Award Categories

Creative Ideas Categories

1. Most Creative – Cause Marketing

This category recognises the best campaign by a for-profit business that aligns with social issues, causes or beliefs in order to reinforce its values and encourage customer loyalty. Support of a nonprofit organisation, charitable cause, or trending social issues may all be submitted.

Judges will be looking at the strategy and creativity behind the campaign. Entries should illustrate how the campaign was designed to promote corporate social responsibility and raise awareness of it’s core values while achieving marketing objectives.

2. Most Creative – Communications / Public Relations

This category recognises the most creative idea behind a communications / public relations campaign that best enhanced the branding, image or identity of a brand, product or service. It could target mass or specific audiences, businesses, investors or internal stakeholders etc.

Judges will be looking at the communications, public and media relations idea that succeeded in promoting or recovering an image of a brand, product or service, or supplemented an existing marketing strategy. Entries should demonstrate how a public / media relations strategy created an impact on the chosen audience.

3. Most Creative – Content Marketing

This category recognises the most creative and innovative content and / or copywriting that was the main feature behind a published campaign. Content marketing could include text, infographics and / or video and can run across all forms of marketing channels.

Judges will be looking at the creative copy and the content strategy that was designed to stimulate interest and support a strategic marketing approach for a brand, product or service. Entries should reflect how the copy embodied various elements / mediums of the marketing campaign, and how it was designed to build a rapport with the targeted audience.

4. Most Creative – Customer Engagement

This category recognises the most creative and innovative campaign, initiative or programme that was designed to encourage customers to emotionally connect with the brand.

Judges will be looking for initiatives that aimed to go beyond simply advertising. Entries should illustrate how the idea sought to encourage consumers to actively participate in the brand’s programme.

5. Most Creative – Digital

This category recognises the most creative and innovative use of digital marketing and digital across platforms. Digital methods could include online, mobile, viral, search, social media, email or any other mediums that fall within digital marketing.

Judges will be looking at how the idea and content were created for digital marketing and designed to be deployed over various digital channels to deliver an engaging consumer experience or add value to a marketing campaign. Entries can demonstrate the idea as part of a one-off campaign or a broader marketing strategy that focused on and around digital mediums to enhance a campaign.

6. Most Creative – Event (Physical/Virtual)

This category recognises the most creative and innovatively planned event. An event could include B2B events such as investor / stakeholder meetings or showcases, internal / employee engagement or B2C events such as concerts or festivals, product launches etc. Physical events and/or events that were help virtually via web-hosting or conference-hosting platforms are welcome.

Judges will be looking at the strategy and creativity behind the event. Entries should illustrate how the event was designed to captivate its audience and how the idea for the event supported the brand’s profile, values and marketing objectives.

7. Most Creative – Experiential

This category recognises the most creative and innovative experiential marketing idea. This could be a business, trade or consumer event or a sponsorship activation.

Judges will be looking at the creativity and strategy behind the experiential programme or campaign that was designed to stimulate interest and create buzz for a brand, product or service. Entries should illustrate how the idea was designed to allow consumers to get involved in or respond to a specified experience.

8. Most Creative – Gamification Campaign

This category recognises initiatives that creatively leverage game-like experiences to achieve marketing objectives. Whether it’s through interactive challenges, rewards, or immersive storytelling, the winning campaign will demonstrate a unique and compelling use of gamification.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that have ingeniously employed gamification elements to captivate and engage audiences.

9. Most Creative – Government Sector / Non-Profit Marketing

The agency should have worked with or for any government or public sector entity or non-profit organisation to create campaigns, initiatives or programmes that drive their programme, policy or initiative objectives.

Judges will be looking at the creativity, innovation and strategy behind the idea that sought to bridge an information or solutions gap between a government, public sector or non-profit organisation and groups of individuals, organisations or communities.

10. Most Creative – Hyperlocal Marketing NEW

This category recognises campaigns that target hyperlocal audiences with personalised, location-specific marketing strategies. Judges will assess the effectiveness and creativity local targeting, including the use of geo-fencing, local partnerships, and community engagement. Entries should showcase how hyperlocal marketing drove foot traffic, sales, and community connection.

11. Most Creative – Immersive Brand Activation

This category celebrates campaigns that have transported audiences into immersive brand experiences.

Judges are seeking initiatives that have ingeniously combined creativity and technology to create memorable and captivating brand activations. Whether through virtual reality, augmented reality, or physical installations, the winning campaign will showcase outstanding creativity in immersing audiences in the brand’s world.

12. Most Creative – Influencers / KOLs

This category recognises the most creative and brilliant ideas using Influencers / KOLs to engage and delight your target audience.

Judges will be looking at the creative elements and overall impact of the idea, as well as how successfully the idea ties into the brand’s identity.

13. Most Creative – Integrated Media

This category recognises the creativity and innovation behind creating a unified and seamless integrated and / or interactive experience to promote a brand, product or service.

Judges will be looking at how the idea was designed to stimulate interest and support a strategic marketing and communications approach across multiple distribution channels (at least 3 channels). Entries should demonstrate how the idea was creatively and tactically purposed for various paid, earned and / or owned media.

14. Most Creative – Interactive Storytelling NEW

This category celebrates the most creative use of interactive storytelling in marketing. Judges will evaluate the creativity and engagement of interactive storytelling techniques. Entries should illustrate how interactive elements were used to captivate audiences, convey the brand’s message, and achieve marketing goals.

15. Most Creative – Launch / Re-Launch

This category rewards the most creative and innovative idea behind a launch or re-launch of a brand, event, product or service.

Judges will be looking at the creativity of the idea and the initiative behind the launch / re-launch strategy. Entries should demonstrate how the idea helped mold the campaign and eventual execution strategy towards the launch / re-launch activity.

16. Most Creative – Out-of-Home

This category awards the most creative idea behind an out-of-home (OOH) campaign. OOH could include media such as billboards, transit media, public spaces or any other media formats traditionally classified as OOH.

Judges will be looking at how the creative idea was designed to attract attention or interact with consumers to achieve an objective and / or communicate a message. Entries should reflect on the creative and messaging behind OOH’s impact on their campaigns.

17. Most Creative – Social Commerce

Whether through shoppable social media posts, innovative e-commerce integrations, or captivating social commerce strategies, this award recognises initiatives that have seamlessly combined social engagement with e-commerce, delivering exceptional results.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that have creatively harnessed the power of social commerce.

18. Most Creative – Social Media

This category recognises the most creative social media idea and strategy in a marketing campaign. It can be part of a one-off campaign or part of a longer term marketing strategy.

Judges will be looking at how the creative idea was designed to be deployed over social media and can be part of a one-off campaign or a broader marketing strategy that focused on and around social media to engage or enhance a campaign.

19. Most Creative – Sonic Branding

This category celebrates campaigns that leverage audio logos, jingles, or soundscapes to build brand identity. Judges will evaluate the creativity and effectiveness of sonic branding elements. Entries should illustrate how sound was used to create a memorable and distinctive brand presence. Entries should showcase the impact of sonic branding on brand recognition, consumer engagement, and overall marketing success.
*Originally the category Most Creative – Audio

20. Most Creative – Specific Audience

This category recognises the most creative idea behind a marketing campaign targeted towards a specific audience. This is not exclusive to a single audience, but the majority of the target audience should be a specific demographic the campaign set out to approach. Specific audience bases could include gender, age group, interest groups (e.g. wellness) and other profiled audiences.

Judges will be looking at the creativity and originality behind the idea that engaged and attracted a specific audience. Entries should illustrate how the idea stood out amongst competitors and how the idea expected to connect with audiences.

21. Most Creative – Video

This category awards the most effective use of compelling video advertising campaigns for TV or online. This can include displays along linear, non-linear and companion ad formats.

Judges will be looking at the originality and ingenuity of video ideas and the creative strategy against the dissemination of said commercials and advertising to achieve a marketing outcome or reach for a brand, product or service. Entries should demonstrate how the idea and campaign were designed to impact and resonate with an audience or enhance an existing campaign.

Media Usage Categories

22. Most Effective Use – Artificial Intelligence

The winning campaign in this category will demonstrate how artificial intelligence has been effectively integrated into marketing strategies to drive exceptional results.

Judges are seeking campaigns that have harnessed AI for personalisation, automation, predictive analytics, or other innovative applications, resulting in impressive outcomes.

23. Most Effective Use – B2B Marketing

This category recognises the most effective use of business to business marketing.

Judges will be looking at the effectiveness and results from the B2B marketing strategy. Entries should illustrate how the campaign successfully leveraged the channels it was deployed, as well as results versus objectives.

24. Most Effective Use – Consumer Insights

This category recognises the most effective use of consumer insights and market research in contributing to database development and the performance of a marketing campaign or communications plan.

Judges will be looking at how consumer insights and market research played a part in interpreting consumer behaviour to develop campaign strategies, moulding a successful marketing campaign and garnering significant results. Entries should demonstrate how market research, data planning, measurement and analytics tools were used to drive results.

25. Most Effective Use – Content

This category recognises the most effective use of content and / or copywriting that were the main feature behind a published campaign. Content marketing could be text, infographics and / or video etc. and can be run across all forms of marketing channels.

Judges will be looking at the effectiveness and results from a content strategy and developed to convert interest into action and support a strategic marketing approach for a brand, product or service. Entries should illustrate how the copy embodied various elements / mediums of the marketing campaign, and how the content was mapped out for a larger content strategy, addressing specific KPIs along the way.

26. Most Effective Use – Contextual Advertising NEW

This category honours campaigns that excel in delivering relevant ads based on content or user behaviour.

Judges will evaluate the effectiveness and innovation of contextual advertising strategies. Entries should illustrate how contextual data was leveraged to place ads in the right context, enhancing relevance and engagement. Entries should showcase the impact of these campaigns on user experience, brand perception, and achievement of marketing objectives.

27. Most Effective Use – Customer Acquisition

This category recognises the most effective processes and strategies for bringing in new clients or customers to the business.

Judges will be looking at the effectiveness and results of the campaign, and how it led to a systematic, sustainable acquisition strategy that was adaptable to new trends and changes in business goals.

28. Most Effective Use – Customer Retention & Loyalty

This category acknowledges initiatives that have implemented strategies and tactics to reduce customer churn, elevate customer lifetime value, and cultivate strong brand loyalty among existing clientele. The winning campaign will showcase innovative approaches, personalisation, and quantifiable results in the art of nurturing enduring customer relationships, solidifying their unwavering loyalty to the brand.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that have demonstrated exceptional effectiveness in the critical domains of customer retention and loyalty.

*This category was previously “Most Effective Use – Loyalty & CRM”

29. Most Effective Use – Digital

This category recognises the most effective use of digital marketing and digital across platforms. Digital methods could include online, mobile, viral, search, social media, email, or any other mediums that fall within digital marketing.

Judges will be looking at how the digital marketing was used to achieve a business objective, be it branding, a prompted consumer behaviour or to increase consumption. Entries should demonstrate how digital was an integral part of an executed marketing strategy and generated proven results with evidence of the mediums used.

30. Most Effective Use – Events (Physical / Virtual)

This category rewards the most effective use of a physical or virtual event to achieve a targeted objective. This could be a business, trade or consumer event.

Judges will be looking at the strategy, execution, and performance of the scaled business, trade or consumer event. Entries should illustrate how the event was designed to captivate its audience, how the event was organised effectively, how strongly the brand values and objectives relating directly to the attendee’s journey at the event were achieved, and the resulting return on investment.

31. Most Effective Use – Experiential

This category recognises the most effective use of an experiential campaign to foster interaction and response toward a brand, product or service.

Judges will be looking at the strategy, execution and engagement behind the scaled experiential programme or campaign. Entries should demonstrate how the experiential campaign managed to create unique brand experiences and generate positive brand association between the audience and the brand relating to the attendee’s journey, and the resulting return on investment.

32. Most Effective Use – Government Sector / Non-Profit Marketing

Judges will be looking at how the idea was executed and how successful it was in bridging an information or solutions gap between a government, public sector or non-profit organisation and groups of individuals, organisations or communities.

33. Most Effective Use – Influencers / KOLs

This category recognises the most effective use of Influencers / KOLs to grow, develop and convert your customer base (s).

Judges will be looking at the effect and result of a marketing campaign which demonstrates a cohesive Influencer / KOL strategy that successfully helps achieve brand objectives. Entries should show how Influencers / KOLs were used to effectively engage a target audience for positive ROI.

34. Most Effective Use – Integrated Media

This category recognises the most effective use of various marketing mediums to create / support a unified integrated marketing communications strategy to promote a brand, product or service.

Judges will be looking at how the idea was executed across multiple distribution channels (at least 3 channels) to support the strategic approach and the results from the combined use. Entries should also demonstrate how the campaign was executed across various paid, earned and / or owned media (where applicable) to realise the brand’s objective.

35. Most Effective Use – Launch / Re-Launch

This category rewards the most effective launch or re-launch of a brand, event, product or service.

Judges will be looking at the results and metrics from a campaign which helped to achieve the marketing objectives for a new launch / re-launch strategy. Entries should demonstrate how the launch / re-launch was executed via a launch marketing strategy, motive behind the campaign, and the results and insights gained from the deployed activity.

36. Most Effective Use – Marketing Automation

This category recognises campaigns that have successfully harnessed marketing automation tools and processes to streamline marketing efforts, enhance customer journeys, and achieve remarkable results.

Judges are interested in initiatives that showcase how marketing automation has significantly improved efficiency, engagement, and ROI.

37. Most Effective Use – Mobile

This category recognises the most effective and innovative use of apps and mobile marketing. Campaigns could have included the use of apps and mobile as a media format, mobile app marketing and / or marketing and advertising through mobile and apps to achieve a specific marketing outcome, be it branding, a prompted consumer behaviour or simply increased consumption.

Judges will be evaluating the effectiveness and results of mobile app marketing methods to complement a brand’s offline experience, drive e-commerce, engage customers or connect a brand with its loyal customers. Entries should demonstrate how the apps/mobile reached broader audiences, increased conversion rates and turned a profit from mobile marketing.

38. Most Effective Use – Omnichannel

This category recognises the most effective approaches to omnichannel marketing, including how the entire customer experience was aligned across all touch points in order to drive a customer-centric experience.

Judges will be evaluating the effectiveness and results of the campaign. Entries should demonstrate how the use of omnichannel marketing increased conversion rates and helped meet campaign and business objectives.

39. Most Effective Use – Out-of-Home

This category awards the most effective use of an Out-of-Home (OOH) campaign. OOH could include media such as billboards, transit media, public spaces or any other media formats traditionally classified as OOH.

Judges will be looking at how the campaign was executed and generated desired results that met a business or marketing communication objective. Entries should reflect how the use of OOH managed to increase reach and recall of a campaign and impact path-to-purchase.

40. Most Effective Use – Performance Marketing

This category commends initiatives that have optimised strategies across paid media, SEO, conversion rate optimisation, and other performance-focused channels to achieve outstanding results.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that have demonstrated exceptional effectiveness in the realm of performance marketing.

41. Most Effective Use – Programmatic Marketing

This category recognises the organisation that best used programmatic strategies and solutions to optimise a campaign and greater enhance the targeting to a specific audience. Entrants should be able to demonstrate how the programmatic strategy specifically improved the campaign’s success and helped achieve business objectives.

Judges will be looking at how the use of audience data and technology to tailor the marketing campaign to the right person, at the right moment, in the right context; and how this generated the desired results that met a business or marketing communication objective. Entries should reflect how the use of programmatic managed to improve reach efficiency of a campaign.

42. Most Effective Use – Social Commerce

Whether through seamless shopping experiences on social platforms, innovative social commerce strategies, or influencer collaborations, this award recognises initiatives that have mastered the art of social commerce.

Judges will be looking for campaigns that have effectively leveraged social commerce to drive impressive business outcomes.

43. Most Effective Use – Social Media

This category recognises the most effective use of social media in a marketing and advertising campaign. It can be part of a one-off campaign or a longer-term marketing strategy.

Judges will be looking at how the innovative use of social media channels reaped results towards customer acquisition and engaged existing customers. Entries should illustrate the effectiveness of the execution through social media channels to activate or enhance a marketing strategy.

44. Most Effective Use – Specific Audience

This category recognises the effective execution of a marketing campaign targeted towards a specific audience. This is not exclusive to a single audience, but the majority of the target audience should be a specific demographic the campaign set out to approach. Specific audience bases could include gender, age group, interest groups (e.g. wellness) and other profiled audiences.

Judges will be looking at the strategy behind the executed campaign and how the targeted audience responded to the campaign. Entries should illustrate how they managed to engage targeted audiences in prompting customer acquisition, awareness, or a desired consumer behaviour.

45. Most Effective Use – Video

This category awards the most effective and compelling use of video in advertising campaigns. This can include TV advertising and online video advertising for displays along linear, non-linear and companion ad formats.

Judges will be looking at the strategy and execution behind the use of videos as a platform to drive customer engagement. Entries should demonstrate how the brand gained success from the dissemination of said commercials and advertising and the resulting impact it left on audiences be it branding, a prompted consumer behaviour or simply increased consumption.

46. Most Effective Use – Zero-Party Data NEW

This category recognises the most effective use of zero-party data (data intentionally shared by consumers) to drive personalised marketing efforts.

Judges will look for innovative methods of collecting and utilising zero-party data. Entries should demonstrate how this data was used to create personalised experiences, improve customer relationships, and achieve marketing goals.

Not for Entry Categories

47. Overall Creative Ideas MARKie

This award is not open for entry, and will be awarded to the agency that has performed best in the Creative Ideas segment at the MARKies awards. Using a points system (1 point for Bronze, 2 points for Silver, and 4 points for Gold) this award will go to the winner with the most points across all creative categories at the end of the night.

48. Overall Media Usage MARKie

This award is also not open for entry, and will be awarded to the agency that has performed best in the Media Usage segment at the MARKies awards. Using a points system (1 point for Bronze, 2 points for Silver, and 4 points for Gold) this award will go to the winner with the most points across all Media Usage categories at the end of the night.