The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) today announced the entries short-listed for its prestigious 2015 Excellence Awards.
With entries up by more than a third on last year, the competition was stiffer than ever for brands, agencies, rights holders and individual professionals to make it through to the Awards ceremony on Thursday 11 February, 2016, at Café de Paris in London.
The newly assembled team of judges – crowd sourced from senior execs within brands and rights holders – will be set for a testing and intriguing final day of judging next month to pick the winners. The contenders span a diverse range of sponsorship disciplines and events from Taekwondo, rugby and the FIA World Rally Championship, through to the National Portrait Gallery, a Comedy Festival in Leicester and the Amsterdam Marathon. The full shortlist is available now at http://sponsorship.org/awards/2015-shortlist/
Karen Earl, Chairman of the European Sponsorship Association commented:
“With nearly a quarter of the entries coming from 12 different newcomers to the Excellence Awards, the industry has given an overwhelmingly positive endorsement of ESA’s decision to overhaul its Award categories and better reflect the way sponsorships are being conceived and then activated across Europe.
“The Awards represent the industry ‘gold standard’, recognising and celebrating the best in sponsorship. Winning an ESA Excellence Award provides a valuable and powerful marketing platform to showcase great work and promote your achievements to industry peers.”
For the first time, ESA has also partnered with CMU magazine on its music partnership award. Commenting on the tie up, Jackie Fast, Board Director at ESA and Managing Director of Slingshot Sponsorship, said:
“Music remains a key channel for brands looking to reach and engage their audiences, and each year we see brands, artists, festivals and other music companies employ ever more creative approaches to make their partnerships stand out. We look forward to celebrating some of the best at this year’s Excellence Awards and also sharing them with CMU’s readers.”
To book tickets for the Awards ceremony on Thursday 11 February, 2016, at Café de Paris, London, visit http://sponsorship.org/awards/ceremony/ . The early bird rate is available until 24 November, 2015.
The full list of 2015 ESA Excellence Award categories is:
- ESA Best of Europe 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
Organised by the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), the Awards celebrate 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 recognise outstanding work by sponsorship professionals across Europe.
–ENDS–
For further Press information, contact the ESA Office on +44 (0) 20 8390 3311 or via esaoffice@sponsorship.org
About ESA
The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) represents the interests of the sponsorship industry in Europe. As a membership organisation, its members comprise sponsors, rights holders, agencies, professional advisors and suppliers who operate at a global, pan-European and national level across Europe.
The Association works to raise standards within the industry through dissemination of information, education and training (ESA Knowledge; ESA Diploma) and to promote and protect the industry through its lobbying at national and European level.
Note to the editor
The ESA Best of Europe Award and Sponsorship of the Year Award have a different mechanism for judging and details about these awards will be released at a later date.