How to craft an award-winning mindset​

TheNewsMarket knows how to provide outstanding content and communications consultancy that propels brands forward in terms of corporate reputation, governance and sustainability.

 

But how did we turn a good campaign into one that might be a potential award winner? Our work with Continental Reinsurance, the leading “insurer of insurers” in Africa, was recently announced as the finalist for the Corporate Reputation Award at this year’s Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation & Engagement awards.

For us at TheNewsMarket, however, this is not purely theoretical. To find out more about this award-nominated campaign, read our latest case study here.

Succinct and
compelling

Writing an award-winning entry is not that difficult. At least, it’s no more difficult than writing a losing entry. The deciding factor is empathy. Once you put yourself in the position of a judge looking through hundreds of entries, it’ll become clear what matters: stating your case quickly, succinctly, and compellingly.

Technical touches

Tell the tale

Usually, judges are on the lookout for effectiveness and impact in terms of tangible business outcomes. For example, if the brand is looking to sell more of a particular product or increase its revenue, judges will expect sales figures – not the number of articles published, or the number of likes gained on social media.

Craft an engaging narrative to the entry whilst following the well-established entry format – outlining the initial challenge, articulating the objectives (with clearly stated metrics for measurement) followed by strategy, execution and, of course, results.

Presentation, presentation, presentation

Often the most time-consuming part of an awards entry is gathering up all the campaign backup and presenting it in an easily digestible format. Video, for example, is quickly becoming the go-to format for award entries

 

Then, by the time you’re ready to send off your submission, and with all your ducks in a row, you could be looking at three or four different pieces of collateral.

 

It’s important to make sure that the design is unified across all the sections and that they make sense both on their own and together. This makes it easier for the judges to remember your work and reference it correctly when deliberating with the rest of the jury.

 

Contact our team today to find out how we can help your business by filling out the form below or call us now.