UAE AWARDS 2024
We want to showcase the brilliance of this industry in the region, to lead the way for growth for a better world. Our Awards tell stories. They show that great strategy, creativity and leadership can make a real difference to business; showing that marketing matters.
We are in a critical time for business and the economy, the very shape and nature of business is going through rapid transformation. We must help marketers lead the conversations that matter. We know that marketers are the ones who can unite, revitalise and ignite organisations.
About our Awards
Our Awards set the standard for marketing excellence and have been widely recognised in the UK as the leading marketing awards since they were first launched in 1985.
Our mission is to celebrate and champion marketing leadership in the UAE. They are not just about creativity and effectiveness, which is the essence of marketing excellence, but the people, the leaders, the visionaries who are spearheading the way forward and showing why marketers can inspire us all, make us proud to represent the industry and the impact marketing has on business success and growth.
Awards are a pivotal tool in showcasing the work of brands and agencies who prove the power of marketing excellence on their businesses, driving demonstratable growth and ROI. And importantly the impact that marketers can have on society as a whole, addressing issues that we all know we need to effect change on.
As a not-for-profit company we aim to provide transparency at every stage of the judging process. The entries will be judged by 15 leading client-side marketers, so that truly the best work wins.
"I believe that it is Marketing Excellence that will unlock the next wave of explosive growth in business… In our data-rich age, it is the great marketer’s skill to identify transformative insights at the speed of culture & then bring creativity & digital unlocks to springboard to business building initiatives. I look forward to celebrating the exciting examples from our region’s passionate marketers in judging the Marketing Society UAE Awards!" Steve Chantry – Growth Innovation Marketing VP - West & East Emerging Markets, Kraft Heinz. 2024 Judge
ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN
If you want to register interest before finalising your entry - you can do so via the link below and we can answer any questions you may have. You can also download an entry kit here for full information.
Entries can be submitted by brands, business' and agencies, either as a joint submission or on behalf of their clients. All entries to the marketing categories will be judged on the following criteria, it is important to ensure you clearly address all of these in your entry to achieve maximum points;
Entry criteria
- What was your objective and why was this important to the business? Max 20 points
- What new strategies and creative and innovative approaches did you take? Max 20 points
- What were the risks? Max 20 points
- What were the measurable results? Max 20 points
- How does your work advocate the reputation/importance of the Marketing industry? Max 20 points
Categories
• Brand Communication
• Brand Evolution
• Customer Experience and Engagement
• Sustainability (new for 2024)
• Successful and Effective Partnerships (new for 2024)
BRAND EVOLUTION (including digital transformation or other)
More than ever brands have to be agile and able to flex and change to societal and global demands which impact their business. This award will recognise a brand that has embraced an evolution with clear marketing strategy at the heart of it to effectively grow their brand. This can be a full brand evolution or single product evolution that had a clear objective of achieving greater results, customer engagement and market share.
BRAND COMMUNICATION
How you communicate your brand and position it in the market is core to business success. We will recognise those brands who can showcase excellent marketing strategies that bridged the gap between the brand and the consumer. Showcasing how you understood and connected with them and how you executed your campaign effectively, either in single or multimedia platforms that created a 360-customer experience.
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT & EXPERIENCE
Customer loyalty is vital for brand growth & success, consumers champion brands who put customer over profit, this award will recognise those brands who live and breathe the customer first ethos and have developed and enhanced their relationships with their customers building trust and loyalty and always ensuring the customer experience is paramount.
SUSTAINABILITY
We believe that marketers can be the Changemakers needed to lead the way in delivering commercial strategies that also leave a positive impact for our economy, businesses, teams and society as a whole. Do you have a marketing led initiative that has helped to deliver SDG goals, growth and commercial returns for your organization? We want to hear what you have been doing and the impact you have delivered as a whole. What insight supports your strategy, how did you manage risk, how did you bring the campaign to life with market differentiation, and what benefits did the campaign deliver for your organisation, customers and wider society? NB: Impact can be related to climate, environment, social and inclusion.
SUCCESSFUL & EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
Powerful collaborations can change business fortunes, we want to hear the story of successful partnerships and the impact they have had for all parties, how have your partnership strategies evolved, how have you innovated in this space and how to you build long term partnerships.
JUDGES
- Abdullatif Awadh, Senior Director, Marketing - Hotels & MICE, Jumeirah Hotels Group
- Aimee Peters, Regional Head of Brand, Partnerships and Wholesale Marketing, MENAT, HSBC Bank Middle East
- Anja Petrovski, Marketing and PR Director, Audi Volkswagen
- Gaurav Sinha, Marketing Director, AMEA, Domino's Pizza International
- Hanan Eissa, Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations, Atlantis Dubai
- Hayleigh Ford, Head of Marketing, Seagrass - a subsidiary of E.ON
- Inass Farouk, Marketing Director, Microsoft
- Jamie Wilks, Managing Partner, House of Comms
- Katerina Dixon, AVP Marketing (F&B) and Corporate Communications MEIA, Shangri-La Group
- Khaled Ismail, CEO, TOUGHLOVE Advisors
- Leyal Eskin, Head of Personal Care, Unilever Arabia
- Marwa Kaabour, Group Head of Marketing & Corporate Communication, Al Masaood
- Michael Golding, Executive Director Marketing Communications, Ethara
- Moadh Bukhash, Chief Marketing Officer, Emirates NBD Bank
- Mohammed Ismaeel Hameedaldin, Partner, TOUGHLOVE Advisors
- Neda Shelton, SVP Group Communications, Mubadala
- Ritesh Purohit, Director of Marketing, du
- Sally Edwards, Senior Advisor, Festivals and Events, Dubai Tourism
- Sholto Douglas-Home, Chief Marketing, Sales and Communication Officer, Expo City Dubai
- Steve Chantry, Growth Innovation Marketing VP - West & East Emerging Markets, Kraft Heinz
- Suad Merchant, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Brand, Corporate Communications and Partnerships, Mashreq
- Terry Kane, Managing Director, The Trade Desk
HOW TO ENTER
All entries must take the form of a written paper (Max 2000 words) for work during 2023. All entries will require a written summary (Max 300 words). Every entry must address each of the criteria points in order.
For an example of a winning paper please see the UAE Awards 2023, Brand Evolution Winner and visit our YouTube channel to see reactions from the winners and judges. You can download our entry kit below for full information.
"What do marketers need to do in order to lead the change they want to see in the world? They must prioritize listening – understanding the changes desired by customers and teams. Marketers should serve as the voice, leveraging their insights and data on audiences to predict and advocate for the changes that both customers and the public desire. This presents a significant opportunity for marketers to drive meaningful change within organizations."- Anja Petrovski - Marketing and PR Director, Audi Volkswagen. 2024 Judge
PRICES
- Member entries cost AED 2,185
- Non-member entries cost AED 2,736
KEY DATES
- Entries Final Deadline | 5 April
- Extensions are available - please email [email protected] if you need to utilise this (there is a fee)
- Judges Review | 17 – 24 April
- Awards Ceremony | 6 June
JUDGES TOP TIPS
By Syl Saller Chair of Judges for The Marketing Society Global Awards
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.
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?
They are looking 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 to meet that particular category.
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.
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