The APEX Awards recognises and awards the advertising and communications campaigns that are not only creative but effective in delivering a tangible and measurable return on investment and objectives.

Agencies and their clients are invited to enter their best work into the APEX Awards. Given the current economic climate when marketers and their agency partners are required to demonstrate their contribution to the bottom line, the APEX Awards presents a great opportunity for client and agency collaboration to showcase exactly that. 

“The APEX Awards encourages agencies and their clients to develop new, higher best practice standards for measurement of advertising and communications campaigns. Budget allocation to advertising and communication activities is not an expense, but rather an investment, and APEX promotes a better understanding of business practices and how advertising can deliver a measured and effective return on that investment,” says Odette van der Haar, CEO of ACA.

The standard for the APEX Awards is high and will not be compromised. Entrants are required to submit case studies detailing their campaigns and how all possible factors other than the campaigns have been considered as causes for brand success and systematically prove a case for the campaigns as being the cause for the brand success. 

The three APEX categories into which campaigns may be entered are:

  1. Launch – for brands or services that are less than 12 months old with no significant history of advertising;
  2. Change – for new campaigns from previously advertised brands that resulted in significant short-term effects on sales and behaviour – short-term being within a period of no more than 18 months; and
  3. Sustain – for campaigns that benefited a business by maintaining or strengthening a brand over a long period, for example, 36 months.

“We encourage all agencies and their clients to enter their most effective work into the APEX Awards. Entry is open to all agencies, whether an ACA member or not. We have seen extremely effective creative executions of campaigns in previous years and look forward to another year of showcasing the value our industry adds to commercial brand success,” adds van der Haar. 

For more information, visit www.acasa.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.