Top Entry Tips From Jurors

• Start with the executive summary before you try to write individual sections. Get your overall story really strong, crisp, clear, and inspiring.

• Be sure to provide context; most judges don’t know your category or what success looks like.

• Concise written entries stand out. They are not only refreshing – they encourage high marks.

• The entrants who build their cases from a place of honesty, authenticity, and simplicity vs. marketing jargon were really the strongest.

• Ensure that the ‘insights’ somehow tie to a human behavior.  A data point is not an insight, it’s what the data point means to your brand, target or audience that makes it an insight.

• Remember that communications strategies include both creative and media strategies – not just tactics.

• Make sure your creative reel doesn’t just reiterate what you said in your entry.  Use it to complement that information.

• Connect results to objectives very clearly. Don’t try to fake it and write objectives to meet existing results. We can tell and will ding you for it.

• Advertising principles should apply to case studies too: write them in a way that engages judges, focus on how your campaign helped achieve your brand’s objectives and don’t over-complicate it. Less is more!

• Check for grammar, typos, math errors, and inconsistencies.