Judging Criteria

Judging criteria for main categories below: (% of total score)

'Best TV newcomer', ‘Best TV ad planning,’ ‘ Best use of sponsorship’, ‘Best use of content’ and ‘Best small budget use of TV’

Executive Summary (5%)

This is your opportunity to highlight the most important parts of the campaign and to give a concise and compelling overview of the challenges, objectives, strategy, planning and results that the entry is built around. If the judges only saw one page, this should be it.

Summarise all the key elements from your paper in 250 words.

The entry:

1) Background & Objectives (10%)

Clearly state the business, marketing and communications objectives that lay behind the communication investment.

What was the competitive position of the brand and its recent marketing history?
What were you trying to achieve and why? Hard business objectives here are ideal.
Do make sure your objectives are clear and relevant; it is crucial to match your final results to these objectives.

2) The Strategy (25%)

Here is where we want to see your thinking behind the plan.

Outline the insight and strategy that led to the media solution.
What was the ‘big idea’?
Explain how you got to it. What challenges did you have to overcome?
What role was TV required to play and why was it the right solution for your objectives?

3) The Plan (25%)

This is where we want to see clearly how the strategic solution was implemented.

What were the main virtues of your plan?
Outline the implementation fully. Make sure you include enough detail about the TV plan: seasonality, flighting, weights, frequency distribution, channel and programme choices can all add depth to a broader outline. An overview diagram of the overall comms/media plan is very useful to judges.
How did you make the most of what today’s TV has to offer?
Describe how the use of TV was integrated with other marketing activity, whether media advertising or not.
Be as clear as you can about what you did; if some facts are confidential maybe indexing them or describing them in relative and not absolute terms will help.

4) The Results (20%)

Thinkbox is dedicated to proving effectiveness, so it’s critical that you include evidence that your plans worked against the objectives you set.

What happened as a result of the communication activity? How do you know it worked?
Include measures such as shifts in awareness, attitudes, consideration and most importantly commercial results such as shifts in revenue, profit, sales, market share. ROI (i.e. a ratio) is by no means the only – or even ideal – metric to use.
What was the budget? (Note that eligibility for ‘Best small budget use of TV’ is maximum £500k gross investment)
Can you isolate the effect of advertising from the brand’s other marketing investment e.g. price-cutting, wider distribution, etc?
Was it possible to isolate the specific impact made by TV?
Consider the market your brand was operating within and also what competitive activity existed at the time.
Make sure you avoid overclaim and have considered what other causes might account for the effect you saw.
Can you prove that the communications activity has been a worthwhile investment for your client? To what extent has it paid back?

Please mark if any sensitive information is for judges eyes only.

5) Client Involvement (5%)

An endorsement from the advertiser is important, so include comments from the client where possible. Ideally the client would refer specifically to the work of the agency on that specific campaign.

It’s a good idea to get approval from a senior client early on. This will also ensure you only work on entries that are likely to be approved and will guide you regarding confidential data.

6) Presentation (10%)

Give your entry the best possible chance by making it read well and look good. It won’t get you an award if the planning itself isn’t up to scratch but it could add valuable marks. Judicious use of images or graphs can save words. Spelling and punctuation matter. Sometimes bullet points communicate better than dense paragraphs of text.

Maximum word count: 1,500

(excluding the 250-word executive summary)

Best ongoing use of TV
(% of total score)

Executive Summary (10%)

Summarise all the key elements from your paper in 250 words.

The Story (60%)

Judges will be allocating marks for this section as follows:

Background and objectives (10%) - Strategy and planning (20%) - Execution (15%) - Results (15%)

Tell us the brands TV story over time.

To explain the brands ongoing relationship with TV, please structure your answer chronologically using the following format…\

Period 1:

Background and objectives:

Explain the position of the brand within its competitive set at the start of the first campaign period and the challenges that they were facing at the time.
Clearly state the business, marketing and communications objectives that lay behind the advertising investment.
What were you trying to achieve for the brand at this time and why? Quantified business objectives here are ideal. Are there any broader objectives for

Strategy and planning:

Explain the marketing strategy employed during this period and explain your thinking behind the planning of the campaign.
Outline the insights that led to the media solution highlighting the role that TV played and why it was the right solution for your objectives.

Execution:

Detail the execution of the campaign, including key creative concepts, media planning, integration with other media and budget allocation.
Where relevant, explain how you utilised advanced TV capabilities and tactics (e.g. use of first party data and insights) in order to drive results for the brand.

Results:

What happened as a result of the activity? How do you know it worked? It’s critical that you include evidence of your success based on the objectives you set out at the beginning of the campaign.
When discussing results include measures such as shifts in awareness, attitudes, consideration, and most importantly commercial results such as shifts in revenue, profit, sales or market share.

Period 2:

Background and objectives:

Highlight how objectives and challenges had evolved or changed from the previous period.
Discuss the shifting landscape and market conditions influencing the brands goals.

Strategy and planning:

Describe the changes in the marketing strategy compared to the previous period and how this impacted the role that TV played when planning this new campaign.

Execution:

Provide insights into the execution of the TV advertising campaign, highlighting any innovations or adaptations made based on previous learnings.

Results:

Analyse the results achieved in this period as you did with the first, drawing comparisons to the objectives set and showcasing the brand's responsiveness to market dynamics.

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Continue this structured approach for each subsequent period, progressively focussing on the evolution of the brand's objectives, TV advertising strategy, execution, and results.

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Summary (15%)

Summarise the overarching trends, lessons learned, and milestones in the brand's TV advertising journey. Highlight the brand's adaptability, growth, and sustained effectiveness in using TV advertising as a strategic tool to consistently deliver success for the brand.

Client Involvement (5%)

An endorsement from the advertiser is important, so include comments from the client where possible. Ideally the client would refer specifically to the work and their relationship with the agency over time. It’s a good idea to get approval from a senior client early on.

Presentation (10%)

Maximum word count: 2,000 (excluding the 250-word executive summary)

Young TV Planner of the Year criteria

To enter:

You should be a TV champion who is 30 or under on 31^st December 2023

Register and create a new entry
You have 500 words to answer the following question in whatever way you would like:

TELL US WHY YOU SHOULD BE NAMED THE YOUNG TV PLANNER OF THE YEAR?

Within your entry you must also include a testimonial from a member of senior leadership within your agency (this will fall within the word count).
Your entry should be on one side of A4 and uploaded as a pdf, layout may be designed as you wish.
If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to meet the judges in May and deliver a 5-minute presentation, followed by 5 minutes of questions. A given topic will be briefed to you ahead of time.

TV Planning Agency of the Year criteria

To enter:

You must have submitted work into at least one other category to be considered for this award.
You have 1000 words to answer the following question in whatever way you would like:

TELL US WHY YOU SHOULD BE NAMED AGENCY OF THE YEAR?

Your entry should be presented on no more than two sides of A4 and uploaded as a pdf, layout may be designed as you wish.
Within your entry you must include a testimonial from a current client (this will fall within the word count).
Please contextualise any performance e.g. the number of employees completing the TV Masters vs. the total agency head count.
Your submission should aim to include the following:
- How you have collaborated with broadcasters and clients to get the most out of what TV can offer
- Detail on the sophistication of your AV planning systems and the insights that drive their decisioning
- Evidence of helping brands onto TV for the first time
- How you have evolved TV plans to take full advantage of advanced TV capabilities
- Your commitment to training and engagement with Thinkbox and TV Masters
- An overview of the continued importance TV plays for your clients