Extensions available for The Drum Experience Awards 2018
The deadline for The Drum Experience Awards, formerly The Drum UK Event Awards, has been and gone but you can still enter by applying for an extension.
Extensions available for The Drum Experience Awards 2018
Whether you’ve staged a massively successful annual event, launched a brand new one, or created a unique, never-to-be-repeated experience, this is your chance to demonstrate that you can create events that meet and exceed expectations.
On the judging panel this year we have industry experts from Geometry Global, Hearst Live, The Current Collective, Benefit Cosmetics, Apenkooi Events, Identity, Wonder London, INITIALS Marketing, Serpentine Galleries, CSM Live, PrettyGreen and Energy with more to come.
Gone are the days of one size fits all. If you’ve done something that is individual and unique, that’s what our judges want to see. Kyra White, head of brand activation, Benefit Cosmetics indicates that entries who show details from ideation to execution always build the story better, giving judges the bigger picture opposed to a snapshot. She said: “Understanding the KPI’s of each business and if and how these were achieved through delivery of the event is also key. Ultimately, I want to see something that makes me go ‘Wow, I wish I’d seen that’ if I hadn’t already been aware of it.”
Confidence is also key. Brands and agencies need to push the boundaries and be brave with the experiences and events they have curated. Managing director at Wonder London, Ben Turner believes that it’s relatively easy to create a good experience but making a brand standout in an ever-increasing crowded space takes creativity on all levels. “It’s about having the knowledge and experience to deliver against the objectives,” he explained. “It’s great to see the big budget activations, but often the best is from limited budgets, where brands and agencies have to be highly imaginative and innovative. This is where a brand or agency comes into its own.”
Last year The Drum UK Event Awards took a new focus. Not only will these awards once again recognise and reward those often behind the scenes within the event industry, they will now put more of a focus on the experiential element of the marketing world.
Brands are no longer interested in running events for the sake of it. They want to create experiential campaigns which truly reflect the core of the brand. This year, the awards have been renamed The Drum Experience Awards to reflect this change.
Chief executive officer of The Current Collective, Damian Clarke added: “2018 is the first year The Drum have directly recognised the experience sector in their award portfolio, and have also made it available to international entries, so they grow from strength to strength. It just shows the power and importance of brand experiences within the wider marketing mix and how a genuine customer connection with a brand can resonate so strongly.”
The deadline for the awards has now passed but you can still apply for an extension by contacting the awards manager, Laura Gregson.
Sponsors of the awards are Identity and UGCA