Smarties DACH - Guidelines

Entry Process

• Read the guidelines below to prepare your submissions before you enter them online.
• Review insights & tips and check out the for further inspiration.
• Register on the entry site and complete your online submissions.
• Select the categories to enter.
• Complete your case study in English for the 4 sections: Strategy, Creativity, Execution and Results (Business Impact). Note the word limits for each section listed within each section on the entry form.

Video Clip of Your Entry

We strongly recommend that entrants supplement the written entry form with a video showcasing how you brought your idea to life. This video should summarize the challenge, strategy, objectives, execution and outcome of your entry. This clip will be viewed by the judges during the judging sessions. If your entry is a winner, the clip will also be used at the SMARTIES Gala, in the traveling SMARTIES Gallery, on the SMARTIES website, and for media and educational purposes. Please indicate when you enter your submission if there are reasons, such as music licensing, that restrict your video showcase from being shown at or after the Gala.

Your video showcase should be no longer than 3 minutes. This explanatory clip must be concise and should contain key visuals — video, still images or any other relevant footage — along with simple, clear commentary in English summarizing your entry. Please name this video clip as “2023 Entry Video” and submit via URL.

Recommended formats:

• 2.5-minute video
• 16:9 aspect ratio with minimum resolution of 1280x720
• QuickTime or an embedded link (as in YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
• .H264 QuickTime .mov format

View the 2023 winners gallery for ideas on how you should put together your video showcase.

Finalists whose videos do not meet these requirements may be asked to submit a video for use at the celebration.

Publicity Purposes

• Reproduce and display all campaign materials submitted to the SMARTIES – for education and publicity purposes – including creative materials, case summaries, and statements of effectiveness, in the gramming/conferences, at MMA public or private presentations, and offline.
• Reproduce and publish all campaign materials submitted to the SMARTIES in the website, and partner websites as approved by the SMARTIES and MMA.

Things to Consider when writing your entry

Judging Is Done In Two Stages:

Phase One
Pre-Screening: The shortlist is decided by a first round of voting. Judges evaluate and score each entry. Each campaign is screened by a minimum of 5 judges. A voting system selects the highest marks given in each category. The four entries with the highest scores become the category finalists.

Phase Two
Further voting establishes the ranking in each category, which is the basis for the juries' discussions and awarding of Gold, Silver and Bronze. Judges evaluate, discuss and debate the merits of each shortlisted entry to determine the category winners, voting whether a campaign should be awarded a gold, silver, or bronze award. If there are no suitable entries, judges may decline to appoint a winner for any category. The Best in Show is determined from the gold winners of each of the award categories.

A judge’s vote will not be counted for any entry submitted by his or her own company.

Judging Criteria
Strategy 20%; Execution 20%; Creativity 20%; Business Impact (Results) 40%

Business Impact

Each submission must include qualitative and quantitative data to support claims of success.

• Calculate a figure for return on investment (based on sales, profit, etc.)
• Indicate what kind of ROI figure you are sharing
• Did the campaign achieve its objectives and goals?
• What impact did the campaign have on the market, if any?
• How innovative was the campaign?
• What impact did the campaign or enabling technology have on future utilization of mobile in their business?
• How did consumers receive the campaign?