About The Drum Search Awards US

The Drum Search Awards was new to the US market in 2017. In the UK, The Drum Search Awards have been running for 4 successful years and now the awards have their own stateside version. 

These awards will recognize and award the most innovative, creative and effective search campaigns and strategies across both PPC and SEO. 

Ultimately the awards will create collaboration across the whole industry bringing together search engines, agencies, technology providers and all other businesses and brands that contribute to the search industry in the US. 

As the awards are organized by The Drum, a leading marketing communications publication with an extensive global audience, winners will be promoted to their mass readership gaining you international notoriety.

Those entering must show how search is used at the heart of the campaign/aided in the overall success of the campaign.

Here at The Drum we how to celebrate excellence. We know how to throw a party. But more importantly we know how to give great companies the recognition they deserve.

Important Dates to Note: 

Entry Deadline: August 30, 2018

Nominations announced: November 14, 2018

Awards Date: November 15, 2018 | Edison Ballroom, New York, NY

The cost to enter is:

• $215 for your first entry
• $150 for each entry after

+ Sales Tax, if applicable

You may enter as many categories as you like, however each entry must be treated as a separate entry and payment made for each.  Please note: you will only receive the 2nd entry rate if you enter all your submissions at the same time. Leave your entries in your basket until you are sure they are complete

Please follow these steps to enter: 

1. Register as a member to set up your account or sign in/submit entries f you have already created your account and are ready to enter.
    
2. Browse the categories to decide which ones suit you best. Remember you can enter as many as you like but they will be treated as separate entries and charged at the reduced second rate entry fee.
    
3. Entries into the awards are report based and this is what you will be judges on. (see writing your report section)
    
4. Once you have registered and logged in, go to your ‘dashboard page and ‘add an entry’.
    
5. Upload your report (PDF only max size 10mb) in the box provided.
    
6. Submit your 100 word summary, in the box provided, which will show live on the site if you are nominated/win. This will be used to give visitors to the site an insight into what your entry was about and why it was successful. (do not include confidential information here) 
    
7. Upload URL if applicable to your entry, in the box provided.
    
8. Attach a leading image in the box provided to support your report (Jpeg max size 10mb ). Please note this image will go live in the event of your work being nominated so please take this into account when choosing this image.  Option to upload up to additional images in the boxes provided to support your entry (Jpeg max size 10mb )  If you are entering a video, please follow the instructions provided.  This will also go live in the event of a nominaton.
    
9. Check your entry meets the rules criteria. 
    
10. Follow the onscreen instructions to submit your entry and make payment. Please note: you will only receive the 2nd entry rate if you enter all your submissions at the same time. Leave your entries in your basket until you are sure they are complete
     
11. A confirmation email will be sent to you and a receipt will be emailed to you within a few days. 

Once this process is complete your entry will go forward for judging.

Your report should be no more than 1500 words plus and extra 250 words should be used for an executive summary and you must use the entry templates avaliable here, once the awards are open for entry.

Download your entry templates in the section above

The format for your report is as follows: 

To see what to cover in each category, see the categories page

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  Executive Summary to summarise the key points in your report

• BACKGROUND TO PROJECT/CAMPAIGN
  Brief description of project/campaign/strategy
   
• BUDGET
  Provide details of the campaign/strategy's budget

• OBJECTIVES
  Brief and objectives, including any targets set. (e.g. cost-saving, income generation, increasing brand awareness)
   
• YOUR STRATEGY
  Strategy for achieving the above objectives (including details of marketing, PR etc)
   
• RESULTS
  Results including evidence of effectiveness prior and post campaign E.g. and increase in sales/revenue/traffic /awareness etc . Please provide comparable before and after figures. Use exact figures rather than %.
   
• TESTIMONIALS
  Testimonials - are not essential but can help to improve your report

Entry rules

• Entries must be received no later than the published deadline date. .
   
• All submissions must be made online. 
   
• Entries must have been live to market at some point between July 23 2017 and August 30 2018. Entries do not have to be created within this timescale.
• Do not include password protection or if essential, include passwords for judges to access.
   
• All entries must be supplied and conform to the category rules/submission formats.
   
• Work entered into more than one category must be treated as a completely separate entry.  Multiple entries can be made but separate payment must be made for each.  Please note: you will ONLY receive the 2nd entry rate if you enter all your submissions at the same time. Leave your entries in your basket until you are sure they are complete. Refunds will not be given.
   
• The judging panel will only read and use the entries/reports for the purposes of the judging and are required to sign NDAs.
   
• The judges reserve the right to re-allocate entries that in their view are entered in an incorrect category.   The judges also reserve the right to remove categories where entries do not meet the standard for nomination. These entries will not be refunded as they will have been judged accordingly.
   
• The judges’ decision is final. 
   
• Due to the number of entries received, the awards cannot give feedback on individual entries.
   
• By entering these awards, you give the organisers the right to publish/exhibit screen grabs and/or submitted report. If you wish to upload a modified /less commercially sensitive version for publishing purposes, please do so on the entry upload form.
   
• Entering physical work is at your own risk – entries will not be returned. Whilst every care will be taken in the storage of entries, the organisers will not accept responsibility for loss or damage of entries.
   
• The organisers reserve the right to verify that all entries have been commercially produced for a commercial client where relevant.
   
• All entries submitted must be legal. Any entries containing offensive material will be disqualified. Any entry that has a complaint upheld against it by the Advertising Standards Authority will be disqualified.

The finalists will be announced on the website and via social media, by October 8, 2018.

All entrants will be notified when the announcement has been made and nominees will receive a congratulatory email.

A must for your awards calendar in 2018. The Drum B2B Awards will bring together the elite of the industry to celebrate and reward their successes over the past year.

Event Details

Date: November 14, 2018
Venue: Edison Ballroom- New York City
Time: 6.30pm sharp 
Dress code: Formal

The evening will proceed as follows:

• 6:30PM - Cocktails & hors d'oeuvres
• 7:30PM - Seated dinner & awards show
• Midnight - Evening concludes

Tables are on sale here