About the awards

Great, innovative planning lies at the heart of the most successful TV advertising campaigns. The Thinkbox TV Planning Awards celebrate the most effective TV planning, from spots and sponsorship to the latest emerging interactive and on-demand TV opportunities, and recognise the brilliant thinking behind them.

Record viewing to commercial TV is delivering prices from the mid-‘80s in real terms, contributing to TV’s increasing effectiveness.   TV continues to deliver for advertisers and has been proved to be the most significant driver of revenues across a wide range of products. So why on earth wouldn’t you want to get the most out of TV while delivering fantastic business results to your clients?  There’s nothing cooler than delivering exceptional payback on your clients’ advertising investment.

These awards are about recognising and celebrating brilliant and effective uses of TV, whether within a multi-media advertising campaign or on its own.  And not only broadcast TV; we are also interested to see how TV is innovating, with new technologies like web TV, IPTV, interactive TV, mobile TV together with the use of live ads and events as well as recognising TV designed to drive short-term responses.

Entrants for these awards can come from media, integrated, full service, online and creative agencies or related organisations who can demonstrate the skill of TV planning.

These awards are free to enter.

Award categories

There are a total of six categories you can enter. Here are the details for the most recent awards, 2010.

1. Best Use of TV in an integrated campaign
   This entry features the use of broadcast TV alongside any number of other media, including non-broadcast TV.
2. Best ongoing use of TV
   TV keeps delivering value years after campaigns have aired so consistent TV advertising can produce exponential returns. Entrants need to tell us how they have used TV over three or more years for their advertiser, and how the activity has evolved to produce the best results. Entries must feature broadcast TV in every calendar year over the period featured (including the most recent calendar year, Jan – Dec 2009* )
3. Best newcomer to TV
   This entry is for new brands or brands which have not used broadcast TV since January 2004 until doing so in 2009.
4. Best use of sponsorship or content
   Sponsorship, branded content, advertorials, AFP, promotions, prizes, televised branded events, PR - there is now a wealth of rewarding ways to integrate your brand into the fabric of TV programming. Entrants must tell us how it worked for them.
5. Best use of TV innovation
   From new technology to live ads & events, innovative thinking in media planning and the clever use of technology is liberating TV and adding new dimensions every year. Entrants must explain how they used TV innovation for a brand to good effect.
6. Best use of TV for response
   TV builds brands but TV can also be used to very powerful effect for short-term and tactical objectives. Entrants must specify the nature of the desired response and how successful the campaign was in delivering it.

The Judges also award The Grand Prix from the winners of the six entry categories.

(* - please contact Jamie Maskall if clarification is required)

Prizes

Each winning entry receives vouchers from an electrical retailer, enabling the prize to be divided amongst everyone who deserves a share. All six category winners are eligible for the Grand Prix, the prize for which is a 52" HD Ready Plasma Digital TV, for use at their agency.

In addition to these great prizes, and having a coveted Thinkbox TV Planning Award on your mantelpiece, your work appears in a special awards supplement, distributed with Campaign and also at Mediaweek.co.uk.

Key dates

Here are some approximate dates for our next awards in 2011, based on what happened in 2010.

• Mid-October 2010: the awards will be announced and we’ll be encouraging you to start preparing your entries. We’ll also post lots of useful stuff on our website to help you craft the perfect entry.
• Early April 2011: closing date for submissions
• Mid May 2011: Judging day
• Mid June 2011: The Awards event
  

Further queries

If you have any further questions, please give Jamie Maskall a call on 020 7630 2329 or drop him an email at jamie.maskall@thinkbox.tv.