Brandsmart Award Entries Open

CHICAGO, February 11, 2020 – The American Marketing Association (AMA) Chicago announces the 2020 BrandSmart Award competition. The premier industry award for brand marketing, the BrandSmart Awards were inspired by the Golden Ratio theory and recognize the industry's most inspiring work. Brand and agency marketers are encouraged to submit campaigns that demonstrate the powerful relationship between beauty and measurement, or creativity and results. The awards will honor examples of brand marketing that prove brand innovation, customer engagement, advocacy, and overall marketing excellence. Campaigns that ran between January 1, 2019, and January 31, 2020, are eligible to enter the award program. The final deadline for all entries is March 10, 2020.

"The BrandSmart Awards are a perfect complement to AMA Chicago's BrandSmart Conference, the longest-running conference of its kind for brand marketers in the United States," said Bonnie Massa, AMA Chicago Executive Director.

Winners will be announced at the BrandSmart Awards ceremony on April 22, 2020, during the luncheon at the 18th Annual BrandSmart Conference. The day-long conference, held at the UIC Forum on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus (1213 S. Halsted Street in Chicago) brings together noteworthy industry speakers, marketing decision-makers, and future-forward brand associates looking to share proven tools, strategies, and stories.

A single campaign may be submitted into multiple categories. The categories of recognition include:

• BRAND INTRODUCTION AWARD - Recognizing the best marketing campaign to introduce a new product or service.
• BRAND MOMENTUM AWARD - Recognizing the best marketing campaign for an existing product or service.
• BRAND ENGAGEMENT AWARD - Recognizing the best customer engagement campaign.
• INTEGRATED MARKETING AWARD - Recognizing the best integration of offline and online brand marketing to achieve a business outcome.
• BRAND ADVOCACY AWARD - Recognizing the best brand advocacy marketing campaign to achieve a business outcome.
• CAUSE MARKETING AWARD - Recognizing the best marketing campaign to support and promote a cause or a proactive community service.
• INFLUENCER MARKETING AWARD - Recognizing the most effective, creative use of an influencer marketing campaign to achieve a business outcome.
• BRAND INNOVATION AWARD - Recognizing the best implementation of technology and/or research in a marketing campaign.

The jury of 21 judges who are responsible for selecting the award winners represent a diverse range of top talent from global brands, industry thought leaders, platforms, and publishers. They include:

• Corinne Aaron, Head of Marketing – EMEA at Tesla
• Kymberlie Adams, Director, Social Media & Member Communications at ASPCA
• Dana Anderson, Chief Transformation Officer at MediaLink
• Julie Booth, SVP, Head of US Content & Social - Global Consumer Marketing at Citi
• Derek Britton, Global Communications Director at Freeman Company
• Jeff Buchan, Head of Global Industry Relations, Google
• Tom Carusona, Chief Marketing Officer at Insomnia Cookies
• Kim Feil, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Aspire Healthy Energy Drinks
• Amisha Gandhi, Vice President, Influencer Marketing at SAP
• Mayur Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer at Freshly
• Nathalie Lam, Global Head of Sponsorships at Philips
• Sayo Martin, Vice President, Brand Strategy at Teach for America
• Molly McKenna Jandrain, Senior Director, Public Relations & Brand Engagement at McDonald's
• Matt Moog, Chief Executive Officer at PowerReviews
• Stephanie Moritz, Chief Communications Officer at American Dental Association
• Amanda Puck, Director of Strategic Brand Development at Mariano's
• Paul M. Rand, Vice President of Communications at University of Chicago
• Brandon Rhoten, Chief Marketing Officer at Potbelly Sandwich Works
• Ryan Saghir, Director, Integrated Marketing at Sabra Dipping Company
• Lauren Weinberg, Global Head of Marketing at Square
• Rick Wion, Senior Director, Consumer Engagement at Kellogg Company

"This year, our judging panel represents some of the most creative minds in brand marketing from across the country and around the globe," says Harvey Morris, 2020 BrandSmart Awards Chair. "Winning a BrandSmart Award means your marketing campaign met our criteria for showing creativity while delivering business results. Only campaigns that meet this standard are worthy of winning a BrandSmart Award."

The judges will critique each brand marketing campaign on creativity, thought leadership, execution, and measurable results. Past BrandSmart Awards winners include Accenture, Alzheimer's Association, Barilla America, Choose Chicago, Essendant, Hillshire Brands, Hyatt Hotels, McDonald's USA, MillerCoors, Mondelez International, and Walgreens. "What these winning campaigns have in common is the ability to demonstrate incomparable creativity while delivering measurable results that move the brand forward in meaningful ways," says Morris.

All gold-level winners in each category will automatically compete for the Grand Champion Award, recognizing the overall best-in-show entry. Competition updates and materials, including the official Entry Guidelines Kit (PDF), are available at www.brandsmartawards.org.

About BrandSmart Awards

The BrandSmart Awards began in 2009 as a recognition of the brand marketing industry's most inspiring work. Inspired by the Golden Ratio, BrandSmart Awards celebrate the powerful relationship between beauty and measurement – the marriage of creativity and results.

Past BrandSmart Awards winners include Accenture, Alzheimer's Association, Barilla America, Hillshire Brands, Hyatt Hotels, McDonald's USA, MillerCoors, Mondelez International, United Stationers, and Walgreens. For more details, visit brandsmartawards.org

About AMA Chicago

AMA Chicago, the largest chapter in the American Marketing Association's global network, stands an incredible 81 years strong. Its mission is to provide ongoing development opportunities for Chicago marketers to expand their knowledge, improve their skills, and grow in their careers through access to innovative marketing thought leaders and cutting-edge programming. For more details, visit amachicago.org