Enter the 2026 Awards for Innovation and Transformation

This award recognises practical and creative uses of generative AI that have made a real difference to marketing performance.

Judges want to see how AI was used in real-world work, not just tested. This could include improving the speed of delivery, the quality of output, or the level of personalisation.

Winning entries will show clear benefits, as well as thoughtful and responsible use of the technology.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award celebrates organisations that have improved how people find information using AI-powered search.

Judges are looking for examples where search has become more helpful, faster or easier to use.

This could apply to customer-facing experiences, internal tools or knowledge platforms.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award celebrates teams that have successfully improved an existing app to deliver a better experience for users.

Judges will be looking for clear evidence of what wasn’t working before and how the redesign fixed those problems. This could include simpler journeys, clearer design, improved accessibility or new features that better meet user needs.

Winning entries will show how the changes improved customer satisfaction, engagement or business performance.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

What steps have you taken over the past year to enhance your website's informativeness, relevance, and user experience (UX), ensuring it remains engaging for visitors?

Successful entries will showcase a website that stands out through exceptional design, diverse content, a seamless user experience and strong customer engagement.

Judges will be looking for how your website design effectively addressed and overcame a key business challenge.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

Social media is continuously evolving in financial services marketing, with new opportunities revealing themselves all the time. In 2025 we’ve seen the rise of FinTok, B2B influencers plus much more.

For this category, we want to know how you’ve pushed the boundaries of your existing social media strategy and how it has improved or changed the output or purpose of your current channels.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

Some of the best innovation and transformation initiatives come from a single meaningful insight, sparking one small change that then has a bigger domino effect. You don’t always need to allocate large amounts of budget to spark innovation, change or transformation.

Entrants to this award should be able to explain and evidence how they’ve had a transformative impact on internal or external audiences, process or consumer behaviour, without spending over £100k on the project.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award recognises teams that have found new and better ways to run client events. We want to hear how you moved beyond the standard format to create a more engaging, useful or memorable experience for your audience.

Judges will be looking for clear examples of what you changed, why you changed it and what impact it had.

This could include new event formats, better experiences for attendees, or creative use of technology to improve participation and outcomes. Strong entries will show how the event strengthened client relationships and delivered real value for both attendees and the business.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

Entrants to this category will evidence that they have made an innovative change or improvement to their existing customer proposition that has enhanced the service level offered by their business.

We will be looking for how the project was innovative and transformative, as well as the evidence of how the customer service is now better as a result of the change. The 'customer' can be a consumer (B2C), intermediary or institutional client (B2B).

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award recognises organisations that have used marketing automation to improve how they plan, deliver and measure their marketing.

Judges want to understand how automation made your marketing more effective. This might include improved targeting, more timely communications, better follow-up or more relevant customer experiences.

Successful entries will clearly explain what was automated, why it mattered and how it improved results, efficiency or customer experience.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

In some cases, the availability of new technology is the trigger for innovation and change. This category asks entrants to explain and evidence how the implementation of a single technology or technology stack has resulted in a transformative or innovative change to either internal users or an external audience or customer.

The resulting change or transformation can encompass a change to behaviour i.e. a change to purchasing habits, streamlining a process or workflow (affecting both internal and external audiences) and improvements to customer experience and services.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words — judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award recognises the creation or new use of a marketing tool that helped teams work smarter.

We want to see how you solved a real problem in a practical way. This might be a completely new tool, a clever adaptation of an existing one, or a new way of using a familiar platform.

Judges will look for clear evidence that the tool improved the quality of work, saved time or unlocked new opportunities for the business.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This category focuses on an innovation or transformation in product design. The innovation will have either been directed towards an existing product i.e. a significant change or improvement or the conception of an entirely new product or offering.

Whilst the entry will centre around product research and design, submissions from cross-department teams are welcomed.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

The marketing channel ecosystem has imploded over the past decade. From podcasts to video and social media, financial services marketers are no longer confined to print and direct mail.

Entrants to this category can evidence how they've successfully utilised a channel or format not previously used or optimised an existing channel or format in their business and/or market.

We recognise that it may be significantly more difficult to launch new channel in one financial services sector than another, so the judges will consider the individual circumstances and context of each business when assessing how innovative it is. Where relevant, a good background description in the 'Summary' section will help outline the state of play.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

Data (and the subsequent insights) are the foundations of any marketing toolkit. For this award, we’re looking for innovative ways that you collect, analyse, present, and visualize data for the benefit of the customer or your business.

This can of course include the application of a new AI tool. But do bear in mind that the transformative ‘output’ and subsequent use to the business is the key metric in this category.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award recognises CRM projects that improved how customer information is used across marketing and the wider business.

Judges will be looking for projects that go beyond basic system updates and instead change how teams understand and engage with customers.

Strong entries will show what you set out to fix, how you delivered it and how it improved decision-making, customer experience or business results.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This category focuses on innovation within marketing. Entrants will have implemented an innovative marketing technique or strategy within their business, market or category.

We consider marketing to include brand, data, digital, design, communications and PR. The innovative marketing technique or strategy might focus on a specific marketing campaign or a broader brand-level initiative.

The end-user of the innovation will be a consumer (B2C), institutional client (B2B) or intermediary as opposed to an internal audience.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

This award honours the agency-client partnerships that have driven genuine transformation in how businesses operate, especially in the face of trends like AI and budget constraints.

Judges will look for collaborations that go beyond traditional relationships, where innovation, strategic adaptation, and technology have reshaped business outcomes.

Winning partnerships will demonstrate a lasting impact on growth and operational change, showcasing how clients and agencies have worked together to achieve breakthrough success.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

We want to hear from the most forward-thinking organisations in the financial services sector. The judges are seeking companies that have challenged the status quo and redefined marketing in new, exciting ways.

Whether through cutting-edge technology or fresh, unconventional strategies, we’re looking for clear examples of how you’ve reinvented your approach to drive better results.

If your organisation has pushed the boundaries of financial services marketing, we want to know how you’ve done it and the impact it’s had.

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.

We want to recognise this year's trailblazers in financial services marketing. If you or someone you know has made a significant impact in the industry, we encourage you to submit a nomination for this prestigious award. You can nominate yourself, a colleague, or a client.

The judges are seeking individuals who have challenged the status quo, pushed boundaries, and found innovative ways to elevate marketing within their team or organisation.

Winners will be those who have demonstrated a clear ability to rethink strategy and tactics, whether through the adoption of new technologies, fresh approaches, or disruptive ideas. If you or someone you know has transformed the way financial services marketing is done, we want to hear about it!

Keep your submission under 1,000 words - judges will mark you down for exceeding the limit. You’ll be asked to confirm your word count at the end.