Submissions for Season 6 are now closed. 

Competition Rules

Competition name: The Marketing Achievement Awards (2026)

Platform: Entries are submitted through the MAA online entry platform powered by Awards Engine.

Entries open: Wednesday 29 April 2026 at 09h00

Entries close: Midnight on Saturday 11 July 2026. No submissions will be accepted after this deadline.

All fully completed entries and related payments must be received by the organiser(s) before the closing time.

The promoter(s) reserve the right to extend the competition. Notice of this will be posted on www.marketingawards.co.za

Winners announcement: Winners will be announced at the 2026 Marketing Achievement Awards Evening on 3 November 2026, in the marketing and media press, on social media, and on the www.marketingawards.co.za website.

Whilst finalists and/or prize winners may be asked to take part in publicity for the competition you have the right to refuse to do so.

Key Dates

Entries OpenWednesday 29 April 2026
Leadership Nominations CloseFriday 19 June 2026
Main Entries CloseSaturday 11 July 2026
Qualifier AnnouncementTuesday 25 August 2026
Final Adjudication26 August - 10 September 2026
Awards NightTuesday 3 November 2026

The MAA reserves the right to change any dates related to the competition timeline without prejudice. Any changes will be posted on www.marketingawards.co.za

The following numbered rules govern all aspects of entry, judging, and participation in the Marketing Achievement Awards. These rules supersede any conflicting information.

  1. ELIGIBILITY The competition entries are open to any individual or organisation based anywhere in South Africa who contributed to a marketing initiative as outlined in the category descriptions.
  2. QUALIFYING PERIOD All work submitted must have been commercially produced/published/launched/aired and must be live in the South African market within 18 months prior to the submission deadline (11 July 2026).
  3. RE-ENTRIES You may submit a previously entered case study, as long as it has continued to run during the qualifying period. Please highlight significant changes in results and motivate the reasons for submission into this year’s awards.
  4. SUBMISSION METHOD Entries must be submitted using the online entry platform and will not be accepted by any other means.
  5. CLIENT APPROVAL If consulting or supplying strategic services to an organisation, client sign-off is assumed. If any issues arise concerning the client sign-off once the entry has been submitted, no refund will be given.
  6. DUPLICATE ENTRIES If there was more than one company working on the project, you must agree in advance on who will submit the entry and must agree on how the credits will be completed. If an entry is received from more than one company, only the first entry will be accepted. No refunds will be given on duplicate entries.
  7. ACCURACY OF INFORMATION Please ensure that the information submitted is accurate and the correct companies are credited as appropriate. We accept no responsibility for any incorrectly submitted information.
  8. VERIFICATION AND CONTACT RIGHTS The organisers reserve the right to contact any individual or party involved in an entry submission to verify the contents and accuracy of the entry, to request additional information or clarification, or to extend invitations to awards events and related activities.
  9. CONTENT USAGE The Marketing Achievement Awards may use the content of your entry submission for editorial coverage, and business or marketing purposes as an example of best practice. We will never publish anything marked as [CONFIDENTIAL]. We will not publish any winning case study without prior consultation with you and your partners.
  10. PERMISSIONS AND RELEASES You are responsible for obtaining any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the entered work for all purposes relating to the awards and the publishing of the winning case study by the promoters.
  11. SUPPORTING MATERIAL FORMAT Supporting material must be supplied in digital format only. No physical supporting material is required.
  12. FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS Please ensure that uploaded logos, videos, and any supporting files follow the supporting material guidelines. File names must not include any special characters e.g. / & * ( ) "
  13. WEBSITE AND VIDEO LINK REQUIREMENTS Where websites or video links form part of an entry, please ensure any URLs supplied work and will continue to work until after the awards process is completed (October 2026). Sites and links that cannot be viewed will be eliminated from the judging. Self-hosted video links must be accessible without login credentials throughout the judging period. Private YouTube and Vimeo links are acceptable.
  14. RE-CATEGORISATION The judges reserve the right to re-categorise entries if they think another category would be more suitable.
  15. ENTRY EDITING Entries may be edited after submission. Entry credits (team information) and media uploads may be updated in the applicant portal until entries are locked for judging.
  16. NON-REFUNDABLE ENTRIES Once payment is confirmed, entries are non-refundable.
  17. ENTRY WITHDRAWAL Any entry may be withdrawn for any reason up until midnight on the day of the submission deadline upon written request to the organisers; however, the entry fee is non-refundable.
  18. JUDGE ALLOCATION All judges are allocated entries in a manner that ensures that no conflicts of interest arise. Each judge is bound by an NDA prior to viewing any entries.
  19. SPONSOR RESTRICTIONS Sponsors are not permitted to enter the category that they are sponsoring.
  20. FINAL DECISION The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding it.
  21. ENTRY FEES The entry administration fee is R3,400 (excluding VAT) per entry.
  22. PAYMENT METHODS The MAA accepts payment via credit or debit card and Electronic Funds Transfer, both processed via PayFast secure payment gateway. For EFT payments, please use your Invoice Number or Order Summary Number as the payment reference. Payments typically reflect within 1–2 business days. Entries are validated for adjudication once payment is confirmed. Agencies paying for multiple clients may contact us for payment assistance.
  23. TEAM CREDITS REQUIREMENTS Entrants must provide the following information for publication if the entry wins: Lead Brand Marketer (name and title) required; Lead Agency Partner (if applicable); additional agencies (optional, up to 2); team members (optional, up to 10, with name, role, and organisation). Entrants are responsible for obtaining consent from all team members before including their names.
  24. AGENCY SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Agencies may submit entries on behalf of brands. The agency must confirm written approval from the brand to submit the entry. Both the agency and brand will be credited equally in all winner materials. The MAA reserves the right to verify agency authorisation before accepting entries.
  25. CONFIDENTIALITY All figures supplied are strictly confidential and for judges’ information only. No AI tools are used in the judging process. All entries are reviewed exclusively by human judges who are industry experts. Entrants may mark commercially sensitive material by adding [CONFIDENTIAL] to sensitive statements or figures.
  26. ENTRY OWNERSHIP AND RIGHTS Entries remain the intellectual property of the entrant. By submitting, entrants grant the MAA a non-exclusive licence to display entry materials for judging purposes, publish winner case studies (with approval), display the executive summary and composite image on the MAA website, and include winner work in MAA publications, events, and promotional materials.
  27. DATA USAGE FOR INDUSTRY RESEARCH The MAA will aggregate anonymised data from Section D (Code, Culture & Commerce) of all entries to produce the ‘State of Code, Culture & Commerce’ industry report, available exclusively to all entrants. No individual entry details or identifiable company data will be published without explicit permission.
  28. PARTNER COMMUNICATIONS Entrants may opt-in to receive occasional emails from MAA sponsors and partners. This is optional. Entrants may decline at the point of entry submission and unsubscribe at any time.
  29. DISQUALIFICATION GROUNDS The MAA reserves the right to disqualify entries that contain false or misleading information; were submitted without appropriate client/brand approval; infringe on third-party intellectual property rights; offend national, religious, cultural, or racial feelings; violate the competition rules or spirit of fair competition; were not commercially published, launched, or aired for a genuine client. Spec or non-commercial work (except pro bono for registered charities/non-profits) is not eligible.
  30. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION All contact information supplied in the entry process is handled in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Contact information is visible only to MAA administrators, used solely for competition administration and winner notification, never shared with third parties except partner sponsors (with explicit opt-in consent), and stored securely on the Awards Engine platform. To request deletion of your personal information after the competition concludes, please contact us.