Crafting a winning entry
Entry Format
Our guiding belief is that the campaign is your story and you know how to tell it in a way that captures the things—from insight to creative idea to effectiveness—that make it special.
So while we are happy to receive awards in the traditional two-page-summary format, it has become increasingly common for entries to come in PowerPoint or other slideshow formats, or to tell their stories in video.
While we give all of our entrants the freedom to use the format they prefer (and that fits their budget), it is important to put yourself in the place of our judges and make life easier for them. Bear in mind that they are viewing dozens of entries (often more than 80), so make it easy for them to understand what makes our entry different and better. Many of our judges find video easier than text alone; none of them want to be confronted with page after page of dense writing.
Whatever format you choose, the summary should include a brief description of the assignment; the challenge it presented; any research and insight that contributed to the creative strategy; details of the creative execution; and of course the results.
What we care about
There’s no single simple formula for success at SABRE, because there’s no single simple formula for great public relations. Rather, there are multiple things that our judges look for in a winning campaign.
Winning campaigns will not necessarily score 10 out of 10 on all of these criteria. Some winners will stand out because they do just one of these five things exceptionally well. But all of our winners will need to stand out on at least one of the following five dimensions:
1. Impact
The first and most obvious criterion for SABRE success is the impact the campaign had on its intended audience and the client organization. Here are some of the questions our judges are likely to ask when it comes to impact:
· Did the campaign have clear, measurable objectives?
· Did they campaign meet or exceed those objectives?
· Did the campaign deliver results beyond coverage and reach?
· Did the campaign demonstrate impact on audience attitudes or behaviors?
· Did the campaign have lasting impact on stakeholder relationships?
· Did the campaign produce tangible benefits for the client?
To win a SABRE based on impact, the entry should answer at least some of these questions.
2. Creative Problem-Solving
While all public relations awards competitions encourage creative excellence, it’s sometimes unclear how they define creativity.
As far as the SABRE Awards are concerned, creativity is not just a big, splashy, attention-grabbing idea. Rather, we see creativity as elegant problem-solving, finding a strategically-appropriate solution to the client’s challenge or opportunity.
3. Strategic Insight
In most cases, the solutions that impress the SABRE judges will be derived from a strategic insight, an understanding of the client challenge or opportunity that is grounded in either data or experience. Winning submissions will demonstrate that the PR team either extracted insight from research into the intended audience; from immersion in and connection with the intended audience; or from a deep understanding of the cultural context in which the client and its stakeholders intersect.
4. Innovative Approaches
Many winning cases deploy innovative approaches to delivering the campaign’s messages.
Public relations is a broad discipline, and professionals have a wide range of channels at their disposal, from traditional earned media to creators and influencers, from events to paid advertising, including various forms of content created by the client, the agency, or partners. And technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality are offering new opportunities to connect.
Our judges look for campaigns that deploy one channel exceptionally effectively, or several channels in combination to deliver the maximum impact.
5. Executional Excellence
Occasionally, winning campaigns don’t include anything particularly innovative; instead they deploy tried-and-tested public relations approaches with such attention to detail that they stand as textbook examples of the tools and channels involved.
Typically, these winning cases are based around events that many companies experience—corporate crises, mergers and acquisitions, the introduction of new vision and values—or use familiar tactics such as thought leadership campaigns. But they do so in a way that they could serve as a template for other companies to follow.
“Bonus Points”
In addition to the five criteria above, there are a number of things that earn “bonus points” for the organizations submitting. Not all of our jury members look for all of these things, and some judges may value one or two of them above the others. But in our experience, these are the things that gain extra favor from our judges.
1. Did the creative solution take courage? Was the agency brave to suggest the strategy it did? Was the client brave to agree to it?
2. Was it authentic? Did the core creative idea seem to arrive organically from the DNA of the company? Was it a true reflection of the organization’s values?
3. Was it engaging? The best campaigns today go beyond delivering a message to a passive audience, prompting engagement, encouraging the audience to respond both emotionally and in some tangible way.
4. Was it sticky? Did the campaign end with a single transaction or did it contribute toward a lasting relationship?
5. What does it say about public relations as a profession? Did it deliver benefits to the client organization and the audience? Did it make a positive contribution to the public good?
What we don't care about
We have always taken the view that great work can originate anywhere. Big ideas don’t necessarily originate with big agencies, or for big clients. And they don’t necessarily require big budgets.
SABRE celebrates work from giant multinational agencies, tiny boutiques, and in-house teams. We have seen great work designed to promote blue-chip consumer brands and obscure business-to-business companies.
We have seem exceptional work in corporate affairs, crisis management, employee communications as well as in consumer marketing.
We have been impressed by campaigns from the industrial sector and utilities, from extractive industries, from real estate and construction companies as well as from consumer brands and NGOs.
In short, we don’t care about where the campaign comes from—what kind of agency, what size of agency, what industry sector or practice area.
Our judges know GREAT work and that’s their only focus.
Watch our webinar on how to format your entry and what our SABRE judges are looking for
The webinar will help experienced awards entrants understand what makes the SABRE Awards different (and so widely coveted) while those new to awards submissions will learn about formatting, category selection, the judging process, and how best to emphasize the factors that make for a winning campaign.
View the webinar on our YouTube page here