The Marketing Achievement Awards is the only awards programme in South Africa that celebrates marketing’s role in business success. While the bar is high, these are our industry’s premier marketing awards and the ones you want to win!

Participating in the Marketing Achievement Awards program can bring a variety of benefits, including:

• Recognition and prestige: Winning an award or even being a finalist can give you and your brand (or your agency) valuable recognition and prestige in your industry. This can help you stand out from the competition, create your point of difference and establish yourself as a thought leader.
• Credibility and trust: Winning an award can also increase your credibility and trust with colleagues, potential clients, customers, and partners. It demonstrates that your work has been recognised and validated by your peers and experts in your field.
• Personal satisfaction: Winning an award provides a sense of personal satisfaction and validation for your hard work and achievements. It can boost your confidence and motivate you to continue to excel in your career.
• Career advancement: Industry recognition for winning an award can open doors for career advancement. It can help you gain more exposure and recognition within your organisation for your thought leadership. It shows your contribution to business success and makes a case for your involvement in all conversations that involve your customers. New job opportunities, promotions, or salary increases – the sky’s the limit!
• Motivation and morale: Entering the awards can be a great way to boost motivation and morale among your team. It can provide a sense of achievement and recognition for their hard work and dedication.
• Networking opportunities: Entering the awards can provide opportunities for networking and building relationships with other professionals in our industry. Connect with judges, other entrants, and attendees at the gala awards ceremony and associated events.
• Feedback and improvement: The judging process for marketing awards programs can involve constructive feedback and evaluation from industry experts if requested. This can help you identify areas for improvement and assist in refining your marketing strategies.

Whether you’re an agency, consultant, or the steward of a brand, winning a Marketing Achievement Award doesn’t just give you bragging rights, it’s another arrow in your quiver when justifying marketing’s role in driving business results.

Entries are open!

The submission date has been extended and the final deadline for all entries is midnight on Sunday 10th September.

Entering the awards is a straightforward process that starts with an Executive Summary or short elevator pitch to showcase your submission.

There are then three written sections to complete on the online entry form:

Section A: What did you set out to achieve?
This section comprises the bulk of the submission and focuses on framing the business objectives and the marketing strategy to achieve them. (This section is worth 50% of the total available points.)

Section B: How you did it?
This section is all about your mix elements. Here’s where you can present examples of the execution and explain how the tactics used brought the strategy to life. (This section is worth 25% of the total available points.)

Section C: What were your results and learnings?
This section is all about the bottom line – assessing your results against your objectives and revealing what was learnt in the process. A great way to evaluate your work to date! (This section is worth the remaining 25% of the total available points.)

Add your supporting collateral (images, charts, screenshots, links to online video etc…) in .pdf or PowerPoint formats and you’re set to submit.

The entry form will walk you through the criteria so that you can share these with your team and start working on completing your entry.

Marketing Organisation of the Year: Please see entry requirements here.

Rising Star of the Year: Please see entry requirements here.

The criteria in each category are similar (but nuanced), so we’ve given some guidance on what judges will be looking out for in each section and plenty of tips on what’s required to frame up a winning entry.

Yes, by all means – any of the entry forms for the category awards can be downloaded by following this link.

Yes, you do – entries without quantifiable results will be penalised.

Be as specific as possible and show your dashboards or screen grabs.
Speak to the input and output KPI’s that matter – those that address your strategic objectives.
The more specific, the better.

Mark these as [Confidential], if you like, using the online submission form to guide you.

• View the “Awards” tab and take note of which categories you wish to enter.
• Register on the entry portal, select your categories and enter your details.
• You do not need to pay upfront to register, simply select the “Pay Later” option during the process.
• You will receive a mail that will allow you to access your online entry form.
• Schedule time to enter and get your team on board with preparing your entry.
• Make a payment to confirm your entry and make it available for submission.
• Complete your entry in the plain text fields provided and upload your .pdf or PowerPoint collateral.
• Hit “Submit” and give yourself (and your team) a high five!

2023 entry fees are as follows:

• Category Awards: R2720 ex vat per entry 
• Rising Star of the Year: R500 per entry 
• Marketing Organisation of the Year: R2720 ex vat per entry 

Payment is made via bank transfer – you’ll see the details during the online submission process, but you do not need to pay up until the point of submission.

Please make your payment for your entry prior to the final submission.
Once payment for your entries has been received, your invoice will be raised and sent out accordingly.

Category Awards:
February 2022 – August 2023 (18 months prior to the entry deadline)

Marketing Organisation of the Year:
August 2020 – August 2023 (Past 3 years)

Rising Star of the Year:
Career highlights from the past four years.

“That’s a negative ghost rider” – companies must agree in advance 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, so please make sure you confer with your campaign partners prior to entering the awards.

Yes, you can enter the same campaign for more than one category. However, please don’t copy/paste the same submission.

Each category has specific requirements and you will be doing your work an injustice if you don’t speak to these criteria and substantiate/motivate the specifics of how your entry stands out in the category it was submitted.

An entry fee for each submission will apply and must be paid for each category entered.

You’re in it to win it, so please confer with your colleagues and pick only your strongest entries to enter into a single award category.

Yes, 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.

Category Awards:
There’s plenty of scope to show examples of the ingenuity and creativity of your campaign in the .pdf/PowerPoint collateral document. Our judges are particularly interested in your thought process, your planning, execution and results, so please ensure you complete your entire written submission in the fields of the online submission form as this will deliver the essence of the strategic thrust behind your campaign.

Leadership Awards:
Yes, please submit your entry .pdf as you see fit.

We understand that you may have to share information you would not want to disclose publicly to win an award.

It is very important that you fully present your case. In particular, details of your budget and results should be provided. The more information you supply, the better the judges will be able to assess your entry.

All figures supplied are strictly confidential and for the judges’ information only.

Judges are allocated to entries where no conflicts of interest prevail and each judge is bound by a non-disclosure agreement before they can view your entry.

The Marketing Achievement Awards may wish to publish case studies or ask you to speak at our events based on your entry. Please mark any commercially sensitive material in your entry and indicate any information which cannot be published, by adding [CONFIDENTIAL] to sensitive statements or figures presented. If you are unable to share specifics, give ranges and a clear explanation as to why you cannot share.

Rest assured, we will not publish any winning case study without prior consultation with you and your partners to present confidential figures and metrics in an appropriate manner.

Meet our esteemed judges here

The adjudication of the awards is overseen by the Marketing Achievers Council.  Each adjudication panel is chaired by an independent chairperson and comprised of marketing industry professionals, with final results being ratified by the Marketing Association of South Africa.

Please see the list of winners and finalists on the winner’s page of this website.

1. We have updated the criteria this year and provided an outline of what’s required for a category win in our downloadable Entry Kit.
2. A new feedback mechanism will be implemented in the adjudication process to allow judges to request additional detail and fact-check entries where questions arise.

Please email your question to us at info@marketingawards.co.za and we’ll get back to you asap.