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 Best Brand Transformation Award honors a campaign that used insights to reverse a downward trend or to chart a new course that reinvented the brand image, created new cultural relevance, or drove growth in an unexpected direction.

BEST CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou). Brands are banking on this wisdom and investing more of their marketing budgets into immersive experiences that create meaningful connections with consumers. The Best Consumer Experience Award honors a campaign that compellingly featured the power of experience. A winning campaign could represent either a blended project – showing a mix of brand and consumer experience work – only solely consumer experience work.

BEST NEW OR EMERGING BRAND

Communicating the merits of a new or emerging brand can be daunting, whether differentiating from an existing category or establishing a foothold in 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.

DATA INNOVATION

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.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Changing attitudes and behavior is not just for “selling” products—it can lead to healthier lives, educate, or improve entire communities and lend a helping hand to make the world a better place. The Social Responsibility Award honors a campaign that used consumer insights to motivate messages of positive change or brought awareness to global or environmental needs. This award recognizes both branded efforts with a social or brand efficacy message (“brand purpose” campaigns) and/or work on behalf of non-profit or charitable organizations and institutions.