GREATNESS IS FLEETING.
AN ECHO IS FOREVER.
 

Creative excellence and the ability to produce results are important data points that agencies, clients, and bosses rely on to make marketing decisions.
That’s the yardstick of ECHO.

SECTORS Automotive Business Products (NEW) Business Services (NEW) Consumer Products (NEW) Consumer Services (NEW) Financial Services Nonprofit Health and Wellness Publishing, Entertainment, and Media Retail Technology and Communications Travel and Hospitality CHANNELS Best Use of Email Best Use of Social Media Best Use of Direct Mail Best Use of Search (NEW) Best Use of Display (NEW) Best Use of Experiential Best Use of Mobile (NEW) Best Use of Website Best Use of Video Content SPECIAL Best Data-Inspired Insight (NEW) Best Integrated Campaign Best Use of Emerging Technologies (NEW) Best Customer Loyalty Campaign Best Customer Engagement (NEW) Best Customer Acquisition Campaign Best Campaign Under $250,000 Best Campaign For CSR/Social Good Best B2B Campaign Best Innovative Product Development Best Multinational Campaign (NEW) CRAFT Best Art Direction Best Copywriting Best Use of Branded Content (NEW) Best Use of Creative Storytelling Best Use of Data-Driven Technology (NEW)

 

SECTORS

These categories will be judged equally on Strategy, Creativity, and Results.

• AUTOMOTIVE
  Show us how you drove sales, leases, rentals, and sales of parts and accessories for new or used vehicles, or built brands, engagement, and loyalty. This includes programs developed by manufacturers and marketing organizations, fleet operators, leasing companies, dealer groups, or individual dealerships.
• BUSINESS PRODUCTS (NEW)
  Providing products to another business often requires complex decision-making challenges. Demonstrate how great strategy and bold creative can champion business marketers. This category is for any campaign that targets a business to sell a product (database, office phone system, furniture, etc.).
• BUSINESS SERVICES (NEW)
  Providing services to another business often requires complex decision-making challenges. Demonstrate how great strategy and bold creative can champion business marketers. This category is for any campaign that targets a business to sell a service or solution (internet/wireless service, data management, IT, etc.).
• CONSUMER PRODUCTS (NEW)
  Share your efforts to market merchandise or other items bought by individuals and households. This includes Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, household products, and manufacturing products. This category is for any campaign that targets a business-to-consumer audience to sell a product.
• CONSUMER SERVICES (NEW)
  Share your efforts to market services to individuals and households. This includes one-time or recurring services like daycare, restaurants, personal care, lawn care, car care, and anything else that helps consumers do or achieve something. This category is for any campaign that targets a business-to-consumer audience.
• FINANCIAL SERVICES
  Show us your work for banks, securities, investments, loans, real estate, credit cards, or other financial products for consumers, businesses, or agents. This category is also for all aspects of insurance, including auto, home, life, health, disability, or other insurance products.
• NONPROFIT
  This category includes not-for-profit organizations, charitable foundations, cultural institutions, associations, or political advocacy groups. Also included are fundraising, public health and safety, public service, and social action educational programs carried out by nonprofits.
• HEALTH AND WELLNESS
  This category is for products and services promoted to health care professionals and consumers, whether you are promoting medical supplies to hospitals or daily health care products to consumers. Health insurance should be entered into the Financial Services category.
• PUBLISHING, ENTERTAINMENT, AND MEDIA
  For single sales or subscription efforts for print or digital books, magazines, newsletters, podcasts, research, or websites. Also included are ticket sales or traffic for films or theatre, sporting events or teams, TV shows, electronic games and software, or lottery participation.
• RETAIL
  For retailers, e-commerce, and direct-order enterprises, from department and specialty stores to equipment dealers, restaurants, health clubs, mail order, and memberships, and everything else in between. Show us your approach to building traffic, enquiries, sales, loyalty, and employee relations.
• TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Show us how your marketing is disrupting telecommunications carriers, satellite or cable TV companies, or internet, broadband, and wireless service providers. This is about the service/experience provided to the end user.
• TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY
  For travel and hospitality services, from airlines, car rentals, and mass transit to hotels, tourism, sports, entertainment venues or events, timeshares, and vacation properties. Note: this category does not include automobile manufacturers, dealers, or fleet operators; these should be entered into the Automotive category.

CHANNELS

These categories will be judged equally on strategy, creativity, and results.

• BEST USE OF EMAIL
  We’re looking for innovative email that generates response, engagement, relationships, and results. This category can be for single or bulk email campaigns targeting a consumer or business audience. Judges will be especially interested in how data was used to enhance the customer engagement.
• BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
  Judges will be looking for social media campaigns that generate engagement, relationships, and results. It may be part of a multi-channel campaign, but it will only be judged on the results attributable to social media.
• BEST USE OF DIRECT MAIL
  Show us how direct mail is still a powerful data-inspired communications channel. Judges will look for inspiring use of data, targeting, creative excellence, and flawless execution that demonstrates the effectiveness of the channel. Entrants must include physical samples of the campaign in the submission in addition to uploading images of it.
• BEST USE OF SEARCH (NEW)
  Here we’re looking for online campaigns based around search optimization, search marketing, or innovative use of online display. Judges will be looking for great strategy behind the sophisticated targeting techniques.         
• BEST USE OF DISPLAY (NEW)
  Show us your innovative use of online display. It can be a series of online advertising display units, including web banners, responsive display units, etc. Work should have a unique technical and/or creative approach.
• BEST USE OF EXPERIENTIAL
  Demonstrate what live interaction with a target audience can achieve, whether it’s at festivals, exhibitions, concerts, road shows, or PR stunts. We’re looking for evidence where engaging with people out in the field has driven a response such as building relationships, gathering data, or a direct path to sales. Judges will also be impressed by clever insight behind the activation. Results are key and must be aligned with the client’s business objectives. 
• BEST USE OF MOBILE (NEW)
  From wearables and apps to games and location-based efforts, we’re looking for solutions that integrate mobile with other channels or where the unique attributes of mobile meet specific business goals. Winners will be judged on mobile result attribution.
• BEST USE OF WEBSITE
  Judges will be looking for a digital destination that puts the customer experience at its heart. Demonstrate how you used web technology and insights to deliver a great experience or tell an engaging story. Show how it was integral to the larger brand narrative and central to the digital ecosystem.
• BEST USE OF VIDEO CONTENT
  Showcase how data can inspire and shape the idea. Judges will look for how the strategy, insight, and the creative solution work hand in hand to achieve both business and communications objectives.

SPECIAL

These categories will be judged equally on strategy, creativity, and results.

• BEST DATA-INSPIRED INSIGHT (NEW)
  Demonstrate how you mined the data to uncover a unique human insight that drove your campaign’s strategy or developed into your big creative idea. Judges will be interested in the rigor and process through which this particular insight was found. This category will be predominantly judged on strategy and results.
  Creativity 20%, Strategy 40%, and Results 40%
• BEST INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN
  Share your multimedia campaigns that identify and engage targeted audiences and lead to a direct call to action. Efforts should use at least three channels and demonstrate the channel strategies, execution, and measurable impact on the campaign. Also show overall synergy and lift from integration.
• BEST USE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (NEW)
  Data is at the heart of AR, VR, mixed reality, voice recognition, AI, and machine learning, and judges will be looking for examples where these technologies have added genuine value to the campaign. 
• BEST CUSTOMER LOYALTY CAMPAIGN
  We’re looking for an ongoing series of communications or activity that targets existing customers in a business-to-business or business-to-consumer environment. Your campaign must be designed to retain and/or reward customers. Entries can include CRM, reward programs, and incentives, but must clearly demonstrate how data has played a key role in engaging the customer base with designs on long-term retention. The usual eligibility dates do not apply to this category and judges will review work and evaluate results tabulated year over year.
• BEST CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT (NEW)
  Show us marketing that puts the customer in control. Share examples where customer preferences guide communications to provide relevant experiences along the journey. This includes retention, upsell, and cross-sell approaches. Share examples of changing customer behavior, and include KPIs and campaign evaluation.
• BEST CUSTOMER ACQUISITION CAMPAIGN
  For campaigns that have clear objectives focused on the purchasing of products or services in either a business-to-business or business-to-consumer environment. With this category, judges will expect robust results focusing on generating leads or final conversion to sales.
• BEST CAMPAIGN UNDER $250,000
  Showcase what great insight combined with original creative can achieve on a budget of less than $250,000. Creativity and innovative ideas are what judges will be looking for. The $250,000 must also include media spend. 
• BEST CAMPAIGN FOR CSR/SOCIAL GOOD
  For campaigns that have challenged discrimination, inequality, and injustice, or championed initiatives that make a positive impact on people’s lives and the planet. The usual ECHO criteria apply, with innovative use of data, great insight, and brave creative required to score high in the three criteria of strategy, creativity, and results.
• BEST B2B CAMPAIGN
  Providing products and services to another business often requires complex decision-making challenges. Share your campaign that identified and engaged a targeted business audience and led to a direct call to action. Efforts must demonstrate the channel strategies, execution, and measurable impact of the campaign.
• BEST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
  Sometimes you need to invent a whole new product or service to satisfy the needs of a marketing campaign. This category recognizes groundbreaking innovation, technology, and problem-solving. This may be though standalone solutions, including tools, products, models, and platforms, or creative campaigns with new technology at their core. Your entry must showcase the conception and execution of product development and data-driven, technology-enabled creativity that drove business results.
• BEST MULTINATIONAL CAMPAIGN (NEW)
  For campaigns that have crossed borders and apply to multiple countries. Show how your campaign was customized and directed towards each country. The usual ECHO criteria apply, with innovative use of data, great insight, and brave creative required to score high in the three criteria of strategy, creativity, and results.

CRAFT

These categories will be judged based on the notes below.

• BEST ART DIRECTION
  To win in this category, your entry must masterfully showcase the creative idea through the use of visualization, including content, images, typography, and composition. The visual solution must be well-crafted and executed flawlessly. The solution must execute the campaign strategy with originality and relevance to the audience. The entry can be a single channel or part of a larger campaign. If part of a multi-channel campaign, the judges will be looking for how all the components come together in harmony. Although results are required to ensure the work is effective, entries in Art Direction will be judged primarily on creativity. 
  Creativity 60%, Strategy 20%, and Results 20%
• BEST COPYWRITING
  To win in this category, your entry must show masterful use of language and an infallible grasp of brand tone, and must be fuelled by a keen human insight. While this is about the craft of writing and the art of telling a story, data must still be a main ingredient.
  Creativity 60%, Strategy 20%, and Results 20%
• BEST USE OF BRANDED CONTENT (NEW)
  For work that effectively reached the audience through the creation of original branded content that is not specifically advertising. It can be entertaining or informative branded content, including television programming, commercial films, documentaries, online video, or any format that is not considered advertising and fits with adjacent non-branded content.
  Creativity 60%, Strategy 20%, and Results 20%
• BEST USE OF CREATIVE STORYTELLING
  Entries must show how data, copy, and art direction work seamlessly together to tell a story, and how the three are used to weave a narrative that drives measurable results.
  Creativity 60%, Strategy 20%, and Results 20%
• BEST USE OF DATA-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY (NEW)
  Show how technology was used to create a data-driven experience. Was this a technology you created, adapted, or leveraged? Explain your approach and how it was executed. The creative use of data must sit at the core of your solution and must have amplified the creative idea in an unexpected new way.
  Creativity 60%, Strategy 20%, and Results 20%

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