SMARTIES is the world’s first and most coveted annual marketing award program recognizing innovation and excellence driven by Tech Enablers, Publishers, Brands/Advertisers, and Agencies that deliver significant business impact.
This year’s SMARTIES Awards celebrate renewed vigor and energy to recognize creativity, innovation, and the future of marketing excellence. In addition, this year introduces two new country programs: SMARTIES Thailand and SMARTIES Philippines, along with one new category, Live (Streaming) E-commerce.
This article discusses how to enter the program, the categories, best practices and tips, and the steps to enter.
What are SMARTIES Award Categories for 2023?
Purpose-Driven Marketing Channel
- Brand purpose/activism
- Social impact marketing
- Diversity and inclusion
Marketing impact channel
- Brand experience
- Instant Impact/Promotion
- Customer Life Cycle Marketing – Lead Generation /CRM
- Product and/or Service Launch
- Real-Time Marketing
Impact Media Channel
- Omnichannel Marketing
- Cross Digital Media Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Creator/ Influencer/Celebrity Marketing
- Gaming, Gamification & E-Sports
Emerging Tech Marketing Channel
- Data Insights /Contextual Marketing
- Programmatic
- Audio/Voice/Sonic Branding
- Experimental / Innovation Technology
- Spatial / AR / VR/ NFT/ Metaverse Tech
E-commerce Marketing Channel
- Integrated Ecommerce Innovation
- O2O / New Retail / Innovative & New Tech Sales Channels
- Live (Streaming) E-commerce
Creative Channel
- Customer (CX) / User Experience (UX) & Design
- Personalization
- Short or Long Form video
How to enter, and what is the eligibility?
The campaigns active in the marketplace between January 2022 through June 2023 will be eligible for participation in the awards program.
Your work must have made an impact and generate results within this timeframe. While the campaign and its elements may have been started before and continued afterward, for your work to be considered, the impact it made and the results generated should fall within this time frame.
Furthermore, you can re-enter the award show given that your past work has been running in this year’s eligibility period and have resulted from it.
Campaigns can be entered into multiple categories and regions. For this, you are required to complete a separate entry form for each category/region, submit a new set of creatives, pay a separate fee, and have unique specifications for each category/region.
Steps to enter the award program
- Familiarize yourself with the SMARTIES awards, review the Insights & Tips, and catch a glimpse of 2022 winners for inspiration.
- Review the categories and determine where your campaign fits the best.
- Closely review the guidelines, which include the entry process, eligibility requirements, and judging criteria for each category. Consider how your campaign outperforms in the following areas: strategy, execution, creativity, and results.
- To support your entry, collate your case studies, videos, creatives, and supporting documents.
- Create your SMARTIES account and begin the entry process. You can come back to review it anytime before submitting it.
- Ensure that all the information provided, including campaign, client, agency, names, and contact details, are accurate, as these will be used for communication purposes if your campaign earns an award.
- Ensure to get any necessary client/internal approval before submitting the entry.
- Complete and submit the entry form for all relevant categories before July 17, 2023.
Here’s a quick checklist of what you would need to enter the award program:
Online form:
✓ Agency & Client Contacts
✓ Time-Period Campaign Ran
✓ Case Study Summary
✓ Strategy/Creativity/Execution/Business Impact
✓ Categories
✓ Credit
✓ Publication Permission
Creative Materials:
✓ Video Case Study (maximum length 2 minutes 30 seconds)
✓ Uploaded Materials, PDFs, URLs, and more
Jury scoring consideration
The jury examines each entry under four parameters: strategy, execution, creativity, and business impact. Consider answering the following questions under each parameter:
Strategy
- What was your strategic objective?
- Who was the intended target audience?
- What was your creative and media strategy?
- Is this the first year of the campaign? If not, how did your strategy evolve from the previous campaigns?
Execution
- How did enabling technologies help achieve results?
- How was the mobile component or enabling technology integrated into the overall marketing strategy?
- How creative or sophisticated was the campaign in its use of mobile media?
- What did the mobile channel or enabling technology bring to the overall campaign that other marketing channels missed?
- How was the mobile channel or enabling technology matched to specific markets and demographics relevant to the overall campaign execution?
- What percent of the campaign budget went to mobile?
- How well was mobile technology leveraged?
Creativity
- How engaged were the consumers?
- What was the unique use of mobile media types?
- What were the creative dynamics and integrations involved?
Business Impact
- Did the campaign achieve its objectives and goals?
- What impact was created by the campaign on the market?
- How innovative was the campaign?
- What impact did the campaign or enabling technology have on the future utilization of mobile in the client’s business?
- How did customers receive the campaign?
- What was the figure for return on investment (based on sales, profit, etc.)?
Timelines for entry submission
- The Early bird deadline to submit entries is June 26, 2023
- The On-Time deadline to submit entries is July 17, 2023
- The Extended deadline to submit entries is July 28, 2023
Final Words
Participating in the SMARTIES annual program is one of the best ways to bring your work to the limelight and gain recognition from industry leaders and peers. Participate before the due date and add a layer of credibility to your work.
