WHY THESE AWARDS

Most awards celebrate what marketing produces. Ours recognise how marketing leadership made it happen: the decisions you took, what your team did as a result, the results you delivered against your objectives and the difference it made to the business.

Cannes Lions recognises creativity, the Effies recognise effectiveness and the IPA recognises rigour. The Marketing Society Awards recognise the leadership behind the growth, judged by CMOs and board-level leaders who have made those calls themselves.

WHAT'S NEW FOR 2027

For our 42nd Awards, leadership comes first. We have fewer, more focused categories, and every one asks you to show the decisions behind the work and the impact they had on the business. Creativity, strategy and results all still matter, and now we want to see how you brought them together to drive growth.

Some things stay the same. Our Awards are still judged by CMOs and board-level leaders, still open to brands and agencies around the world, and our winners are still celebrated at our Awards Ceremony in London, with their stories shared with Members across our global community.

BEYOND THE TROPHY - WHAT EVERY ENTRY MUST SHOW

Every entry answers four questions.

DECISIONS

What leadership decisions did you make?

ACTIONS

What did your team do as a result?

RESULTS

What did you achieve against your objectives?

BUSINESS IMPACT

What difference did it make to the business as a whole?

That last question matters most. Reaching a new audience is a result, but turning that audience into customers for the next ten years is the impact we want to hear about.

WHY THE MARKETING SOCIETY AWARDS ARE DIFFERENT

Cannes celebrates creativity. The Effies celebrate effectiveness. The Marketing Society celebrates the marketing leaders who drive business growth.

We're the only awards explicitly focused on marketing leadership; not just marketing craft, not just campaign effectiveness, but the strategic thinking, commercial impact, and organisational influence that define modern marketing excellence that drives business growth.

• Judged exclusively by CMOs and board-level leaders: Your entries are evaluated through a lens of business performance, commercial context, real-world constraints, and strategic thinking by the peers who truly understand what it takes.
• We celebrate the complete marketing, not just campaigns: While other awards recognise marketing outputs, we recognise the marketer's behind the work; your leadership capability, transformation impact, culture-building, and organisational influence.
• Connected to a global leadership community: Winning here isn't just a one-night ceremony. Winners inspire a global network of marketing leaders. The opportunity to connect and have impact on the growth of the industry and business. 
• Rooted in business integrity: We celebrate marketing that's built on honest practices, strategic excellence, and real commercial results. This is marketing that wins the right way.

OUR JUDGING PHILOSOPHY

To evaluate marketing's business impact, we've assembled a judging panel of proven commercial leaders -CMOs and board-level marketers who are delivering growth results. They span sectors, functions, and perspectives, but they share one thing: they understand that marketing exists to drive business forward.

We believe marketing excellence should be judged exclusively by those who've led marketing functions and owned business outcomes. This ensures fairness, eliminates conflicts of interest, and provides the peer recognition our entrants value. Because complete marketing impact looks different across every context, our judges collectively understand the full spectrum of marketing impact on growth.

OUR JUDGING PROCESS

All categories are judged using the same 5-criteria structure, for each category the judges will evaluate:

• Strategy & Insight: The strategic thinking, market understanding and insights that informed the work
• Creative Execution: The quality, innovation and effectiveness of the creative approach and execution
• Impact: The measurable impact had on the business, organisation or society as a direct outcome of the work (For example this could be commercial results, market share growth or societal impact.)
• Marketing Effectiveness: The marketing-specific metrics and performance indicators that have demonstrated success.

Each category applies these criteria with specific focus areas relevant to that discipline (see individual category specifications for further details).

A NOTE FROM OUR CHAIR OF AWARDS, SYL SALLER CBE

For over four decades, these awards have celebrated marketers who mean business. The leaders who combine bold ideas with commercial impact, innovative strategies with measurable growth. They don't just prove why marketing matters; they demonstrate how marketing drives business growth.

Every year, I'm proud to see work that demonstrates marketing's essential role as the growth engine of business. These aren't campaigns celebrated for creativity alone, they're stories of commercial transformation, strategic leadership, and results that resonate in boardrooms around the world.

As we stand at the crossroads of economic uncertainty and rapid change, creativity and commercial impact are more vital than ever. This year's awards are not just a celebration of past achievements but a call to action for the future. They represent an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate how marketing drives success and shapes society. Whether you're a client or agency, whether you work in B2B, B2C, or any other sector, these awards are your platform to shine.

What makes The Marketing Society Awards truly special is the calibre of our judging panel. Your entries will be seen by the marketers who mean business, industry luminaries, leaders who have set the standard and redefined what's possible in marketing. This is your chance to showcase your work on a global stage, inspire your peers, and prove why marketing matters more than ever.

So, I encourage you to seize this opportunity. Collaborate, reflect on your achievements, and share the stories that have made an impact. Let's celebrate everything that is great about marketing and honour the visionaries who are shaping the future.

I look forward to seeing the brilliance you bring to the table.

Syl Saller Chair of Judges for The Marketing Society Global Awards