The European Sponsorship Association (ESA), the membership body that works to inspire better marketing across rights holders, brands and agencies, today launched its prestigious 2015 Excellence Awards with revamped award categories and an invitation to industry experts to join the judging panel.
Following an overhaul of the Awards categories – to better reflect the way sponsorships are being conceived and then activated across Europe – the 2015 ESA Excellence Awards will feature 19 categories, ranging from its respected ESA Professional Development Award through to the new Best Use of Digital and Best Use of Integrated Marketing.
The full list of 2015 ESA Excellence Award categories are:
- ESA Best of Europe Award
- ESA Professional Development Award
- B2B Activation Award
- Best Use of Hospitality Activation
- CSR/Community Sponsorship Award
- Mass Participation Sponsorship or Event Award
- Sponsorship of the Year Award
- Media Sponsorship Award
- Employee Engagement Award
- Live Music Sponsorship or Activation Award
- Arts & Culture Sponsorship Award
- Best Use of Social Media
- Sports Sponsorship Award
- Best Use of Digital
- Best Use of PR
- Rights Holder Achievement Award
- Multi-National Award
- Best Use of Insight
- Best Use of Integrated Marketing
Karen Earl, Chairman of the European Sponsorship Association, explains “The ESA Excellence Awards are firmly established as recognising best practice within our industry and represent the ‘gold standard’ across Europe. But it is imperative we also keep pace with the evolving way in which sponsorships are being used by marketers and we believe our new categories will both reflect these exciting changes and help us celebrate them.”
Organised by the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), the Awards recognise successful sponsorship campaigns in all sectors – sport, culture, entertainment, media, community and corporate responsibility – by assessing their business objectives and campaign results. Now in their ninth year, the ESA Excellence Awards remain the only Awards to acknowledge outstanding work by sponsorship professionals across Europe.
As well as refreshing the Award categories, ESA is now offering the chance for industry professionals to join its existing panel of judges – ensuring that all areas and sectors of the sponsorship arena are represented in the judging process. Being selected as an ESA Excellence Awards judge will offer industry figures the chance to gain further recognition as a leader and key expert in the sponsorship world. The final judging panel will also be able to enjoy the wide-ranging networking and profile-raising benefits of being associated with the Awards.
Slingshot Sponsorship MD and ESA board member Jackie Fast, who has chaired a team of professionals working within the sponsorship industry to revamp the Awards, commented “Our decision to invite new judges onto the panel indicates not only a desire to be seen as even more open and transparent, but also to reflect the broader changes taking place within sponsorship, which has become much more impactful and far reaching. We therefore want to encourage people from across all specialisms within marketing to become involved in the judging process.”
Anyone interested in becoming an ESA Excellence Awards judge should email esaoffice@sponsorship.org with the subject ‘Judge Submission’ and provide 100 words explaining why they would be a suitable choice in 2015 along with a biography. The deadline for this is midday on Thursday 16th July.
For a reminder of the 2014 Awards, please visit http://sponsorship.org/awards/awards-home/ and follow us via the ESA Twitter feed @EuropSponsAssoc #esaawards15.
–ENDS–
For more information about the awards please contact:
Keef Sloan, ESA PR
keefsloan@sponsorship.org
T: +44 (0) 208 390 3311
M: +44 (0) 7973 614302
About European Sponsorship Association:
The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) exists to inspire, educate and raise standards within the sponsorship and wider marketing industry. As a membership association ESA’s vision is to encourage consumer engagement through effective multi-channel marketing. Its many activities, which include policy, governance and corporate responsibility, education and training, information, networking and the ESA Excellence Awards, all have these goals as their core objectives. ESA’s reach encompasses all types of sponsorship activity from sport, broadcast, education, the arts and culture through to environment and the community. Its membership includes sponsors, rights holders, agencies, consultants, professional advisors and suppliers.