Judges read and pre-score all entry forms, considering the structure, presentation and clarity of each section and the supporting materials submitted. Judges score each section on the entry form and these scores will be combined to give an overall score for each entry. All judges’ pre-scores will be combined, and the highest-scoring entries will determine the shortlist.
Winners are determined at a judging session where judges will discuss the shortlist and agree on a winner for each category.
Judging Criteria:
Judging session – 08 October 2025
Shortlist announcement – 10 October 2025
Judges will read and pre-score all entry forms, considering any supporting materials submitted. Judges will be asked to give a score for each question within the entry form, as listed in the bullet points below. These will be combined to give an overall score for each entry. All judges’ pre-scores will then be combined, and the highest-scoring entries will determine the shortlists.
Judges will meet to discuss the highest-scoring entries and then agree on the winner for each category.
The awards will be judged by some of the biggest names in search. Click here to see this year’s judging panel.
Entries should not exceed 1000 words in total and should relate to work undertaken between May 2024 – September 2025.
CAMPAIGN AWARDS
The judges will be looking for clear objectives, creative and effective implementation, and tangible and demonstrable results in the campaign award categories. They will also consider the structure, presentation, and clarity of each entry.
Please complete the following sections providing details of the campaign that you are entering. Please note entries must not exceed a total word count of 1000 words.
All information provided will remain confidential to the judges before and after the event and will not be shared with anyone outside of the judging panel allocated to review your entry.
Objective(s) & budget (1-10 points)
Tell us what you were looking to achieve from the campaign and any targets that were set. We recommend showing targets as quantifiable metrics e.g., ‘Increase conversions from 150 to 300 a month’ rather than ‘Increase conversions by 10%’.
Please include a breakdown of implementation costs, staffing costs, agency fees etc. All elements of the entry form are confidential, and judges will not share this information. If you are unable to provide a detailed budget breakdown, please include the financial band your budget is within along with the percentage budget allocated for staffing costs, agency fees and media spend etc.
Target audience & strategy (1-10 points)
Please provide us with details about the audience you were targeting and your overall strategy to reach them as well as the strategy to meet the overall objectives.
Implementation & creativity (1-10 points)
Please give us a detailed explanation of your implementation of the campaign. Include screenshots to help us visualize campaigns. Provide information on the creativity of the campaign.
Details of any challenges faced and how these were overcome (1-10 points)
What challenges were unique to you and how have you overcome them? What was the end result of overcoming these challenges?
Results & evaluation (1-10 points)
Please relate these to the objectives and targets stated above. Provide actual numbers rather than percentages wherever possible.
Why should your campaign win? (1-10 points)
What do you think sets your campaign apart from the other campaigns being judged? Judges will in particular be looking for the thing that makes this campaign different to the others, what is unique?
CULTURE & CONTINUITY AWARDS
The judges will be looking for a clear description of the agency’s culture and how this contributes to its growth. They will be expecting to hear how training and development are used to help support the agency team in securing new business and growing existing accounts. They will also consider the structure, presentation, and clarity of each entry.
Please complete the following sections providing details of the culture of the agency. Detail investment in training, support, and development of the agency’s team and how this has helped to win new business and grow existing accounts. Please note entries must not exceed a total word count of 1000 words in this section.
All information provided will remain confidential to the judges before and after the event and will not be shared with anyone outside of the judging panel allocated to review your entry.
Team/Agency Overview
Give details of the number of employees, structure etc. Judges will be looking for clarity and context to help understand more about your agency or team.
Details of company culture initiatives & budget allocated (1-10 points)
e.g., flexible working, holiday schemes, training and development, incentive schemes, rewards packages, CSR, and volunteering initiatives
Evidence positive impact/results of any initiatives (1-10 points)
e.g., increased productivity, staff retention, staff promotion and development
Why you think you should win (1-10 points)
What do you think sets your culture apart from other agencies/teams being judges? Judges will be looking for the thing that makes your culture different to the others, what is unique?
Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission.
Optional – Please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form.
AGENCY/TEAM/RISING AGENCY STAR AWARDS
Judges will be looking for individuals and consultancies that can demonstrate an ongoing and sustained commitment to delivering best practices and results while showing a creative and innovative approach to new business. Judges will also consider the structure, presentation, and clarity of each entry.
Please complete the following sections providing details of the agency/team/individual that you are entering. Please note entries can be self-nominated or nominated by a third party and must not exceed a total word count of 1000 words.
All information provided will remain confidential to the judges before and after the event and will not be shared with anyone outside of the judging panel allocated to review your entry.
Overview of the Agency/Team/Rising Agency Star nominee
Please include numbers, staff turnover, roles etc for agency and team nominations or current and previous job roles etc for Rising Star nominations
Agency/Team/Rising Agency Star objectives (1-10 points)
Tell us what you were looking to achieve and any targets that have been set within the agency or team to help achieve your goals. We recommend showing targets as quantifiable metrics e.g., ‘Increase conversions from 150 to 300 a month’ rather than ‘Increase conversions by 10%’.
Recent work example(s) (1-10 points)
Please include details of recent client or campaign work. How does your recent work display creativity and make your team or agency stand out amongst others?
Details of any recent achievements (1-10 points)
What makes your team or agency stand out? Please include details of any achievements you feel make your agency, team, or rising star award-worthy. What are you proud of?
Details of any challenges faced and how these were overcome (1-10 points)
What challenges were unique to you and how have you overcome them? What was the end result of overcoming these challenges?
Why should your Agency / Team / Rising Agency Star win? (1-10 points)
Please detail what you feel makes you stand out amongst others and why you feel your entry is award-winning. What makes you unique? What gives you the competitive edge?
URLs
Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission.
Optional – Please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form.
Ethical, Transparent, Fair & Confidentiality
The European Agency Awards prides itself on its ethical and transparent process and confidentiality is taken extremely seriously.
Judges are not allowed to enter any of the categories.
All judging discussions are confidential, and material will not be shared with anyone outside of the judging panel before or after the ceremony. Judging papers will not be shared with any third parties and will be deleted immediately after the judging period. Judges can only access entries they have been asked to score.
Permission to use any material for winning case studies post-event will be sought from entrants.
