Marketing Excellence Awards - Submission Format

To enter a submission, please apply here.

It is highly recommended that you bookmark our submission guidelines for future reference. All submissions must be entered online and follow the outline below to present a compelling story of what was done, how it was done, and the business results. Submissions should include detail for each of the required sections. Judges will look especially for initiatives that represent true innovation for the industry, highly effective execution, and substantial, measurable business results.

Judges will look especially for initiatives that represent true innovation for the industry, highly effective execution, and substantial, measurable business results. Be as specific as possible. Avoid marketing fluff or hyperbole.

1. Submission Overview

Provide a paragraph on the marketing initiative: situation, solution, learnings, and results.

2. Situation

Describe the business problem and/or opportunity that inspired the initiative.

• What challenges and/or opportunities was the business or marketing facing?
• What occurred that called for a new initiative?
• What was the competitive situation? (if applicable)
• What approach was taken to gain a full understanding of the problem or opportunity?
• How did you quantify the need or opportunity (e.g., costs, potential savings, benefits, and/or market size)?
• How did you or your organization get buy-in and sponsorship for the initiative and with whom?
• Demonstrate an understanding of the business conditions and environment that your organization faced while developing your initiative and gaining sponsorship to proceed with it. (Limit: ½ page)

3. Solution

What approach did you take to develop a plan and execute it to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity?

• Detail the nature and scope of the solution/initiative, including your insight into the customer/market need.
• What were the major steps taken to execute?
• How was the initiative managed against the plan?
• What resources were involved?
• Were there new types of collaboration across the organization or with partners?
• In what ways is the solution innovative within your company and your industry?
• Have you seen a competitive response to your initiative?
• Provide a clear and detailed description of the process and innovation involved in the solution, the resources allocated, how efficiently and effectively the initiative was carried out, what was unique about the solution, and how your approach was new for the company and among competitors (if applicable). (Limit: 3 pages)

4. Lessons Learned

Explain the most difficult challenges you faced in executing the plan successfully, and how you addressed them.

• What challenges and roadblocks did you face?
• How did you overcome the challenges?
• What lessons did you learn throughout the process?
• How will this influence future marketing initiatives?
• Describe the lessons learned with this initiative, what elements of the program contributed most to its success, and how the lessons and key success factors will influence future marketing initiatives. (Limit: 1 page)

5. Results

Describe the business objectives and metrics that are/were being used to measure what has been accomplished to date.

• How did you measure both marketing and business success?
• What quantifiable results have you been able to document?
• How important are these results to the company or division?
• Provide concrete data that documents the success of the initiative and demonstrate the appropriateness of the scorecard. (Limit: 1 page)

6. Future Plans

Describe the next steps or stages for this initiative.

• What’s next for this initiative? How are you building upon your success?
• How will you scale this across the marketing organization or the company/division (if applicable)?
• What results do you expect to accomplish with this initiative over the next year (e.g., revenue impact, profit impact, order pipeline impact, brand or reputation impact, customer engagement, renewal rate, referrals, win rate, etc.)?
• To what extent, if any, does this impact the future of marketing or your industry?
• Provide details and data that demonstrate the long-term impact of the initiative. (Limit: ½ page)

7. Summary

In 3-5 sentences, summarize the most important reasons why your initiative deserves special recognition by Momentum ITSMA.

Please note: Applicants may provide additional materials to support their online submission; please note that the judges will look primarily at the main submission.

Momentum ITSMA must receive payment of $495 for each submission to help cover program administration expenses. For awards shipped outside of the US, all associated shipping fees will be the responsibility of the award winner.

Payment in US dollars via authorized purchase order, check, or credit card must be received by May 5, 2023. You pay for your submission(s) during the online application process. Please use Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as a browser for best results. IE may cause problems.

Momentum ITSMA will keep all information included in award submissions strictly confidential, and will not disclose any information from the submissions without formal authorization from the applicant.

Please note: Momentum ITSMA will not return any of the submission materials.

Momentum ITSMA must receive all submissions by May 5, 2023.

Enter your submissions at: https://itsma.secure-awards.com/

Please use Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as a browser for best results. IE may cause problems.