Judging Criteria

Download Entry Form Categories

Judges will read and pre-score all entry forms, considering any supporting materials submitted. Judges will be asked to give a score for each question within the entry form, as listed in the bullet points below. These will be combined to give an overall score for each entry. All judges pre-scores will then be combined and the highest scoring entries will determine the shortlists.

Judges will meet to discuss the highest scoring entries and then agree the winner for each category. The judging session will take place on Wednesday 8 April 2020, with the shortlist being announced on Friday 10 April 2020.

The awards will be judged by some of the biggest names in search. Click here to see this year’s judging panel.

Entries should not exceed 1000 words in total and should relate to work undertaken between March 2019 — March 2020.

28 FEB

Entry Deadline

8 APRIL

Judging Session

10 APRIL

Shortlist Announced

14 MAY

Awards Ceremony

Campaign Awards

The judges will be looking for clear objectives, creative and effective implementation and tangible and demonstrable results in the campaign award categories. They will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:
• Total budget
• Objectives
• Strategy & target audience
• Creativity & implementation
• Results & evaluation

Any entries that do not include information under all of these headings will be marked down. If appropriate you may include up to three pieces of supporting materials.

Innovation / Software Awards

The judges will be looking for a clear description of an outstanding blog, innovation or product, with indication of budget. Judges will be looking for new features/tools added in the last twelve months for the software awards. They will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:
• Total Budget
• Overview of the innovation/product
• Why you think your entry should win

Any entries that do not include information under all of these headings will be marked down. If appropriate, you may include up to three pieces of supporting materials.

In addition to the above judges will utilise the log in & password provided to mark the following:
• The usability/functionality of the product
• The effectiveness and performance of the product

Please note if you're unable to provide a login, please contact awards@dontpanicprojects.com.

Team / Agency / Individual Awards

Judges will be looking for agencies, teams and individuals that can demonstrate an ongoing and sustained commitment to delivering best practice while showing a creative and innovative approach to search. Judges will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:
• Details of the team / agency / individual
• Agency / individual objectives
• Recent campaign example
• Recent achievements
• Challenges
• Why you think your entry should win

Any entries that do not include information under all of these headings will be marked down. If appropriate you may include up to three pieces of supporting materials.

Confidentiality

All material will remain confidential to the judges. Winning case studies may be used in post-event materials to promote best practice and permission will be sought from entrants before publishing these.