All Categories

Agencies can make an enormous contribution to the success of marketing activities, ranging from plain vanilla but outstandingly competent executions to innovative approaches to and insights from, for example, consumer and behavioural research, advertising design and implementation, or the identification of specific marketing opportunities that resonate with their clients' objectives and competences.

Entrants for this award must have been under 30 years of age on 31 December 2021.

This category seeks to recognise a rising star within the financial services industry – someone who has already made a substantial impact on marketing strategies and effectiveness in his or her company or agency or their clients, and who shows exceptional potential and promise for further development in his or her marketing career.

Individuals can make entries on their own behalves, but we will also ask all members of the Financial Services Forum to nominate anyone that they feel merits consideration for this award. In the latter case, we will contact nominees to invite them, if they wish, to complete an entry.

This category recognises experienced senior leaders in the financial services industry that have made sustained contributions to exceptionally effective marketing for their companies or clients.

There is no age limit as such, but in view of the depth of experience and the sustained marketing success that the judges are looking for, it seems unlikely that many people under the age of 30 will be able to demonstrate the required combination of outstanding marketing ability and long-term performance.

Individuals can make entries on their own behalves, but we will also ask all members of the Financial Services Forum to nominate anyone that they feel merits consideration for this award. We will then contact nominees to invite them, if they wish, to complete an entry.

Sponsorship has been transformed across all markets, not just financial services, in the past couple of years, not least because of the impact of the pandemic.

This award recognises the similar transformations evident in sponsorship at a national level, and the increasing value and importance of sponsorship in a co-ordinated brand or product strategy.

As this is an area in which is it is much more difficult to quantify objectively the value and benefits delivered by the initiatives, we are happy to see rather “softer” arguments set out in the answers to Questions 6 and 7.

This award recognises the additional challenges (for example, in market conditions or customer expectations) that are involved in running a single campaign or initiative across several countries.

The judges expect the same rigorous analysis as in the other categories, but would welcome also a few background comments (in the summary section – not part of the overall word limit) about non-UK markets with which they may not be fully familiar.

Brand purpose has perhaps been rather more important, and certainly more obvious, in other fields – think John Lewis, IKEA and Aldi, for example.

This award category recognises its increasing relevance in financial services, because of the need to differentiate in tangible but less objective ways between often-similar offerings, and also because of the increasing opportunity to increase “share of purse” by engaging with customers across a broader range of offerings.

The judges recognise that this is an area in which is it is much more difficult to quantify objectively the value and benefits delivered by the initiatives. In this category, therefore, we are happy to see rather “softer” arguments set out in the answers to Questions 6 and 7.

Branding has become increasingly important for established financial services brands in recent years, as the traditional boundaries between different sectors of the market have eroded, and with often few significant differences in the benefits offered. Equally, effective branding has been a key differentiator for the many new, and often radical, entrants to financial services.

This award recognises both effective strategies to further develop established brands, and the creation of new brand identities.

Sponsorship has been transformed across all markets, not just financial services, in the past couple of years, not least because of the impact of the pandemic.

There have been many innovative local campaigns (including very effective use of TV), and this category will recognise the best of these.

As this is an area in which is it is much more difficult to quantify objectively the value and benefits delivered by the initiatives, we are happy to see rather “softer” arguments set out in the answers to Questions 6 and 7. 

Content marketing remains, for the time being at least, relatively distinct and distinctive in both purpose and execution, and is thus recognised in this award.

In this digital age, the distinctions between traditional marketing campaigns – advertising, direct marketing, product promotions, new product launches and so on – have become increasingly blurred, not least because content is so readily transferable across those former boundaries.

So this overall category covers any combination of these elements, or indeed just one execution, in the business-to-business field.

In this digital age, the distinctions between traditional marketing campaigns – advertising, direct marketing, product promotions, new product launches and so on – have become increasingly blurred, not least because content is so readily transferable across those former boundaries. 

This award category covers any integrated or stand-alone initiative in the business-to-customer or direct-to-customer field.

Marketing success does not require, and is sometimes not achieved by, mega-spending, as has been demonstrated by many of the winning entries in the twenty-one years of these Awards for Marketing Effectiveness. “Small budget” is of course a relative term depending on the size of the company, but we define it here as any execution involving expenditure of no more than £100k, and the category is open to any company regardless of size that can demonstrate quantifiable success from its initiative.

This award is not about sustainability in the ecological sense – that would be covered under our two “green” awards, above. Rather, it recognises that while some brands are only sustainable, or sustained, for a short time, a few manage (or are managed) to keep their impact, relevance and effectiveness for years or even decades.

This results from a clear and focused original strategy coupled with an effective maintenance programme to ensure that the brand, in all its aspects, remains in tune with both market and customer needs and perceptions.

For obvious reasons, the general injunction in our Eligibility Criteria, that entries must relate to initiatives begun no earlier than 1 January 2021 does not apply – but the judges will still expect to see a description of recent activity as well as the longer-term programme.

This second green award recognises a more recent development: companies – often (but not exclusively) new entrants – that are, or strive to be, entirely “green” in all that they do.

Their main focus is on customers who are already fully committed to the green ideal, but they also aim to encourage a progressive change in the attitudes and behaviours of more mainstream customers.

As this is an area in which is it is much more difficult, at least for the time being, to quantify objectively the value and benefits delivered by the initiatives, we are happy to see rather “softer” arguments set out in the answers to Questions 6 and 7.

Green is Good, and increasingly relevant and important, but Green is also Confusing.

This, the first of two “green” categories this year, considers what might be called traditional green marketing – the delivery of essentially-conventional products with an added green element.

Obvious examples are investments and pensions using green funds.

As these are essentially no different from our “standard” categories, the judges will still give the best marks to well-argued and quantitatively justified answers to Questions 6 and 7.

Bad customer service always hits the headlines, good customer service less so – yet it has always been an important differentiator in increasingly homogeneous markets.

This award is our accolade for initiatives that deliver great customer service that is demonstrably recognised and valued by customers.

It is broadly focused, covering for example remedial measures to rebuild customer confidence in service standards that have slipped; or a programme of continuous improvement in customer service that is already excellent; or customer service that is designed as a distinctive component of a new brand or service launch.

The nature and level of public relations activity has also shifted in recent years, in part because of the pandemic, but also reflecting the changing zeitgeist.

This award recognises the best PR initiatives across the whole gamut of activities – from little “nudge” campaigns intended to make subtle shifts to customer perceptions or behaviours to full-scale disaster recovery programmes.

As with sponsorship, we recognise that this is an area in which is it is much more difficult to quantify objectively the value and benefits delivered by the initiatives, so we are happy to see rather “softer” arguments set out in the answers to Questions 6 and 7.

At its most fundamental, marketing is all about communication – a two-way process that listens to customers to understand their needs and wants; explains how those needs and wants are met by the company's offerings; and – in the best and most valuable marketing – turns the initial contact into a lasting and value-adding relationship, by maintaining communication and ensuring that promises made are delivered.

Internal communication is not just about telling colleagues about the latest developments but is a key element of this overall process.

After all, it is largely departments other than “marketing” that have most contact with customers – either directly through, for example, call centres and branches, or indirectly – for instance in the “customer- friendliness” of the computerised systems that are now universal. Internal communication is also, crucially, two-way – the insight for several prize-winning entries in previous years has come directly from feedback from branch staff on customer comments, behaviours or requests.

This award covers all types of internal communication: we look for, as in all our award categories, an objective quantification of the value delivered. We appreciate that this will not be possible in all cases, so a well-argued qualitative exposition will also be recognised by the judges.

Times may be changing but many customer needs are unchanged, which means that many existing products or services still offer what customers really need – but in a way that may be sub-optimal in terms of delivery or customer experience.

This award recognises proven success in using established methods better, or new approaches to update such products and services and to sustain their relevance and value to customers by truly aligning the complete offering to each customer's known needs and preferences.

The award is, of course, equally relevant to brand-new products, services and benefits with the same focus on real and effective personalisation.