Epica Awards editorial director Mark Tungate says, "We never add categories for the sake of it, but we do like to evolve with the times. We've noticed that many agencies are experimenting with A.I. as a means of enhancing or complementing creativity and the journalists on our jury are keen to look at projects that may arise from this emerging field."

Epica has merged B2B Direct and Consumer Direct into a single Direct Marketing category. 2020's Covid-19 Communications category will remain in place. The competition, which is judged by journalists, will also accept work from 2019 following the pandemic's disruption.

Historically, the Epica Awards only accepts work from the previous year. However, since many projects could not be presented to the jury in 2020 due to pandemic-related restrictions, the awards say that the competition is extending its eligibility dates by one year.

Work that has been approved by clients and used, published or broadcast since Monday, 1 July 2019 is eligible for entry to the 2021 awards.

"It's too early to say whether the awards show will be online, live or a mixture of the two. There will be further updates later in the year," says the awards.

2021's award details are as follows:
  • Early bird entry period (no registration fee): Thursday, 1 July to Tuesday, 31 August
  • Normal entry period: Wednesday, 1 September to Friday, 8 October
  • Shortlist publication: Wednesday, 24 November 
  • Ceremony: Thursday, 9 December
  • Final results: Friday, 10 December 
The Epica Awards jury is composed of editors and senior reporters from the world's leading titles covering creativity and communications. They are supported by journalists from specialist fields such as post-production, VR, design, luxury and fashion. A full list of jury members can be seen here.

For more information, visit www.epica-awards.com or contact [email protected]. You can also follow the Epica Awards on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram