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AWARDS
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ENTRIES ARE CLOSED
The 2024 Ad Age Small Agency Awards will honor small, independent agencies that are performing well in three important areas: Creating amazing and effective work for clients, building a financially healthy business and cultivating a diverse and rewarding environment for employees.
We’re looking for ingenuity and nimbleness in a real-time marketing world as well as a versatility of work spanning digital, social, experiential, TV, print and more. We’re also seeking to reward shops that may be smaller in size (up to 150 employees) than big agencies, but have the smarts, the chops and the culture to compete against them—and win.
New for 2024: We've introduced categories for data & insights agencies, best use of artificial intelligence and agency producers.
Finalists will be notified in June, and winners will be announced at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards in Boston in July. Tickets to the event can be purchased at AdAge.com/SACA2024
Questions? Visit our FAQs and important information sections. If your question isn't answered, please contact the Ad Age awards team.
PRICING & DEADLINE
Pricing
There is a tiered entry fee structure for the program.
Agency of the Year: 1-10 Employees:
$325 per entry
Agency of the Year: 11-75 Employees:
$375 per entry
Agency of the Year: 76-150 Employees:
$450 per entry
All other categories:
$375 per entry
Deadline
Entries open: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024
Final deadline: Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 5 p.m. EDT
There will be no extensions beyond the final deadline.
Please pay strict attention to all the entry requirements and category descriptions, as fees are non-refundable once entries are submitted.
CATEGORIES
Agency of the Year: Overall
One gold and one silver winner will be chosen for Small Agency of the Year.
Agency of the Year: by Size*
A gold and a silver winner will be awarded in three size categories: 1-10, 11-75, 76-150.
Agency of the Year: Regional*
The six different regional categories for U.S.-based agencies will produce one gold and one silver winner each. Those six are Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, West, Northeast and Northwest.
Agency of the Year: International*
A gold and a silver will be awarded to international entrants who enter the Agency of the Year category.
Data & Insights Agency of the Year NEW
Data & Insights Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Design Agency of the Year
Design Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Experiential Agency of the Year
Experiential Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Media Agency of the Year
Media Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Newcomer Agency of the Year
Newcomer Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer. Agency must have been in business for 18 months or less. Only agencies founded after September 1, 2022, are eligible.
PR Agency of the Year
PR Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Purpose-Led Agency of the Year
Purpose-Led Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Best Use of AI NEW
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; work/campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: B2B
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Digital
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Experiential
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Health Care
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Integrated
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Media
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Pro Bono
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Best Agency Culture
Best Agency Culture will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer.
Executive of the Year
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Account Manager of the Year
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Agency Producer of the Year NEW
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Creative of the Year
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Media Planner of the Year
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Strategic Planner of the Year
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
*Regional, international and size winners do not need to enter separately or pay an extra fee; they are chosen from the entrants to the Agency of the Year category.
Agencies may win in more than one category. We award one winner in each of the people categories (Executive of the Year; Account Manager of the Year; Agency Producer of the Year; Creative of the Year; Media Planner of the Year; and Strategic Planner of the Year) and gold and silver in all other categories.
Small Agency Awards judging criteria and entry instructions:
Ad Age reserves the right to withhold or add awards as the quality of submissions dictates. If during the review process the judges feel your entry is better suited to another category and would like to award you in that category, the judges have the right to move your entry.
BEST USE OF TIKTOK
Presented by Ad Age and TikTok, the Best Use of TikTok will honor a small agency that demonstrates an understanding TikTok's core DNA—showing the power of creativity is on the platform—and created work made for TikTok that drove cultural and/or commercial impact. Judged by Ad Age and TikTok, the winner will be announced at the Small Agency Conference & Awards in July 2024.
There is no cost to enter and entry is open to campaigns, videos or actions that debuted and ran on TikTok between Jan. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2023.
All work entered must have been intentionally made for TikTok and/or a major component was inspired by TikTok and lived on and off platform.
2023 Ad Age Small Agency Best Use of TikTok winner
Rules and entry instructions:
How to enter Best Use of TikTok
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SPONSOR
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JUDGES
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Chris Breen
Chief Creative Officer
Chemistry
Chris Breen
Chief Creative Officer
Chemistry
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Omid Farhang
Founder and CEO
Majority
Omid Farhang
Founder and CEO
Majority
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Tim Gordon
Chief Creative Officer and Partner, New York
Zulu Alpha Kilo
Tim Gordon
Chief Creative Officer and Partner, New York
Zulu Alpha Kilo
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Sandy Greenberg
Co-Founder and CEO
Terri & Sandy
Sandy Greenberg
Co-Founder and CEO
Terri & Sandy
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Nancy Hill
CEO
Marcus Thomas
Nancy Hill
CEO
Marcus Thomas
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Susie Nam
Former CEO of the Americas
Droga5
Susie Nam
Former CEO of the Americas
Droga5
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JP Petty
Global Executive Creative Director
Wieden + Kennedy Bodega
JP Petty
Global Executive Creative Director
Wieden + Kennedy Bodega
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Suzanne Powers
Global Chief Product Officer, McCann Worldgroup and
Chair, Futurebrand
Suzanne Powers
Global Chief Product Officer, McCann Worldgroup and
Chair, Futurebrand
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Nancy Reyes
CEO
TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
Nancy Reyes
CEO
TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
Nancy is the CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, an award-winning creative agency based in New York. During the course of her 20+ year career in the marketing industry Nancy has partnered with dozens of companies to develop their brands, creating meaningful relationships with their customers to ultimately drive a more purposeful and profitable future.
Nancy’s experience spans a wide range of industries such as technology, healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, travel and financial services. Companies include Adobe, Abbott, Google, Henkel, HP, IBM and Procter & Gamble. Prior to joining TBWA in 2016, Nancy was VP, Marketing Creative for Verizon, responsible for 360-degree creative product for the brand’s wireless business. Before her time on the client side, she spent more than 11 years with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
Throughout her career Nancy has been an advocate for greater diversity, equity and inclusion within the marketing industry. In 2018, she founded the Circle of Women program at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York which provides executive coaching to women on the cusp of leadership, half of whom are women of color. Nancy is also on the board of the Ad Council and Prep for Prep. In 2021 she was named an ADCOLOR Legend for embodying the organization's mission of "Rise Up, Reach Back."
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Danny Robinson
Chief Creative Officer
The Martin Agency
Danny Robinson
Chief Creative Officer
The Martin Agency
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Dooley Tombras
President
Tombras
Dooley Tombras
President
Tombras
FAQs
We ask that you enter only bona fide work for a real client of your agency that was actually produced and/or ran in a media environment. Please do not enter work that was created only to run in award shows. If judges raise any flags, we will be following up and we’ll disqualify bogus work (e.g. work not approved by a client, work done for a client you don’t have, ads that were run once, at 3 a.m. in Bend, Oregon, so they would be eligible to enter in Cannes, etc.). Campaigns should have run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024.
Please note changes cannot be made once the final deadline has passed and judging has started.
IMPORTANT INFO
Eligibility
Entry is open to agencies in three size categories:
• 1-10 people
• 11-75 people
• 76- 150 people
All agencies of all marketing disciplines are eligible to enter. Entrants must be majority-independent owned, or in other words, at minimum, 51% privately-held. Agencies who are not eligible are those who are either majority or fully-backed by a holding company (by this we mean firms like WPP, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group of Cos., Havas, Aegis or MDC Partners) or other firms, such as a publisher, marketer, etc.
Dates for submitted work
When discussing revenue/growth for the Small Agency of the Year award you should refer to 2023 financials and staff headcounts, giving as much guidance as possible for 2024 business. As far as submitting examples of work, all work must have debuted and run between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Entry info
All information included should be publishable by the time the awards break in July 2024. Any information noted as “not for public” or “off the record” will not factor into the juries’ evaluation.
If during the review process the judges feel your entry is better suited to another category and would like to award you in that category, the judges have the right to move your entry. Please note that all awards are based on the quality of the entries received each year. If the judges feel there isn’t a fitting entry within a specific category, they have the right to not award that category.
Final deadline
April 24, 2024, at 5 p.m. EDT
Small Agency Awards judging criteria and entry instructions: