Award Categories

INDUSTRY CATEGORIES
Campaigns entered into these industry categories below will be considered for a Gold, Silver, or Bronze ARF David Ogilvy Award.

AUTOMOTIVE
Cars, trucks, motorcycles, gasoline, motor oil, servicing and parts

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS
Products and services that are exchanged or targeted from one business to another

DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER
Products and services that avoid a retail environment or intermediary and connect directly with the consumer

FASHION, BEAUTY & HOME
Clothing, eyewear, hosiery, jewelry, perfumes, cosmetics, shoes, furniture, paints, home appliances, cleaning supplies

FINANCIAL SERVICES & INSURANCE
Credit cards, loans, mutual funds, banking

FOOD & BEVERAGE
Soda, water, coffee, beer, wine, spirits, cereals, frozen foods, canned goods, snacks

GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE & NON-PROFIT
Municipal or state development, lotteries, utilities, public service messages, political messages

HEALTH + PERSONAL CARE
Consumer healthcare/OTC products, first aid, skin and hair products, soap, deodorant

MULTICULTURAL
Products and services targeting multicultural targets

PHARMACETICALS
Drugs and medical devices prescribed by a licensed professional

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Real estate companies, law firms and legal services, clinics, delivery services (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL)

RETAIL & RESTAURANTS
Brick and mortar and/or digital store selling apparel, specialty products, general merchandise and/or services + restaurants, fast food, coffee shops, and juice bars

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
Sporting events, teams and merchandise, films, music, TV shows, news programs, plays, museums, travel, network and cable branding

TECH & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Telephone companies, cellular services, internet access, membership services, tablets, smartphones, smart devices, social media, apps, video games, websites, VR, and voice-enabled tech

TRAVEL
Airlines, transit, hotels, rental services (I.e., Airbnb, HomeAway)

GRAND OGILVY AWARD

This award will be bestowed to the most outstanding campaign selected from all gold finalists.

SPOTLIGHT CATEGORIES

The ARF has established SPOTLIGHT CATEGORIES in addition to the industry verticals above to honor the latest trends in the industry, including awareness about social issues, consumer experiences, and data-driven campaigns. These awards follow the same criteria as the industry verticals; however, there will only be one winner per category.

DATA INNOVATION AWARD –  NEW
An abundance of data is meaningless if it does not power captivating creative campaigns. Data can create connected experiences vs. discrete touchpoints and help creative teams deliver passions and interests that align to targeted audiences. The DATA INNOVATION AWARD honors a campaign that utilized innovative techniques to gather new and/or mine existing data, resulting in an actionable insight.

BEST CONSUMER EXPERIENCE – NEW
Consumers today fully expect brands to understand and connect with them through experiences, either via experiential marketing and/or encouraging consumers to create their own experiences with the brand. To that point, Augmented Reality is quickly growing as one of the most popular mediums to elevate and create added value to a brand. The BEST CONSUMER EXPERIENCE AWARD honors insights that led to a campaign that drove remarkable consumer experience.

Presented by: Snapchat

BEST NEW or EMERGING BRAND
Communicating the merits of a new or emerging brand can be daunting, whether dealing with differentiating for an existing category or establishing a foothold for a new category. The BEST NEW or EMERGING BRAND AWARD honors a campaign that used insights to break out among a cluttered industry category or established themselves as a stand-alone brand.

BEST BRAND TRANSFORMATION
Most brands follow a standard lifecycle trajectory: high growth, maturity, level-off or decline. Exceptional campaigns break that model and reverse flat or declining sales. The BRAND TRANSFORMATION AWARD honors a campaign that used insights to reverse a downward trend or charted a new course to reinvent the brand image, created new cultural relevance, or drove growth in an unexpected direction.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD

GRAND OGILVY AWARD
This award will be bestowed to the most outstanding campaign selected from all gold finalists.

Changing attitudes and behavior is not just for “selling” products – it can lead to healthier lives, educate entire communities or lend a helping hand to make the world a better place. The SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD honors a campaign which used insights to drive a message of positive change to a target or brought awareness to global or environmental needs. The award recognizes both branded efforts with a social message and/or work on behalf of non-profit organizations and institutions.

Tip: More details on these categories and examples of past winning campaigns can be found on the our website.

IMPORTANT: Note that based on the breadth and quality of the entries, recognition in any category may not be awarded at the juries’ discretion.