Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award
Recognizing those Hitting the Mark
The Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award recognizes and rewards companies for innovative and leading-edge creative work that uses strategy and results-based effectiveness to create solutions in today’s marketplace.
Measure what Works
Advertising and marketing communication professionals know that things outside their control impact sales and other measures. Pricing, product quality, selection, competition, distribution, and geopolitical and macroeconomic issues all influence sales and results. The Summit Awards believes heavy reliance on such data inaccurately reflects effective marketing and creativity.
Easy, Accessible Smart Investment of Promotional Dollars
The Summit Awards removes many of the barriers to effectiveness competitions. Whether a one-person firm, in-house marketing department, or large firm, all marketers should have the opportunity to have their efforts evaluated in an effectiveness competition that is uncomplicated, reasonably priced, and has spot-on evaluative criteria. The Summit MEA bases the judging criteria on the true purpose of advertising and marketing: to change, influence, or reinforce the consumer’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs.

Marketing Effectiveness Award
Simplified Entry Process
Historically, effectiveness competitions demand extensive briefs that require client-side research and statistics, which is then augmented with MBA jargon. Exhaustive briefs often require extensive time, proprietary sales data, and quantitative results-oriented judging criteria. This award removes these common barriers and instead asks: was it effective?
Assesses Execution Effectiveness
Utilizing elements of the Creative Brief, our experienced judges put themselves in the target audience's position to determine to what degree the creative work effectively influences knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. Most importantly, because the judging criteria are based on the purpose of marketing communications and not simply sales, the Effectiveness Award assesses creative effectiveness without the need for proprietary company data.
Eligibility
The Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award is open to all-size organizations. It allows marketing and advertising companies to demonstrate their ability to influence consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs.
Judging scope
This award offers a chance for participants to show how they have overcome barriers and achieved their goals. Judges examine entrants' strategies for overcoming barriers and attaining goals. The award is designed to recognize the efforts of creative teams that have gone out of their way to demonstrate resilience and determination in pursuing their desired outcomes. The judges are looking for those who have succeeded despite the odds and demonstrated their ability to think outside the box to assess their progress. As part of the judging process, the following factors are considered:
THE BIG IDEA
DEMAND
ACTION
INFLUENCE
Strength of the creative approach relative to the audience and the offering or choice. Does it ensure the audience fully understands and appreciates the product/service/idea and effectively conveys the desired message?
Is it effective at creating a sense of want or need? Does the messaging evoke a feeling of urgency or a desire to act? Is it designed to create an emotional response in the audience that motivates them to move closer to action? Does it use persuasive messaging or imagery (uniqueness, scarcity, newness, limited-time offer or availability), to instill a sense of want or need?
Does it move the audience closer to action through strategic planning and creative execution? Does strategic planning ensure that the message is aligned with the audience's needs and interests and that creative messaging is delivered in an engaging and memorable way?
In what ways does the creative work change or reinforce the audience's knowledge, attitudes, or beliefs? How does it affect the audience's perception of the product or service?
Summit Award Winner Benefits
Recognition by the Summit Awards organization is an honor. It provides validation and an objective critique and offers unique opportunities to showcase creative excellence – publicity, winner directory and galleries, web microsite profiles, digital verifications, certificates, and trophies. These benefits are instrumental in helping winners achieve their business goals of attracting new accounts and employees, reinforcing client relationships, rewarding employees, partners, and subcontractors, and motivating team members.
Publicity
The association with the prestige of the Summit Awards competition is press-worthy and garners media and social exposure. The Summit Awards is committed to helping winners make the most of their success. Winners are publicized through various platforms, social networks, and the award’s website. This publicity is beneficial as it allows the winners to reach new potential clients, which can help them grow their businesses. Additionally, being associated with the Summit Awards competition reflects positively on the winner, as the competition is well-known and respected in the industry.
Winner Directory
Winners and their entries are listed in the Summit Awards' winner search directory for a period of four years following the announcement. This helps build their online presence and visibility and makes it easy for potential employers and colleagues to find them and their work. It also provides a platform for them to showcase their work and accomplishments, which can help them stand out in their field.
Gallery Showcase
The Summit Awards is unique in publishing all winning entries in its Winner Galleries. Showcasing winning work for all to see. By featuring their work in the Winner Galleries, winners can take advantage of the increased exposure and recognition they receive. This can help them grow their networks, find new opportunities, and build their reputation.
Level of Awards
When a submission achieves award status, judges recognize it with a Silver, Platinum, or Best of Category Award (equivalent to bronze, silver, and gold).
Winners
To ensure the Summit Award and the winner’s integrity, the competition’s bylaws limit the number of winning entries. The limited number of awards serves as a quality control measure since judges can only select the best of the best entries. This ensures the Summit Award remains a prestigious and sought-after honor in the advertising and marketing community.
Winner Microsites
The Summit Awards is the only organization offering a microsite for winners. The microsites are free, fully customizable company profiles hosted on our highly trafficked website driving traffic to winners’ sites. Past winners have had thousands of visitors explore their website profiles, thus increasing their website’s online prominence and visibility. These microsite profiles offer an easy-to-use, built-in editor, space to upload images of winning entries, and links to winners' portfolios. Companies searching for winners' accomplishments visit these profiles while deciding where to invest their advertising dollars.
Industry Assistance
The Summit Awards is the only awards organization that gives back to the industry by offering need-based assistance to qualified entrants and discounted student fee structures. The Summit Awards is committed to helping reduce barriers for freelancers who need financial assistance. Please email sia@summitawards.com for details.
Receive a Call for Entries
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