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AWARDS
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ENTRIES ARE OPEN
The Ad Age Small Agency Awards for 2023 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 2023: We've introduced categories for design and PR agencies, health care campaigns and executive of the year. View the 2022 winners.
Finalists will be notified in June, and winners will be announced at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards in July.
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:
$300 per entry
Agency of the Year: 11-75 Employees:
$345 per entry
Agency of the Year: 76-150 Employees:
$400 per entry
All other categories:
$345 per entry
Deadline
Entries open: Wednesday, Feb. 14
Final deadline: April 26, 2023, 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.
Design Agency of the Year NEW
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, 2021, are eligible.
PR Agency of the Year NEW
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.
Campaign of the Year: B2B
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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, 2022, and March 1, 2023 to be eligible.
Campaign of the Year: Health Care NEW
This category will award one gold and one silver winner; campaigns must have run between Jan. 1, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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, 2022, and March 1, 2023 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 NEW
Only one winner will be awarded in this category.
Account Manager of the Year
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; 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:
Agency of the Year (and International)
Campaign of the Year categories
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 seek to 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 2023.
There is no cost to enter and entry is open to campaigns, videos or actions that debuted and ran on TikTok between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022.
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.
Rules and entry instructions:
How to enter Best Use of TikTok
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FAQs
All kinds, as long as they meet the size and ownership requirements. After many discussions with the small agency community about what constitutes a “not big” shop, we established awards in three size categories: 1-10 staffers, 11-75 staffers, and 76-150 staffers. All disciplines are welcome, including full-service ad agencies as well as design, digital, direct, media, mobile and promo agencies, or combinations thereof.
Entrants must be majority independently owned, or in other words, at minimum 51% privately held. Agencies that are not eligible are those that 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 firm, such as a publisher, marketer, etc.
As of last year, international agencies are now eligible to enter many of our categories. In the past, international agencies were only able to enter our International Agency of the Year category. Categories including Experiential, Media and Newcomer Agency of the Year, all campaign categories, Executive of the Year and our Agency Culture category are now open to international entrants. Please note that all submissions should be written in English.
We've introduced categories for design and PR agencies, health care campaigns and executive of the year.
All kinds, including TV spots and campaigns, experiential, web videos, branded content, design (product, package, graphic, motion, experience, retail, etc.), websites, games, apps, social media, and other stuff that’s harder to define: new distribution ideas, new ways to engage a community, etc.
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, 2022, and March 1, 2023.
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, 2022, and March 1, 2023.
Yes! We are excited to bring back our people categories to recognize and celebrate the people behind small agency success. And in addition to Creative of the Year, Account Manager of the Year, Media Planner of the Year and Strategic Planner of the Year, we are introducing a new category for 2023—Executive of the Year.
The deadline for all entries is April 26, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET.
All entries must be submitted and paid by credit card online at AdAge.com/SAA2023. Please contact awards@adage.com if you experience any issues submitting payment.
Unfortunately, once you have submitted your entry, you will not be able to log in to edit the form in any way. If there is factual information that is incorrect, please contact the awards team to request a change.
Please note changes cannot be made once the final deadline has passed and judging has started.
Please note changes cannot be made once the final deadline has passed and judging has started.
Finalists will be notified in June, and winners will be announced at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards in July.
Our awards team is here to help with any technical issues you might experience. Please contact awards@adage.com.
Please note that your account on AdAge.com is separate from an account you create for the Small Agency Awards and any other Ad Age award programs. When you click "Enter now," please make sure to register a new account (unless you've submitted to our awards before and already have one). If you still experience any issues logging in, please email awards@adage.com.
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 2022 financials and staff headcounts, giving as much guidance as possible for 2023 business. As far as submitting examples of work, all work must have debuted and run between Jan. 1, 2022, and March 1, 2023 to be eligible.
Entry info
All information included should be publishable by the time the awards break in July 2023. 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 26, 2023, at 5 p.m. EDT
Small Agency Awards judging criteria and entry instructions:
Agency of the Year (and International)
Campaign of the Year categories