mars drive to innovate digitally and creatively. Starting as Vice President Marketing & Innovation – first responsible for Food, and then for Chocolate across Europe – she next took on the role of Chief Marketing Officer, Global Chocolate, before rising to her current role.
The Effective Social Strategy category, which looks for the best campaigns that link social strategy to business success, will be chaired by Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing Officer, L’Oréal UK & Ireland and Chief Digital Officer, We Like The World. Lex’s career has spanned the growth of the web – from the 56k modem to 4G mobile – and covered North America, Europe and the Middle.
Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor, Case Studies, WARC, comments: “We very much look forward to working with our esteemed jury chairs who, in our ever-changing industry, will be searching for best-in-class campaigns that showcase the development and mastering of new techniques to deliver business results for clients.”
There is a $40,000 prize fund for the winning papers, spread across the four categories. The top entries will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. The Grand Prix for the best overall paper in each category will receive $7,000 and three Special Awards in each category, recognising specific areas of excellence, will be presented with $1,000.
More information and how to enter the 2020 WARC Awards is available here. Entry deadline is 12 February 2020.
