Presented by

Welcome to the world’s largest recognition program for experiential marketing.

For 21 years, the Ex Awards has shined a global spotlight on the power of brand experiences and the best use of face-to-face marketing. The biggest brands and agencies in the world compete each year and the program is judged entirely by brand-side marketers. Enter your events, your experiences, your integrated live campaigns and more into the only recognition program of its kind.

REGULAR ENTRY DEADLINE: MARCH 17

LATE ENTRY DEADLINE: MARCH 24

RULES AND REGULATIONS

ELIGIBILITY RULES

The Ex Awards are open to brand marketers, agencies, partners, properties, and suppliers involved in event and experiential marketing campaigns.

  • Categories span both b-to-c and b-to-b experiential marketing.
  • International entries are welcome.
  • Campaigns must have launched or debuted between March 1, 2022 –March 1, 2023.
  • Entrants may submit as many campaigns into as many categories as they want (easy copy and paste options available!)

JUDGING CRITERIA

The Ex Awards is the only marketing recognition program scored entirely by brand-side marketers. In each category, a gold winner, silver and bronze finalists will be selected.

Judges will score all entries on:
  • Creative and relevant idea
  • Succinct and deployable strategy
  • Flawless execution
  • Tangible results

Winners will be honored at the 21st annual Ex Awards Gala at the Experiential Marketing Summit, May 9, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Purchase your tickets, today! 

CATEGORIES

Review the full category list below. Our ‘copy and paste’ entry system allows you to easily enter your campaigns into multiple categories.

    • Best B-to-B Conference or Event

      Awarded to the event that best took the message out of the board room. Includes user groups, sales meetings, multi-day meetings, summits, annual shareholder events, proprietary events, conferences, road shows, conferences, new product introductions, media tours or client visit tours.

      Best Cause/Community Program

      The best philanthropic or community event campaign. A tie to a charity or community cause must be at the heart of the program. Judges will look for integration of causes into the experiential program and the benefits that the campaign brought to both sides (the brand, and the cause).

      Best Entertainment Event

      Awarded to the most innovative brand-driven experiential program born out of a celebrity, movie, music or television partnership/sponsorship.

      Best Esports or Gaming Experience

      The campaign that best connected a brand to the red-hot esports and gaming sectors with strategy, creative, reach, and results.

      Best Event on a Budget ($500,000 or Less)

      Awarded to the campaign that achieves all stated objectives while adhering to a budget under $500,000. Judges will consider innovation, creativity, execution and results.

      Best Event on a Budget ($500,000 to $1 Million)

      Awarded to the campaign that achieves all stated objectives while adhering to a budget between $500,000-$1 million. Judges will consider innovation, creativity, execution and results.

      Best Fair or Festival Activation

      From food and wine festivals to music festivals to state fairs, and beyond, we honor the brand experiences that solved attendee pain points, offered a vital service, or commanded attention in a crowded landscape with design and functionality.

      Best Gen Z Event Campaign

      They’re sharers. They’re tech natives. They’re creators. And they’re putting their spending power where their mouths are. This category honors the event campaigns designed to capture the coveted Gen Z demographic.

      Best Hybrid Event Program

      Recognizes an in-person event that offered a defined digital extension or experience for virtual audiences that was marketed with, and tied into, the overall program. Judges will consider the content and engagement and platforms that targeted both audiences.

      Best Influencer Program

      Awarded to the best integrated influencer partnership that leveraged the reach and power of an influencer (or influencers) via a live and in-person or virtual event to drive interest in a brand or product.

      Best Metaverse or Web3 Experience

      Recognizes highly engaging virtual environments brands are leveraging across the metaverse and beyond. Judges will focus on the quality of the experience, the engagement, and the strategy. Both b-to-c and b-to-b programs (sponsor activations, exhibits, networking experiences, and more) may enter.

      Best Mobile Marketing Tour (B-to-B)

      Awarded to the best mobile marketing campaign, where a vehicle is at the heart of the program—not the fact that a tour moves around. Judges will look at the marketing vehicle and its design, and the overall strategy, footprint, and experience. (For programs that move around, submit to the Best Multi-Market category.)

      Best Mobile Marketing Tour (Consumer)

      Awarded to the best mobile marketing campaign, where a vehicle is at the heart of the program—not the fact that a tour moves around. Judges will look at the marketing vehicle and its design, and the overall strategy, footprint, and experience. (For programs that move around, submit to the Best Multi-Market category.)

      Best Multicultural Event Campaign

      The best event-powered campaign hatched to reach diverse communities, including BIPOC, cross-cultural, and other rising multicultural audiences. Judges will focus on the idea and execution, as well as the attention to detail and the messaging.

      Best Multi-Market Event (B-to-B)

      More b-to-b marketers are turning to nimble event programs that go directly to their customers or audiences. Awarded to b-to-b event programs that involved multiple, targeted events across different markets, within a region, or as a series within a single market. (For programs that took place on a mobile vehicle, where the vehicle was central to the experience, refer to the Best Mobile Marketing Tour category.)

      Best Multi-Market Event (Consumer)

      Awarded to b-to-c event programs that involved multiple, targeted events across different markets, within a region, or as a series within a single market. (For programs that took place on a mobile vehicle, where the vehicle was central to the experience, refer to the Best Mobile Marketing Tour category.)

      Best Omnichannel Event Campaign

      Awarded to an event program that anchored an omnichannel strategy, and that inspired 360-degree engagement with product, digital, social, and p.r. extensions. Entries should demonstrate the integration of at least two other marketing channels, and prove how experiential steered a strategy for the organization.

    • Best Outdoor Activation

      This award recognizes the activations that best leveraged the great outdoors to create magic with attendees. This trophy will go to the brand that found fresh ways to make an outdoor experience central to the effectiveness of the campaign with creative installations and engagement. This category is also appropriate for pandemic-era pivots that transformed indoor events into outdoor events.

      Best Pop-Up Experience

      Awarded to the temporary storefront, in-retail program, shipping container, lobby, indoor or outdoor experience that turned a client’s objective into a must-attend, limited-time engagement. Judges will be looking for a clever concept, new approaches, unconventional ideas and interactives and activities that reinforce the marketing goals.

      Best Press or Launch Event

      This category recognizes the press event that used creative tactics to invite the press, get them to show up, and wrap them around your finger with solid messaging, awesome thematics, and an A+ presentation. Note: Journalists must be the primary target, and virtual experiences will be accepted.

      Best Production of an Event (B-to-B)

      Behind the scenes and way in the back of the backstage, there is a helluva lot going on. This category’s Ex will go to the most creative, extensive, outrageous, ambitious, and delicious production of a consumer event. The lighting, the music, the script, and the entire ensemble. Judges will look for you to take them through the actual production with insights into the long process between idea and execution.

      Best Production of an Event (Consumer)

      Behind the scenes and way in the back of the backstage, there is a helluva lot going on. This category’s Ex will go to the most creative, extensive, outrageous, ambitious and delicious production of a business event. The lighting, the music, the script, the entire ensemble. Judges will look for you to take them through the actual production with insights into the long process between idea and execution.

      Best P.R. Stunt

      For one-shot events staged for one simple reason: Gain eyeballs and media hits. Awarded to the best, craziest, most creative p.r. event that served up hits and buzz, increased public awareness, overcame damage control, and uncovered measurable results. Events from both the b-to-c and b-to-b worlds are welcome. Note: Events that invite media to attend and stage the event around the media attendees should be entered in the Best Press Event category.

      Best Sampling Campaign

      Awarded to the best trial-based campaign that used a live engagement to get a consumer to try a product.

      Best Single-Market Event

      Awarded to the most strategic, most creative, best-performing single-market event program. Did you make it memorable? Will the attendee ever forget?

      Best Sports Activation

      Awarded to the most innovative event program leveraging sports or a sports sponsorship. Judges will rate the activations (of all sizes and lengths) on creativity, results, message, and method of activation. (Note: Enter all esports programs in the Best Esports or Gaming Experience category.)

      Best Trade Show Activation

      Recognizes the activations, installations, eye-catching engagements, photo-sharing experiences and more that take place within a trade show or a trade show exhibit environment.

      Best Trade Show Environment

      Handed to the footprint that went way beyond stoic space and used a trade show floor as a canvas to paint an experience to drive traffic, funnel leads and identify prospects. Judges will look at the overall immersion, from the total physical footprint and structure to visitor experience, functionality, creativity, materials, engagement, and use of media.

      Best Use of Events for Content

      A category created to shine the spotlight on the powerful use of events as content generators. Awarded to the best event campaign that served as a platform for content creation. From events used for YouTube videos to events used for TV spots to events used for social media content… and beyond. Open to both b-to-c and b-to-b programs.

      Best Use of Technology (B-to-B)

      Awarded to the event or trade show program that effectively leveraged technologies and/or social media to take the experience to the next level. Entry should focus on the actual technology leveraged, how it was leveraged, and what results said technology helped generate.

      Best Use of Technology (Consumer)

      From holography to touchscreens to customized consumer interactives to social media platform integrations, some of the most innovative technologies, and uses of technologies, are coming out of the event industry. Awarded to the consumer event program that effectively leveraged technologies and/or social media to take the experience to the next level. Entry should focus on the actual technology leveraged, how it was leveraged, and what results said technology helped generate.

      Best Virtual Event (Consumer)

      This is your chance to get recognized for the online experience that supported your event marketing this year. Judges will consider the use of virtual engagement tactics, content programming and delivery, site design, user experience and overall alignment with marketing objectives.

      Best Virtual Event (B-to-B)

      This is your chance to get recognized for the virtual conference that supported your event marketing this year. Judges will consider the use of virtual engagement tactics, content programming and delivery, site design, user experience and overall alignment with marketing objectives.

      Biggest Leap of Faith Award

      This category honors bold and brave event ideas and executions, from pandemic-era transformations, to tough-to-permit locales, to planning processes with a story, and beyond. Judges will look at the risks involved, leaps of faith taken by both the agency and the client—and the reward that the big risk generated.

       

  • Entry Requirements

    ENTRY DEADLINES & FEES

    Early Deadline: March 17 — entries received before midnight ET on March 17 are $460 each.
    Late Deadline: March 24 — entries received after March 17 will incur an additional $135 fee per entry.

    PREPARE YOUR ENTRIES

    Entering the Ex Awards is easier than ever when you prepare your submission items in advance. Here’s what you’ll need to include with each entry:
    1. Submitter company information (the entering company’s name, address, etc.)
    2. Primary entry contact (the point person for all entry details)
    3. Brand-side client reference contact: name, title, phone, email (clients may be contacted by judges to confirm a specific detail or answer a question)
    4. Answers to the entry questions (see below)
    5. Hi-res brand logo (for the brand associated with the campaign. Only .ai or .eps file types accepted)
    6. Three photos (15 MB file size limit each)
    7. Optional (but highly recommended!): Campaign recap/overview video 

    JUDGES

    • Neika Colbourne

      VP-Integrated Marketing & Creator Partnerships,
      BFA
    • Colleen Craig

      Brand Manager,
      Wyman's
    • Lori Dillon

      Head of Enterprise Marketing,
      Citizens
    • Martin Dluzansky

      Creative Director-Communication & Experience Design,
      Bose
    • Laura Halasa

      Director-Experiential Marketing & Events,
      Warner Bros. Games.
    • Rachel Gross Langley

      VP-Meetings & Events,
      Visa
    • Jessika Laudermilk

      AVP-Marketing Division,
      American Honda Motor Co.
    • Lauren Mireles

      Director-Global Events
      NI
    • Megan Pulver

      Executive Producer, Riot Experience,
    • Jeff Quezada

      SVP-Marketing Program Specialist, Global Arts, Culture & Experiential,
    • Adam Walden

      VP-Corporate Marketing
      GitHub
    • Harley J. Ward

      Director-Retail Innovation,
      AT&T

    Ex Awards Gala

    Winners will be honored at the 21st annual Ex Awards Gala at the Experiential Marketing Summit, May , at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 

    Purchase your tickets, today!

    Presenting Sponsor:

    CONTACT THE EX TEAM

    Should you have an inquiry about the categories, rules or eligibility of the Ex Awards please contact:

    EMILY MAKADOK
    [email protected]

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