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.

2023 Categories

2023 Program begins in July 2022. More details pending. 

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SECTOR:
Featuring top industry sectors in marketing. 

 

AUTOMOTIVE
Like an open road, this category is just begging for a campaign to display its power. Show us how you drove sales, leases, rentals, accessories, and parts and service for new or used vehicles – or steered brands, engagement, and loyalty. This includes programs developed by manufacturers and marketing organizations, fleet operators, leasing companies, dealer groups, and individual dealerships.

BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
While delivering on the needs of businesses happens largely behind the scenes, those products and services keep entire industries moving ahead. Demonstrate how your smart strategy and breakthrough creative delivered results for your B2B efforts. This category is for campaigns targeting business decision-makers, including tech stack solutions , collaboration tools, consulting and professional services, manufacturing, and industrial goods, building supplies, furniture and more. 

CONSUMER PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Consumers come in all shapes and sizes, and this category for campaigns targeting consumer audiences touches them all. It includes everything from traditional consumer packaged goods, food and beverages, consumer electronics, jewelry, and household furnishings and products, to services that help people live their lives such as utilities, telecommunications, internet and streaming services, restaurants, and more.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Dollars, euros, pesos, pounds, rupees, yen – whatever you call it, you cannot live without it. We are looking for your best work for traditional banks, as well as securities, investments, loans, real estate, credit cards, or other financial products and services for consumers, businesses, or agents. This category also includes auto, home, life, disability, and other insurance, excluding health.

FOOD & BEVERAGE
This category honors the best marketing within the food and beverage industry. Objectives may include the launch of a new beverage, the opening of a restaurant, the promotion of a sustainable food brand and more.

HEALTH, WELLNESS & PHARMACEUTICAL
Many of us strive to live healthier lives and this category recognizes efforts that help us get there. We want to see your fittest campaigns for products and services promoted directly to consumers or to health care professionals, including medical equipment, supplies and services, prescription and over-the-counter medicines, health insurance, coaching and nutrition services, home health services, gyms,  fitness equipment and classes.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT
Unique and uniquely challenging, not-for-profits must appeal to our emotions and drive awareness and action for their causes. Show us your top efforts for non-profit organizations, charitable foundations, cultural institutions, associations, the arts, education, and political advocacy groups. This includes fundraising, public health and safety, public service, and social action educational programs.

PUBLISHING, ENTERTAINMENT, MEDIA, & SPORTS
This is the category for those who inform, enlighten, thrill, and enthrall. Showcase your campaigns for print or digital books, magazines, newsletters, podcasts, white papers, or websites. Also included are customer engagement and sales for films, TV shows, live theatre and entertainment, sporting events and teams, electronic games, apps and software , and lotteries.

RETAIL & E-TAIL
These are the stores and sites we love for the merchandise and services that define our style and fit our lifestyles. We want your submissions for apparel and footwear retailers, e-commerce sites, direct-order enterprises, department and specialty stores, equipment dealers, and other sellers. Show us your approach to building traffic, enquiries, sales, memberships, loyalty, and customer relations.

TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATION
Technology is disrupting our lives – for good. Now show us how your marketing is disrupting computer hardware, software, accessories, services, mobile, apps and education. Includes: tech stack solution providers, telecommunications carriers, satellite or cable TV operators or Internet, broadband, streaming and wireless service providers.

TRAVEL, HOSPITALITY, & TRANSPORTATION 
These are the industries that keep us traveling, lift or rest our spirits, and make traveling for work or pleasure. Show us your best in airlines, hotels, car rentals/ride services, mass transit, tourism and attractions, amusement parks, timeshares, and vacation properties.

UTILITIES 
Whether public or private utilities, this sector highlights the basic services we use every day like lights, water, gas, sewerage, electricity, solar and more. Share you best in class case study that proves extraordinary work in Utilities.

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CHANNEL:
Efforts that are keenly focused on driving results using specific marketing channels.

DISPLAY/SEARCH
Reaching the right consumer at just the right time is both a science and an art. We are searching for executions that deftly combine the two, with campaigns based around search optimization, search marketing, or innovative use of display, internet tools that help drive traffic and more. Pinpoint the stellar strategy behind sophisticated targeting techniques or show unique technical or creative approaches.

DIRECT MAIL
Show our judges how direct mail is a powerful, data-inspired communication channel for brands, reaching people where they live, work, and make decisions. We will look for data-powered targeting, creative excellence, and flawless execution that pushes the envelope. Entrants are advised that sending physical samples in addition to uploading images greatly increases the probability of success in this category (just like customers, judges are predisposed by the physical experience!).

EMAIL
Standing out in someone’s inbox by delivering prompt and tailored messaging is a true test. We are looking for innovative email that generates response, engagement, relationships, and results. This category can be for single or bulk email campaigns targeting consumer or business audiences. Judges will be especially interested in how data was used to enhance customer engagement.

EXPERIENTIAL
Sometimes it takes an exceptional live experience to seal the deal. Share with us what interacting with a target audience can achieve, whether it is a live virtual broadcast or webinar, or an in-person experience at festivals, exhibitions, concerts, stores/malls/airports, and trade shows. We want evidence that shows where engaging creatively with people in real-time has driven a response such as building relationships, gathering data, or ideally, making sales.

MOBILE
The medium is the message, and mobile is the medium on the move. Our judges want to see what you have done in the space, including apps, games, banners, messaging, and location-based efforts for tablets, smartphones, and wearables.  We are looking for solutions that integrate mobile with other channels or where the unique attributes of mobile meet specific business goals.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media relies on peer-to-peer connections and our desire to share what we find useful or enlightening, funny or infuriating, alarming, or heartwarming. Our judges want to see your data-driven social efforts that generate engagement and tailor the experience for your target through storytelling and creativity that produces results.

VIDEO CONTENT
As any teenager with TikTok will tell you, video is hot. We want to see the steak – how data inspired and shaped the idea – and the sizzle – how well the final product was executed and delivered. That goes for your social media teasers, online brand films, vlogs, product reviews, testimonials, user-generated content, corporate videos, and presentations, and more.

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SPECIAL:
A selection of hard-to-categorize categories that recognize ongoing trends and specialty awards in the marketing landscape.

B2B CAMPAIGN
Share your business-to-business campaign that targeted and engaged business audiences in any sector and drove a change in behavior with astonishing results. We will look for demonstration of omni-channel strategies, exceptional creative executions, and measured impact.

CAMPAIGN FOR CSR/SOCIAL GOOD
Campaigns for corporate social responsibility, social good and inclusion have the power to change minds and the world. Show us your campaigns that have challenged discrimination, inequality or injustice, or have championed initiatives that make a positive impact on people’s lives and the planet.

CAMPAIGN FOR UNDER $250,000
By necessity, tighter budgets can often lead to more strategic and creative solutions. Demonstrate how you combined savvy insights with an innovative idea to achieve results, all on a budget of less than $250,000, including agency fees, production and media spend.

CUSTOMER ACQUISITION CAMPAIGN
New customers are the lifeblood of any business. Showcase campaigns focused on acquiring new customers for products or services in any B2B or consumer environment. Judges will expect robust results focusing on generating leads and final conversion to sales.

CRM/CUSTOMER LOYALTY CAMPAIGN
Managing customer relationships and building loyalty reaps benefits for years to come. We are looking for your activities that target and engage existing customers in a B2B or consumer environment, including reward programs, incentives, upsell initiatives, and social efforts. Your campaign must be designed to retain or reward customers and should show how data played a key role in engaging your base.

DATA-INSPIRED INSIGHT
When you dig deep into data, there is no limit to what you can reveal. Let us see how your dedication to data mining uncovered a unique human insight that drove your campaign’s strategy and/or execution. We are interested in the rigor and process for unearthing insights and will judge this category primarily on strategy and results. 

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Just using the “next massive thing” can be enough to leave an indelible mark on the market. Show us how you used emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, voice recognition, artificial intelligence, machine learning and more. Demonstrate how the emerging technology added genuine value to the campaign.

INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN
Campaigns work best when they use multiple channels, and channels work best when they work together. Submit your multimedia campaigns that find and engage business or consumer audiences and lead to a direct action. Efforts should use at least three channels and highlight the strategies, creative synergies, and lift in results from cross-channel integration.

BRANDED CONTENT
Branded Content is more than advertising – and that is a good thing. We are looking for how you engaged your audience and delivered results through the creation of original content, including TV programming, films, documentaries, online video, games, print, articles, art installations, events, or any format  that would not typically be viewed as “advertising”.

DATA-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY
Data and technology naturally feed off each other. We want to see how you used technology to create a data-driven experience. What was the technology? And was it something you created, adapted, or used? The use of data must sit at the core of your strategy and must have amplified the campaign to achieve strong results. 

ECHO MARKETING DATA STRATEGY OF THE YEAR AWARD
This award will highlight how organizations developed marketing strategies and executed campaigns fully using and perfecting their available data to achieve marketing and business goals. From collection, to collaboration, to application and measurement, the case study submissions will share the processes and methodologies teams put into practice for harnessing the power of data, and the goals and opportunities that were achieved.

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BONUS:
Two bonus categories that all winning entries are automatically placed into for the running.  These awards hold the highest honor and respect among the international marketing community. 

USPS Gold Mailbox
In a world more complex than ever, only one medium has been woven into the very fabric of our lives for centuries — and continues today to endure as a fantastic opportunity for marketers to balance high tech with high-touch. Mail.  Every year, one outstanding campaign is honored with the Gold Mailbox Award. This special INTERNATIONAL ECHO recognizes the most innovative use of the medium, whether as a solo effort or a major part of an integrated campaign. The winner EXEMPLIFIES  best-in-class techniques including:

• Sophisticated use of data
• Innovation and personalization within the MAIL PIECES
• Messaging that spoke to consumer pain points
• Urgent and compelling call-to-action

Diamond ECHO Award
The Diamond ECHO Award recognizes and honors the campaign that best represents the highest standards of strategic and creative excellence combined with clear and measurable market performance.

The winner is selected by our Diamond Jury from a pool of Gold ECHO Award winners across various ECHO categories and as such, the Diamond ECHO truly represents the best IN THE WORLD that the data and marketing industry has to offer.  

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