Effie entries are judged by some of the brightest and most experienced business leaders. We draw on their experience to not only judge the work of their peers but to highlight learning for the industry overall.  Entries are judged in two phases.
 
Round One Cases that score high enough become finalists and move on to Final Round Judging. 
 
Final Round Cases that score high enough become winners at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. 
   
In both rounds, judges evaluate the written case and creative executions (creative reel and images). Make sure your team reviews both together to ensure they work seamlessly together before submitting your entry. Scoring is done anonymously and confidentially. Judges provide feedback on each case for the Insight Guide.​

Grand Effie Judging
The Grand Effie represents the single best case entered in a given year. There will likely be something 'breakthrough' about it with the express purpose and proven capability of delivering outstanding effectiveness.

As the Grand Jury is so senior and they express their collective opinion, the winning case represents both the most effective case of the year and a message that will be sent to the industry about learnings for the way forward. Only a select number of the highest-scoring gold winning cases are considered contenders for the Grand Effie award.

Scoring Criteria
Judges are asked to evaluate specific criteria in scoring a marketing case’s overall effectiveness, and provide four separate scores analysing specific attributes of the work. The breakdown is as follows:

SCORING SYSTEM
Challenge, Context & Objectives .................23.3%
Strategy: Insight(s) & Strategic Idea.............23.3%
Bringing the Strategy & Idea to Life..............23.3%
Results.............................................................30%
                                                                           
The judges’ scores determine which entries will be finalists and which finalists are awarded a gold, silver or bronze Effie trophy. The finalist level and each winning level – gold, silver, bronze – has a minimum score required in order to be eligible for finalist status or for an award. Effie trophies are awarded at the discretion of the judges.

It is possible that one category may produce one, two, three or four winners of any level or perhaps no winners at all - no matter the number of finalists.

If you are interested in participating on an Effie UK jury, please complete a Judge Application.
 

To honour even more great work, efforts can be entered into a maximum of four categories.  Of those four categories, only one category submission may be a industry category.  You are not required to enter an Industry category – you may enter four speciality or business challenge categories instead.
 
Business Challenge and Speciality Categories
The Business Challenge and Speciality Categories are designed to address a specific business situation/challenge or marketing discipline. There are approx. 30 categories, with focus on audiences, business challenges, media, shopper marketing, and industry trends.
 
When entering into any of these categories, you should present your entry in a way that addresses the situation or challenge as outlined in the category definition.  It is critical to thoroughly review these category definitions to ensure your effort meets the criteria of the specific category definition. Judges will down score your entry if you are missing information required by the category definition.
 
Industry Categories
There are approx. 30 industry categories to choose from. You may only enter one industry category per effort.
 
Positive Change Categories – In Collaboration With World Economic Forum
The Positive Change Effies reward and celebrate the brands and non-profits that are promoting the greater good through marketing. 
 
There a four Positive Change categories to choose from within two tracks – Environmental and Social Good - depending on whether the entrant brand is a non-profit or for profit organisation.

You can view category definitions here.
 

The following will result in disqualification and entry fees will be forfeited.

1. Failing to adhere to the Effie Eligibility rules.

Data and creative work presented must be isolated to the United Kingdom.  The effort could have been created and ran in the UK only or be part of a larger-multi market effort where the UK was one of a number of markets. You must isolate what you did for the UK market, along with UK market results.

Your work must have ran in the UK during the eligibility period. Elements of the work may have been introduced earlier and may have continued after, however the information you are providing on the effort itself (context, objectives, strategy and work itself) must have taken place during the qualifying time period for this year’s competition.

It is important to include context, data and results prior to the eligibility period.  This enables judges to better understand the significance of your objectives and results.  Keep in mind that not all judges are knowledgeable of the nuances of your brand’s industry.

The results that illustrate the success of your effort must be tied directly to the marketing effort you have entered. The results you report can fall outside the eligibility period, however they must be tied directly to the entered effort.

2. Entry does not meet category definition requirements.  

Entries are judged based on effectiveness within the entered category.  

3. Data not sourced.

All data, claims, facts, etc. presented anywhere in the entry form must reference a specific, verifiable source. Sources must be as specific as possible in documenting all evidence, while not citing specific agency names.  Provide source of data, type of research, and the time period covered. The Entry Portal is set up to encourage sourcing via footnotes. 
 
4. Directing Judges to External Websites.  

Entrants are judged solely on the materials presented in their written entry and creative examples (creative reel + images).  Entrants are not permitted to direct judges to websites for further information or for further examples of work.

5. Violating Creative Example (Reel, Images) Rules. 

Entrants must follow all creative reel rules as outlined in the entry kit. This includes, but is not limited to: competitor logos/creative work and results may not be included in the creative examples; time limits must be followed. 

6. Missing Translation. 

All entries with non-English creative materials must include a translation page at the end of your entry form or via subtitles within the creative materials.


The Entry Kit has a comprehensive set of rules and guidelines.
 

Be direct and concise. Present your story in an easy-to-follow style with minimum hyperbole. The link between the strategic challenge, the objectives, big idea, the creative executions, and results should be clear.

Be compelling. Your entry should be stimulating to read. Share your story with passion and personality – with facts to back it up.

Include clear, simple, relevant charts and tables. If done correctly, charts and tables allow judges to easily assess the success of the marketing initiative.

Proofread.  Ask a strong writer to review your case for spelling, grammar, logic flow, and mathematical errors.

Know the rules. Review the formatting requirements, entry requirements, and the Reasons for Disqualification before submitting your entry.  Refer to the Entry Sourcing Tips.

Provide context.  Identify the competitive landscape.  Context is key.  Do not assume that the judges reviewing your entry are aware of the marketplace ins and outs of your particular category. Be sure to provide a clear picture of the marketplace situation, category and competitive context.  Judges frequently down score entries that fail to give this context as it is not possible to evaluate the significance of the objectives set or results achieved without it.

Tell judges why it was successful. For every objective provide clear, sourced results and provide context for judges to judge those results and objectives. Restate your objectives and KPIs in the results section.  For example, what was spend for your brand in the prior year, for the competition, etc.? What were results prior year vs. now for your brand and the competitive landscape, etc.?  Explain the significance of your results – what did they mean to the brand?

Eliminate other factors that could have led to the success of the brand.  Prove that it was the marketing communications effort that led to the results presented in the case.

Review further tips on submitting an effective entry in the Entry Kit.

Why not join one of our annual open-access online How to Enter Workshops? It's full of practical advice on how to write an effective entry. Contact mateja@effie.org for more info.
 

We respect that entries may have information deemed confidential.  

Indexing Data in Your Entry
 
Companies across the full spectrum – from large to small and across all industry sectors enter the Effie Awards.  The Effie Awards' confidentiality policy, the ability to index data, the ability to set publication permissions, etc. are all established to ensure that any company can enter their effective work without hesitation. 

While judging is confidential and entrants may select publication permissions for their written case, Effie understands some entrants may still have concerns regarding sensitive information.  When presenting numerical data within the entry, entrants may choose to provide those numbers as percentages or indexes, so that actual numbers are withheld.  Additionally, unless the entrant opts to allow Effie to publish the entry as it was submitted if it becomes a finalist or winner, only judges will see the written entry as it was submitted.  
 
The eligibility time period (the time period within which your case must have run) for data submision is typically approximately 6 - 9 months before the awards gala.  For some companies, this delay also alleviates some concerns regarding sensitive data. See the eligibility time period for the Effie UK competition here.

Judging

We recommend nominating your client and agency team members for judging. Participating as a judge is one of the most valuable ways to learn about the award, understand how judging works, and experience our security and confidentiality rules firsthand. To nominate a judge, please complete our Judge Application Form. 

Effie Board, Executive Staff, and Committee members are senior, well-respected professionals in the industry on both the client and agency side. If you are interested, we would be happy to set up a time for them to talk to you about confidentiality during judging; how to involve key team members in the judging process; and how you can submit indexed data. If you would like to have a further discussion about confidentiality, please contact effieuk@effie.org

See full details on Effie's Confidentiality & Publication Policies here.
 

Effie Worldwide is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation that stands for effectiveness in marketing, spotlighting marketing ideas that work and encouraging thoughtful dialogue about the drivers of marketing effectiveness.  

In order to help fulfill this mission and provide learning to the industry, Effie relies on entrants’ willingness to share their finalist and winning case studies with the industry.  

By providing permission to publish your written case, you are:

Bettering the industry.
By allowing other marketers to learn from your success, you are inspiring the industry to raise the bar and make their marketing better.  

Bettering the future leaders of our industry.
Colleges and universities use Effie case studies in their courses, and Collegiate Effie participants learn how to write their own effective submissions by learning from yours.

Showcasing your team’s success in achieving one of the top marketing honours of the year.
Effie wins help attract new talent, prove the importance of marketing in business, and strengthen agency-client relationships.  

Publication of Your Written Entry

The Effie Awards offers finalists and winners the opportunity to have written cases published in the Effie Case Database, in turn helping inspire the industry and do their part to "Make Marketing Better".  Entrants who give permission to publish their written case may have their entry featured on the Effie Worldwide website or Effie partner websites or publications.

In the spirit of learning that Effie represents, we encourage you to share your case studies so that we may "Make Marketing Better".

We respect that entries may have information deemed confidential.  Within the online entry area, entrants are asked whether or not publishing permission is granted for the written entry.  Entrants may select from the following options:
 
Agreeing to the Publication Policy is one of the Terms & Conditions of entering the Effie Awards UK competition.

The written case is the only portion of the entry that should contain confidential information which is why it is the only portion of the entry included in the above policy.  The creative work (reel, images) should not include confidential information and will be showcased in various ways (effie.org, partner websites/publications), along with your public-facing written case, if your entry becomes a finalist or winner.  Work submitted must be original or you must have the rights to submit it.

You can find more in our Confidentiality & Publication Policies guide.