This award celebrates the best in-house agency and is open to any in-house agency or team that is part of a brand’s business. Entries should provide evidence of creativity, innovation and delivery, a track record of growth and business performance, development of the in-house agency’s culture, and contribution to the brand’s wider business. The entrant should use its company’s own business results to demonstrate how the in-house agency’s marketing strategy delivered with demonstrable results. Entrants will need to supply two endorsements from the brand and two endorsements from external agency and/or media partners, which should be a total of no more than 500 words.

Judges will consider:

*The in-house agency’s achievements during the eligibility period, including track record of creativity, innovation and delivery against objectives

*Notable campaigns and work that ran during the eligibility period

*The size and scope of the in-house agency, performance metrics such as the in-house agency’s growth, number of campaigns and/or other measures that demonstrate effectiveness. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency has worked in partnership with any third parties such as an external agency.

*Business performance of the in-house agency, including evidence of financial success.

*Development of the in-house agency’s culture and staff, including recruitment and retention. Judges will consider the role the in-house agency has played to improve inclusion and its approach to sustainability

*Contribution to the brand’s wider business.

This award celebrates a new in-house agency or team that has launched in the last two years. It is open to an in-house agency or team that has started running campaigns for the first time since 1 January 2023. Entries should explain the business rationale that led to the launch of the in-house agency and provide evidence of creativity, innovation and delivery, a track record of growth and business performance, development of the in-house agency’s culture, and contribution to the brand’s wider business. The entrant should use its company’s own business results to demonstrate how the in-house agency’s marketing strategy delivered with demonstrable results. Entrants will need to supply two endorsements from the brand and two endorsements from external agencies and/or media partners, which should be a total of no more than 500 words. (In-house agencies that have launched in the last two years are also eligible to enter the main In-house agency of the year category — below.)

Judges will consider:

*The in-house agency or team’s achievements during the eligibility period, including track record of creativity, innovation and delivery against objectives.

*Notable campaigns and work that ran during the eligibility period

*The size and scope of the in-house agency, performance metrics such as the in-house agency’s growth, number of campaigns and/or other measures that demonstrate effectiveness. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency has worked in partnership with any third parties such as an external agency.

*Business performance of the in-house agency, including evidence of financial success

*Development of the in-house agency’s culture and staff. Judges will consider the role the in-house agency has played to improve inclusion and its approach to sustainability

*Contribution to the brand’s wider business.

This award celebrates leadership in the in-house agency sector. It is open to any leader or other senior executive who works in a leadership role in a brand’s in-house agency. Such roles can include but are not limited to commercial, strategy, creative, production, media buying and data management. Entries should provide evidence of leadership and growth and the individual’s role in delivering business performance, development of the in-house agency’s culture, ability to drive transformation and contribution to the brand’s wider business. Entrants will need to supply two endorsements from the brand and two endorsements from external agencies and/or media partners, which should be a total of no more than 500 words.

Judges will consider:

*The individual’s achievements during the eligibility period, including achievement against objectives

*The size and scope of the in-house agency, performance metrics such as the in-house agency’s growth, number of campaigns and/or other measures that demonstrate effectiveness of the work, and how the individual’s leadership contributed. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the leader of the in-house agency has worked in partnership with any third parties such as an external agency.

*The performance of the brand’s marketing and wider business, and how the individual has advanced the business.

*Development of the in-house agency’s culture and personal involvement in staff development initiatives. Judges will consider the role the individual has played to improve inclusion and their approach to sustainability

*Innovation led by the individual and the results it has achieved

*How the individual has contributed to the broader industry above and beyond their day- to-day role

This category celebrates the creative excellence of a single campaign which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the ideation and development of the campaign. While the judges will be looking primarily at the originality and quality of the creative output, they will also consider how the campaign achieved business outcomes for the brand with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as an external agency to deliver the campaign.

This category celebrates the creative excellence of a social media or creator-led campaign which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role and why social media and/or an online creator/influencer was at the heart of the campaign. While the judges will be looking primarily at the originality and quality of the creative output, they will also consider how the campaign achieved business outcomes for the brand with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a social media platform, a creator/influencer or an external agency to deliver the campaign.

This category celebrates the marketing effectiveness of a campaign which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played a leading role in the ideation and development of the campaign. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the strategy delivered on effectiveness with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as an external agency to deliver the campaign.

This category celebrates a social content strategy which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the ideation and development of the social content strategy. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the strategy delivered with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a social media platform, a creator/influencer or an external agency to develop and implement the strategy.

This category celebrates a branded content strategy which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the ideation and development of the branded content strategy. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the strategy delivered with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a media owner or platform or an external agency to develop and implement the strategy.

This category celebrates excellence in media planning and buying for a single campaign which was devised by an in-house agency and delivered brand or commercial success. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the media strategy and the planning and buying of the campaign. The judges will be looking for impactful and innovative use of media channels and data resources. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the media campaign delivered with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a media owner or platform or an external agency to deliver the media campaign.

This category celebrates the best use of emerging technology in marketing by an in-house agency. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the application of this emerging technology. Such technologies can include but are not limited to artificial intelligence, creative origination and production, data management and media optimisation. The judges will want to understand how and why the in-house agency used this emerging technology and how it led to brand or commercial success. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the innovation delivered with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a technology company or external agency to use the emerging technology.

This category celebrates an innovation in marketing which was devised by an in-house agency and had a breakthrough or disruptive impact that benefitted the brand’s business. Entrants must clearly demonstrate how the in-house agency played the lead role in the marketing innovation or new product development. The judges will want to understand how and why the in-house agency developed this innovation and how it led to brand or commercial success. Entrants should use the brand’s own business results to show how the innovation delivered with demonstrable results. It may be helpful to include, when relevant, how the in-house agency worked in partnership with any third parties such as a media or technology company or external agency to develop the innovation.