International: WARC, the international authority on marketing effectiveness, is today launching the 2020 WARC Media Awards, a comprehensive global awards scheme rewarding communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results.
Now in its fifth year, the competition will examine the insight, strategy and analytics that power effective media investment. There are four categories, each with its own international high-calibre judging panel and set of Special Awards, recognising specific areas of excellence.
The Effective Channel Integration category looks for how sophisticated communications architecture helped boost campaign effectiveness. Vasileios Kourakis, Global Director Marketing ROI, Consumer Products Division at L’Oréal will lead this jury. Paris-based Vasileios has designed L’Oréal’s global ROI measurement programme for key markets and categories, utilising a complementary toolkit to answer both strategic and operational questions.
Kourakis comments: “It is a pleasure to be working with the WARC Media Awards in their fifth year, and an honour to recognise and celebrate industry best practices showcasing how powerful channel strategies can drive effectiveness in today’s volatile and complex competitive landscape.”
The Effective Use of Tech category will reward communications that have effectively used or combined emerging platforms or technology in the media mix. Dara Treseder, CMO at Carbon, will chair the jury panel. Named in Forbes’ ‘CMO Next’ list in 2018, Dara, an expert on marketing and technology, is responsible for building awareness for leading Silicon Valley-based digital manufacturing company, Carbon, with new customers and consumers.
The Best Use of Data category, recognising the role of data in an effective communications strategy, will be chaired by Mark Evans, Managing Director of Marketing and Digital at Direct Line Group. Mark has overseen the transformation of DLG’s brands and marketing approach, including the multi-award-winning reinvigoration of the flagship Direct Line brand.
The Effective Use of Partnerships & Sponsorships category looks for how collaborations with third parties, including native advertising and sponsorships, have helped brands meet business goals. The category will be chaired by Nick Ashley, Head of Media at Tesco, who is responsible for managing the retailer’s media investment across all paid and owned channels. Nick led an internal and external agency team for Tesco’s multi-award-winning Food Love Stories campaign.
The WARC Media Awards are free to enter and are discipline-neutral and channel-agnostic. Papers are submitted as effectiveness case studies and can be entered by media agencies, creative agencies, media owners, digital agencies and data specialists from all over the world.
Gold, Silver and Bronze status will be awarded to the highest-scoring cases across the four categories and a $40,000 prize fund will be shared between the winners of the Grands Prix and Special Awards in each category.
The deadline for entries is 23 September 2020. Further details on the WARC Media Awards can be found here.