FAQ

The Excellence Awards are open to public relations, communications, brand building and reputation management professionals from companies, consultancies, associations, institutions, universities and NGOs whose work has displayed exceptional talent and ability.

Projects need to:

• have either been carried out in Europe, e.g. with a European-based client or partner-organization
• or – if the Project was not carried out in Europe – created in Europe, e.g. with a European-based branch of your organization or agency.

Either the client or the implementing agency can apply. Should a client and its agency submit the same project; the submission will be considered as a joint application. In case of being shortlisted or winning, both the client and the agency are named.

The early deadline for all applications is 6 September 2024 (midnight CEST). Late deadline is 16 September 2024 (midnight CEST). Final deadline is 26 September 2024 (midnight CEST). Entries handed in during the late deadline period will be charged an additional 140 Euro per entry. Entries handed in during the final deadline period will be charged an additional 190 Euro per entry.

You may submit your application by creating an account at application-www.excellence-awards.com/Login

1. Application
For each application, information about the organisation and agency (if applicable) is requested. Submissions will exclusively be digital.

2. General information about the project or campaign
Each submitted entry should contain the following information:
• Summary of the project at a maximum length of 400 characters (including spaces) – Please note: This summary will be published when being shortlisted.
• Time frame of the project
• Budget (not a mandatory field, information will not be published)
• Number of employees who worked on the project

3. Project Description
A short description of max. 2,000 characters (including spaces) must be provided including the following:
• Initial situation leading to the project or campaign
• Objectives of the project
• Strategic considerations
• Details of the implementation
• Summary and measurement of results achieved
• A cover picture representing your project or campaign (maximum 1 MB)

4. Additional Picture
Include one picture that best represents your project. This picture will be published if your project is shortlisted.

5. Additional Material and Links
Accompanying materials are limited to three documents. Therefore, additional illustrative material should be carefully selected. Examples of possible illustrative documents are planning documents, press releases, images, PowerPoint presentations (no more than 10 slides) and movies. One document equates to one file. In addition, you can specify up to six links to websites, social media platforms, intranet sites, or online videos.

The following formats are accepted:
• For pictures: .jpg/.jpeg, .gif, .png.
• For videos/movies: .mov, .flv, .avi, .mpg / .mpeg (no larger than 50 MB, ideally max. duration of 3 minutes), links may aswell be used
• For presentations: .pdf, .ppt (ideally convert .ppt into .pdf format, no larger than 5MB)

You can submit an entry into as many appropriate categories as you like, and you can (although you do not have to) tailor your supporting documents for each category, even if the campaign being submitted is the same. You can easily duplicate your filled in submission online by using the “copy button” in the application process. Please note: the application fee is per project entered and per category.

Any project created or published between August 2023 and August 2024 may participate in the competition. A large part of the project must have taken place during that time frame; however, it is not necessary for the whole project to have been completely implemented in this period. Submitted projects can also still be ongoing. If the project(s) started before August 2023, a significant change must have been implemented within the time frame.

You can submit supporting material in any language; however, we ask that all application materials (for example, the application forms and the project description) are submitted in English.

Yes, you are still able to enter the Awards, but financial data helps the Jury members assess the applications properly. All such information is treated with utmost confidentiality, and will never be published or released, should you decide to provide it.

Applications can only be submitted online. Hard copies can neither be considerd for the voting, nor be sent back.

The application fee applies per project entered and per category. The registration fee depends on the category in which you register your work.

Until 11:59 p.m. CEST on 6 September, the application costs its regular prize of 240-390 Euro.

Each application entered under the “Accomplishments of the Year”, “Industries and Institutions” and “Communications” categories costs 390 Euro. Submissions in the “Media and Tools” categories cost 320 Euro. Submissions in the “National and Regional Campaigns” categories cost 240 Euro.

Between 7 September (00:01 a.m. CEST) and 16 September (midnight CEST), which is the late deadline registration period, applications come with an additional charge of 140 Euro each. Between 17 September (00:01 a.m. CEST) and 26 September (midnight CEST), which is the final deadline registration period, applications come with an additional charge of 190 Euro each.

The time of submission has no effect on the evaluation.

The voluntary application check costs 50 euros. There is a charge of 59 euros for shipping the trophy.

Submitted entries cannot be cancelled.
All prices are exclusive of VAT.

Every application submitted after the early deadline, between 7 September (00:01 a.m. CEST) and 16 September (midnight CEST), will be charged with an additional late fee of 140 Euro per project/category. Every application submitted after the late deadline, between 17 September (00:01 a.m. CEST) and 26 September (midnight CEST), will be charged with an additional final fee of 190 Euro per project/category.

Please note: The time of submission has no effect on the judging process.

We offer to check the applications technically. Do all links work? Can all attachments be opened? Is the form filled out correctly?

We charge 50 Euros for this service. Please note that we do not check the content of the application to this extent. You are responsible for the content of the application and the selection of the category. The check does not guarantee nomination or winning and is not mandatory.

To finish your application(s), you will have to check out through our integrated shop system. We kindly ask you to pay directly by credit card or to request an invoice. The invoice will automatically be sent to you via email. If paid by credit card, you will receive the payment confirmation via email.

Please note: Invoices are payable immediately upon issue. Unpaid entries will not be considered for the Awards. In case your invoice needs to be ammended, please contact the Awards team immediately (team@excellence-awards.com).

The Jury will evaluate the applications on the following criteria:

Strategy: The Jury will assess the strategic approach of each entry and the fit between the chosen strategy and the development of the project, as well as the integration of the various communication tools.

Innovation/ Creativity: The Jury will assess the question of whether new technical or strategic methods were pursued and evaluate the creativity of the project both in concept and implementation.

Implementation: The Jury will assess continuity and quality of communication or dialogue with the target group(s) as well as the management and internal organisation of the project.

Results and Efficiency: The Jury will consider the results of a project in relation to the stated targets, as well as the resources used towards achieving the results.

All material will remain confidential to the judges. Judges are not allowed to judge any entries submitted on behalf of their company. In case you are shortlisted, we will only publish the short general description of your projects as indicated in your application form.

Companies or organisations of Jury members may still enter the Awards competition. However, the Jury member is not allowed to take part in the judging process for any category into which their organisation / consultancy has submitted projects.

The final winners will be announced during the award show on the 6th December 2024.

Unfortunately, due to the high number of entries we receive, we are not able to give individual feedback.