How to write a winning award entry: tips from The Drum Awards Festival judges

Ahead of the extended September 6 entry deadline, The Drum asked some of this year’s judges to share their advice for winning them over with your submission report.

Here’s what they said:

Prashant Iyer, director of marketing at Netflix and judge for The Drum Awards for Social Media: “Ensure your articulation/definition of the problem statement is clear.

“Showcase clearly how the idea and execution ladder up into the problem statement. A great idea helps, but does it truly solve a business need?

“The idea and execution is only 50% of your success. Give equal weight to showcasing how the work translated into genuine impact.”

Julia Linehan, chief executive and founder at The Digital Voice and judge for The Drum Awards for PR: “Easy on the eye please – we have a lot of entries to go through so make it visual; you don’t need a whole video, although these work wonders if you can, but just ease up on the heavy text and make it pop.

“A practical one – make the objective match with the result. Did you actually do what you set out to? And did you do it with a bang?

“Don’t be afraid to fail – if you tried, failed, tried again and it worked, say it. Success often comes from getting it wrong and learning. We want to hear the journey and this should include the challenges.

“Final one – be in it to win it. If you don’t enter, you won’t ever know, so write from the heart and go for it.”

Palmer Houchins, head of marketing at G2 and judge for The Drum Awards for B2B: “Remember, the Bs in B2B don’t stand for boring. The more creative, the better. The best B2B campaigns embodied the best parts of successful B2C campaigns.

“Tell a cohesive story. I’m a marketer, and I want to be marketed to. Tell the judges what you did in a compelling manner. Introduce your idea and make a case for why you did what you did, the creative elements that brought your campaign to life, and don’t forget to include impact.

“Speaking of results, showcase your value. Every campaign is measured differently; show us why yours was successful – however, success is defined in your organization.”

Smita Gupta, global CMO at NED and judge for The Drum Awards for B2B: “Things you must do:

• Check the criteria and speak directly to it
• Add in as many proof points and facts to support your claims
• Triple-check the submission to make sure there are no grammatical errors or typos

“Doing these three things will make your award submissions clear and professional, giving you a great chance at winning.

“Here are three more things I look for as a judge that take entries to the next level:

“Value: How has the business, team or person increased value for customers, shareholders, employees and the ecosystem as a whole?

“Creativity and originality: What are you doing that is unique and makes your submission (and company) memorable?

“Integrity: How have you maintained the company’s core values within the submission and this year?

“This is your chance to show off just how great you and your company are, so make sure you get it right.”

Shahkeh Petros, managing partner at Evolve OOH and judge for The Drum OOH Awards: “Capture attention: The first paragraph is key! Entries that are engaging from the outset and that really sell in the campaign within the first few lines or first paragraph. Make the judges jealous that they weren’t part of it and make them want to continue reading. Less is more when it comes to words.

“Client involvement: Huge benefits to having your client involved in the written entry process from the start. It’s a joint piece of work and, therefore a joint win! A winning entry for me demonstrates the agency has real insight into its client needs and results that make a real difference to the client’s business.

“Create personality: The best entries are those that reflect the personality of the agency, advertisers and work itself. The entry needs to bring to life real collaboration, passion and energy between all parties.”

Rintje Barnes, executive creative director at Revere Agency and judge for The Drum Awards for B2B: “Is it impactful? That campaign summary: does it grab your attention and make you want to read on? This is the opportunity to keep the judges engaged. We’ll be reviewing entry after entry – and it’s often that small golden nugget that can have a lasting impact – from the entry name, that one hero stat or the creative approach to a video entry. Find your one unique difference and show your personality to make me stop in my tracks and think.

“Is it more than just statistics? There is, rightly so, a lot of emphasis on campaign results – but let’s be honest, no one enters an award with a campaign that has had little impact. So, with such close margins, how do you separate a successful campaign from an award-winning campaign? For me, it all comes back to meaning. Everything you choose to show must be meaningful, whether that’s the creative rationale, the campaign statistics or a new piece of tech used to show innovation. With a limited word count, my advice is not to add things for the sake of it – less is more.

“Which links nicely to the third point: Is it clear? The award narrative must be clear – and to the point. There’s a time and place for elaborate writing, and this is not it. Cut out the marketing fluff and get straight into sharing your unique story.”

Samuel Hurley, co-founder and MD of Novos, director at The Living House and judge for The Drum Awards for Search: “Start with the initial objectives (the why) and connect them clearly with the end results (what you achieved). ‘We set out to achieve X and we achieved X +Y (hopefully!)’. The middle part of the application should build out the how behind the achievement.

“Articulate your strategy. Strategy, not a plan. There’s a difference.

“Clear data and dates. Don’t submit work from 2/3 years ago and keep reusing the same entry. Share real data and not vague graphs and percentages. Always show ROI with workings out.

“When [Novos] won our first The Drum award back in 2020, it was a game changer for the perception of our agency. Not to mention the boost it gives to the teams’ morale to be recognized for their hard work from such a prestigious ceremony.

“This year I’m looking forward to being on the other side and judging all of the incredible entries from different agencies and brands.”

Kestral Lee, integrated solutions lead/ECD, Dentsu China and judge for The Drum Awards for Social Media: “As an international award show, try to describe your unique market challenges or social opportunities clearly. Don’t just rush to describe the execution. Then present your creative or strategy insight with a clear point of view such as ‘Gen Z today don’t follow brands. They follow people who follow brands.’

“Secondly, the social aspect needs to come out more strongly than the media execution and ROI. Do show convincingly how your idea earns media before the paid amplification, otherwise, it feels like paid media, not social media.

“Finally, build the brand story before explaining the social amplification.”