Ad Age Small Agency Awards—how to enter

It’s that time of year—the Ad Age Small Agency Awards are open. Honoring impactful and creative work, healthy and sustainable businesses and standout workplaces, this is the only awards program of its kind that recognizes independent agencies of 150 or fewer employees. In 2024 there are several new categories, including those to salute insightful efforts in artificial intelligence and in-house producers. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here What are the new categories for 2024? As competition for consumer attention continues to accelerate, Ad Age is looking to identify the small, independent agencies using data and tools—new and old—to help brands break through the clutter. New in 2024 is are categories for Data & Insights Agency of the Year and Best Use of AI. We’ve also added an award to honor in-house agency producers. Back for a second year is the Best Use of TikTok, an award judged by Ad Age and TikTok. Free to enter, the award will honor an agency or brand that created work made for TikTok that drove cultural and/or commercial impact. More info on eligibility and what you’ll need to enter can be found at AdAge.com/SAA2024. When is the deadline for the 2024 Small Agency Awards? The final deadline for all award categories is Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET. Who is eligible? Ad Age defines small agencies as agencies with 150 or fewer full-time employees. All agencies of all marketing disciplines are eligible to enter. Entrants must be majority-independent owned, or in other words, at minimum, 51% privately held. Agencies that are not eligible are those that are majority- or fully-backed by a holding company (e.g. firms like WPP, Publicis Groupe or MDC Partners) or other firms, such as a publisher, marketer, etc. Can international agencies enter the Small Agency Awards? Yes, as of 2022, international agencies are now eligible to enter many of the awards categories. In the past, international agencies were only able to enter the Small Agency of the Year category to be considered for the International Agency of the Year honor. Now, categories including Experiential, Media and Newcomer Agency of the Year, all campaign categories, Executive of the Year and our Agency Culture category are open to international entrants. Please note that all submissions should be written in English. Are individuals at agencies eligible to enter? Yes, our people categories recognize and celebrate the people behind small agency success. In addition to honors for executives, creatives, account managers, media planners and strategic planners, this year, we will also award an Agency Producer of the Year. What kind of work is eligible for the Small Agency Awards? All kinds, including TV spots and campaigns, experiential, web videos, branded content, design (product, package, graphic, motion, experience, retail, etc.), websites, games, apps, social media and other stuff that’s harder to define: new distribution ideas, new ways to engage a community, etc. We ask that you enter only bona fide work for a real client of your agency that was actually produced and/or ran in a media environment. Please do not enter work that was created only to run in award shows. If judges raise any flags, we will be following up and we’ll disqualify bogus work (e.g. work not approved by a client, work done for a client you don’t have, ads that were run once, at 3 a.m. in Bend, Oregon, so they would be eligible to enter in Cannes, etc.). Campaigns should have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024. For the Best Use of TikTok category, campaigns, videos or actions must have debuted and run on TikTok between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here What are judges looking for? The Small Agency Awards categories don’t focus on one thing—judges are looking for a mix of innovation, creativity, campaign performance and business growth. It’s not just about big-name clients, either; agencies that can build smart, effective work for a typically uninteresting category or produce outsize business results for a fledging marketer are more likely to capture the judges’ attention. Pay close attention to the entry forms as each and every field was carefully chosen to give the judges the best possible picture of each entrant’s agency, culture, campaign or individual. How much does it cost to enter the 2024 Ad Age Small Agency Awards? As with previous years, the entry fee for the Small Agency of the Year category is tiered. The fee for agencies with 1-10 full-time employees is $325; the fee for agencies with 11-75 employees is $375; and the fee for agencies with 76-150 employees is $450. For all other categories, the fee is $375 per entry; except for the Best Use of TikTok category, which is free to enter. How do I enter? Instructions, criteria, eligibility and tips for entering can all be found at AdAge.com/SAA2024. When are the finalists notified? Finalists will be notified in June 2024; winners will be announced at the 2024 Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards in late July in Boston. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here

Ad Age Small Agency Awards—how to enter

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