Top tips for entering The Marketing Society Awards in 2022

Syl Saller CBE is among marketing’s preeminent global leaders of our time. Having retired from Diageo plc as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer in 2020, Syl is now an Executive Coach and Mentor, Board Member, Marketing Advisor and President of the Marketing Society and Co-Founder of the Marketing Leadership Masterclass.

Syl is also the Chair of Judges for The Marketing Society Awards 2022. Here, she shares her '5Rs' to help you with your entry papers this year.

1. Read

Winning is not a dark art - there’s lots of information to help you get this right.

If you are a marketing society member – and if you’re not, why not – you can review the winners from previous years. See how others have told their story, used their data – and emulate the best of the best. Read the entire awards website, watch the videos and imagine your teams celebrating a win or making it on the shortlist.

And if you have questions – contact the fabulous Siobhan who runs our awards.

2. Regale

Tell your story in a captivating way. Think about judges reading through many, many entries that they diligently review– what’s going to stand out?  

John Allert captured what they are looking for with his comments on the awards website. He called for: brevity, clarity, relevance, evidence… often less is more, so long as the less is faultless.

3. Rigour

I can’t tell you how important this is. We have a group of judges who can see through the BS and who know what great results look like. Don’t call sales uplifts return on investment – they’re not the same and it’s just annoying. We know that small companies don’t have the same kind of econometrics that big companies do, and we allow for this.  

Simple and strong numbers that tell the story accurately, work.

4. Reuse

Yes, you can enter multiple categories because there may be many things that contribute to a success story – insight, media plans, creative work. But don’t just submit the same case – adapt it so meet the criteria of that particular category.  

My favourite category for example is Bravest Team – and we didn’t get many entries in this one last year. That’s just nuts – there was bravery behind all these stories and that only comes from brave teams. Shine a light on your people.

5. Right team

It really is worth the small investment of time it takes to write an entry.  

Just put the right people on it and that is often client and agency working together. Pick just a few people who will tell the story well and have it reviewed by someone who knows how awards work.

Make 2022 your year to be recognised

Now you're armed with Syl's top tips, enter our Awards.

The Marketing Society Awards provide best-practice evidence to take into the boardroom and empower our industry. 

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