Call for Entries Deadline:

This program is now closed.

Learn more about current programs here.

Ragan and PR Daily’s ACE Awards are unlike any other program we offer. Most of our awards programs allow you to earn recognition for your campaigns and projects. They’re a chance for your work to shine. Being an industry ace is all about what you bring to the table. 

We want to celebrate your individual contributions to your organization and the industry as a whole. If your in-house team has been killing it this year, we want to know more. Is your agency the most respected in the industry? Tell us about it. 

The impressive work you’ve done throughout the year reflects the amazing people within your organization. Let us shine a spotlight on you, your team or your agency.

If someone on your team or in your organization deserves accolades, you can also submit a nomination on his or her behalf. As the holidays approach, there’s nothing better than giving the gift of professional achievement.

We have more than 30 categories spanning three divisions. We’re looking to recognize everyone from individual marketers to specialty agencies to in-house events teams. Tell us why you’re the best of the best. Share how you’re Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE). 

CATEGORIES

INDIVIDUAL DIVISION

Are you a born leader who made things happen this year? Share with us what put you at the top of your field. Judges look for the complete package, not one-hit wonders. Please submit two outstanding projects in which you had the major role or two individual projects you produced in the last year.

 Copywriter or Editor

Are you a writer creating compelling and powerful content for your organization? Do you write blog posts, ad copy, video scripts or campaign materials? How did you create engaging content that increased your traffic and online presence? We want to crown the best writer in the business. Tell us how your work generates buzz, or nominate the grammar nerd in your office who deserves this distinction.

 Corporate Social Responsibility Leader

You’re leading the charge on making the world a better place. How do you champion these causes and enact change within or on behalf of your organization? We’re looking for a leader with vision and the conviction to make things happen. Has your CSR plan increased the pride everyone takes in working for your organization?

 Digital or Video Producer

We’re seeking digital and video producers who create great content for brands. Share your talents with us and show us how your work drove incredible results. Tell us about the creative vision that keeps your work in demand. Share content created for any platform, including Snapchat, YouTube, or Instagram. Proprietary work will not be made public.

 Event Marketing Professional

Tell us what you did to draw the masses to your live or virtual events. How did you introduce your event to a new audience or command the attention of journalists and influencers? How does your event strategy serve a larger business goal? We want to know how your events influence people to engage with your brand or buy your products. Share the secret to promoting a must-attend affair.

 Government Communications or Government Public Affairs Professional

What makes you the best in communications for a local, state or federal agency or department? How did you avoid the inevitable trap of all government communication: Boring people so thoroughly that they give up and robotically do just the bare minimum needed to comply? How did you make crucial information engaging and interesting?

 Health Care Communications Professional

Tell us about your fresh perspective on health care PR or marketing. How did you communicate an important message or an urgent new idea with passion, integrity and care? Tell us how you told health care stories or created campaigns with a fresh perspective.

 Internal Communications Professional

Creating engaging internal content is a challenge. How do you balance being informative and having fun? What tools do you use to inform and inspire employees? How have you taken advantage of multiple channels to engage your diverse, multigenerational or distributed team? Tell us about your great work.

 Intranet Manager

For widely dispersed workplaces, your intranet is your office. As an intranet manager, you’re responsible for keeping the digital office functional, collaborative and creative. How have you made improvements to your intranet in design, content and personalization? What fun additions do employees get excited about? Tell us how you’re giving this essential communications medium new life.

 Marketing Professional

You told your brand’s story with a compelling narrative that moved readers to act. How did you advocate for your brand, market on multiple channels and increase audience engagement? Tell us how you turned casual consumers into brand loyalists.

 Media Relations Professional

Tell us how you built relationships with journalists that resulted in close collaboration between you and reporters on stories about your industry. How did you capitalize on your relationships with reporters to generate interest in your story suggestions, media impressions and increased brand awareness? Share the projects you’re most proud of.

 Nonprofit Communications Professional

Show us the amazing work you’ve done to increase donations or awareness for government agencies, professional associations, charitable organizations, foundations or academic institutions. What’s your secret for getting people to reach for their wallets to support a worthy yet underfunded nonprofit?

 Public Relations Professional

You know how to generate conversations, appeal to your target market and establish your client as a leading industry voice. Show us how you wield PR tools, tactics and strategies to make indisputable arguments, repair tattered reputations and stir up buzz about new ideas for clients or brand executives.

 Social Media Professional

Did you create a Snapchat lens to celebrate your brand’s product launch? Maybe a series of memes brought you a slew of retweets. How did you optimize your Facebook content to increase the sharing of your content and expand your reach? What is it about your Instagram photos, stories or IGTV that excites and engages your audience? What work did you do to develop an identifiable brand voice? Tell us why you’re the best social media manager in the industry.

 Industry Newcomer (less than five years’ experience)

You’re relatively new to the PR and marketing game but wise beyond your years. You’re poised to become an industry trendsetter. Share two examples of successful projects with campaign goals and metrics. Tell us why you’re the one to watch.

 Industry Veteran (more than 15 years’ experience)

You watched the industry shift from traditional channels to digital communications. You’ve adapted to the fast-changing industry and can keep up with any fleeting social media trend. You’ve seen the best of old- and new-school thinking. Tell us why your crafty wisdom makes you a force in the industry.

IN-HOUSE TEAM DIVISION

You’re a strong squad of communicators who know both your industry and your audiences extremely well. In-house teams are masters of collaboration and experts in their industry; they know how to divide and conquer to get the most out of their individual talents. Please submit examples of two outstanding projects your team produced in the past year.

 Digital or Video Team

Show us how your team engaged and impressed audiences with innovative digital and video content. We want videos with drama, humor and strong visual or script-based narratives. Internal videos qualify. Product demo videos are good. External sales videos make the cut. So do internal executive videos. Send them all to us.

 Internal Communications Team

How did your team reinvent the way your organization communicates internally? Did you think like corporate marketers appealing to a tough, indifferent external audience? Did you think like an outside corporate PR team working on a complete overhaul of your organization’s brand? We want proof that you made a deep, decisive change in internal communications.

 Marketing Team

How does your team create consistent and seamless integrated marketing and brand experiences? List your unifying ideas for your brand. Show us how your new ideas strengthened every product line your organization offers. Tell us how you established new connections among your products. How did you positively influence brand awareness, lead generation and sales?

 Editorial Team

Your editorial team has a way with words. How do you use that gift to support marketing through microsites, blogs and news sites? Do these channels and sites generate stories and posts that build your organization’s reputation as a fountain of ideas? Show us statistical data proving that your team is the heavyweight content producer in your industry.

 Public Relations Team

What strategies and tactics does your team use to send and showcase key messages to your target audiences? Tell us how your team creates a narrative for your organization’s uniquely compelling point of view for the public, your customers, your employees—or all three.

 Social Media Team

Social media gives you a direct line to your customers. How does your social media team craft key messages through photos, videos and exclusive stories on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook? Are they dedicated to providing rapid and high-quality customer care via social media? Share the campaigns and customer complaints that were no match for your social media team.

 Small Communications Team (1-9 people)

You’ve amplified the dedication and creative genius of fewer than 10 people to create memorable strategic initiatives for your organization. Tell us how you did a lot with so little. Do small teams take bigger chances? Did you come up with stronger ideas? Show us.

 Large Communications Team (10 or more people)

How does your large team keep ideas fresh and unique? How does your team encourage a sense of adventure? Does it listen to “silly” and “far out” inspirations? How do you get everyone involved in the client conversation? Give us plenty of real-life examples of how your growing team became a wellspring of ideas.

 *NEW!* Visual Design Team

Communication design can be tricky work. Bad design can damage an entire campaign and sour your organization’s reputation. How do you use your artistic influences to tell a story that aligns with your brand and engages your audiences? Share examples of the work your design team has done to become the best of the best. Early versions of design concepts and their final drafts will help us decide who deserves to take home this prize.

AGENCY DIVISION - FULL SERVICE

There’s a huge difference between being known for a successful project and having the reputation of a high-performing organization. Why does your full-service agency consistently impress your clients and the world at large? Please submit two success stories from your organization from the past year.

 B2B/Business Services Agency

Your agency is the connector, helping businesses or nonprofits combine forces to reach their goals. Tell us why organizations look to you to bridge the gap between businesses and create unstoppable dynamic duos. How did you break through the barrier of B2B anonymity to make your client’s mark on the wider public consciousness?

 *NEW!* Traditional Advertising Agency

Your agency is known for being traditional, but that doesn’t mean the creative work you’re producing is old-school. Share the work you’ve done to acquire new and interesting clients. Tell us about the major publications you were able to place ads in and how this helped clients meet their goals. We want to know how your traditional agency is reimagining advertising in 2018.

AGENCY DIVISION - SPECIALIZED

There’s a huge difference between being known for a successful project and having the reputation of a high-performing organization. Why does your specialized agency consistently impress your clients and the world at large? Please submit two success stories from your organization from the past year.

 *NEW!* Branding Agency

What’s in a name? For most organizations—everything. The name of a brand, along with its aesthetic branding elements, can make or break a launch or relaunch. Tell us how you worked with clients to cover all the little details for their brand. You could have helped establish a brand before its launch or assisted with overhauling a brand to make it even better. We want to hear about two different projects you worked on and how you helped a new or established brand make a stellar impression on their audience.

 CSR Agency

How does your agency work to generate social impact for brands? Has your agency’s or client’s passion changed the very nature of how you (both) do business? Share your big wins for the year with us.

 *NEW!* Design Agency

Good design is essential for any organization’s communications and image to be taken seriously. Your design expertise is what makes your agency in high demand. Tell us about the powerful designs you’ve created for brands. Everything from logos to websites to mobiles and more will be considered. If you created it for a brand, we want to see it. Share two distinct client projects and the results of your work.

 Digital Marketing Agency

Your agency makes the most of its diverse talent. You’ve got writers, designers, account coordinators and others sharing the helm of your most important projects. How does your agency use innovative methods to attract new audiences to your client’s content? How did you blend traditional media and social media marketing to reach untouched demographics? What advantages does your comprehensive digital prowess give you in appealing to clients?

 Events Agency

Is your agency known for planning and executing memorable live events that industry insiders, journalists and members of the public can’t wait to attend? How do you get people excited to RSVP “yes”? Tell us your strategy for executing a killer conference, a fan-filled festival or a fabulous fête for your clients.

 Health Care Agency

How has your agency revolutionized health care? How has it educated patients, families, nurses, doctors, health care execs and the general public? Tell us what makes you an industry leader and show us how you brought light and intelligence to a previously neglected corner of health care education.

 *NEW!* Influencer Marketing Agency

Tell us about the work you’ve done to build relationships between brands and influencers. The influencers in your roster could be fashion or beauty gurus, health and fitness experts, influencers in the pet or parenting space or even TV personalities. Share two successful campaigns you developed that had impressive reach and benefitted both the brand and the influencer.

 *NEW!* Nonprofit PR Agency

Your agency steps up to represent the little guy. We want to hear about your nonprofit clients in education, health care, professional services or even civic leagues, associations and foundations. How did you create work that resulted in increased awareness, advocacy and donations? Tell us about two different clients and the unique work you did for each.

 Public Relations Agency

Your agency is a leader in securing media placements for your clients and creating memorable brand experiences both online and off. How do you persuade journalists to feature your clients? How do you sell your versatility and your ability to quickly change tactics and tools? Show us a case study of how your flexibility has saved your bacon with an important client.

 *NEW!* Social Media Agency

Social media is crowded space. It’s getting harder and harder to get attention and engagement online. How has your agency worked with clients large and small to create and promote better social media content? Whether you’ve launched social accounts for small local businesses or given entire makeovers to existing brands social accounts, we want to see it all. Tell us about the platforms you’re an expert in and the share the unique strategies you’ve implemented for your clients. We want to hear about two instances of success. Be sure to include results.

AGENCY DIVISION - BY SIZE

There’s a huge difference between being known for a successful project and having the reputation of a high-performing organization. How does an agency of your size consistently impress your clients and the world at large? Please submit two success stories from your organization from the past year.

 Small Agency (fewer than 20 employees)

How has your agency proven itself to a client skeptical that a small firm could handle its all-out national branding initiative? How did you make that do-or-die breakthrough or client pitch that hit a grand slam? We want a convincing analysis of the creative ideas that make your firm’s reputation.

 Midsize Agency (20-49 employees)

Why do clients turn to your agency for innovative strategies? Tell us why your modest size is a competitive advantage in your struggle to wrestle business away from the PR industry giants. What qualities make your agency a wellspring of good ideas?

 Large Agency (50 or more employees)

How has your sizable team defeated the devils of bureaucracy and impersonal communication to become the best big agency in the business? Show us your successes. Tell us real stories that embody your uncompromised individuality and your strong commitment to ideas.

HOW TO ENTER

On the entry form, be sure to include a thorough synopsis explaining the purpose and scope of your project. We ask that the synopsis be at least 1,000 words (max: 1,250 words) and include the following sub-headings (when applicable):

  • Goals
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation: success, results or ROI

Be sure to follow the guidelines laid out in the category descriptions, as the judges will look for those elements when they select the winners.

You will be able to upload up to five additional documents to your submission. We encourage you to include press releases, design concepts, videos, analytics, testimonials and anything else you feel will give us a better sense of your project. Proprietary or internal information can also be attached and will not be shared with the public.

Supporting documents that can’t be uploaded to the system should be mailed to:

Brendan Gannon
Ragan Communications
10 S. LaSalle St., Suite 310
Chicago, IL 60603

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

These awards are open to in-house, agency and independent communication practitioners in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Enter your work, the work of your organization or submit entries on behalf of your client.

Companies from around the world are welcome to enter as long as the entry is submitted in English.

Contact Brendan Gannon to find the perfect category for your campaign or project. You can call 312-960-4407 or email brendang@ragan.com

This year’s program is open to any work executed between Jan. 1, 2017, and Oct. 2, 2018, inclusive.

ENTRY FEES

The fee for the Individual Division is $125. 

The fee for the In-House Team Division is $195.

The fee for the Agency Division is $295. 

Submissions completed by 11:59 p.m CST on the early bird deadline will automatically receive a $25 discount. 

Submissions completed by or after 11:59 p.m. CST on the final deadline will automatically be charged a $50 late fee. 

 

W-9 Form / Tax ID Number Request

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should you apply?
Our award programs help you measure the success of your work and prove the value of your contributions to your organization. You can set yourself apart in the industry as an expert, which will open doors throughout your career. As a winner, you’ll earn publicity for your brand across our websites and social media audiences, discounted training at as many Ragan conferences as you’d like within 12 months of the winner announcement, free training at a Ragan conference of your choice, a custom write-up about your campaign and a trophy.
Who can enter?
Entries may be submitted by organizations worldwide. The only requirement is that entries be submitted in English. Most programs are open to in-house, agency and independent communication practitioners in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Our Nonprofit PR Awards are reserved for nonprofit organizations.
What does it take to be a winner?
Although each award program is unique, we look for top-quality work that shows clear, bold and creative ideas that benefit your business or client. Please provide metrics or media coverage that back up your claims, and share creative collateral such as videos, visual design or websites that were a part of your project. Please look at our past award winners to see what gets recognized and rewarded. We encourage you to submit the same campaign to multiple categories, if you feel they are relevant. Doing so increases your chances of winning.
What are the entry requirements?
The entry form requires that you submit a synopsis explaining the purpose and scope of your project. The synopsis—typically 1,000 to 1,250 words—please—should include the following sub-headings (when applicable):
  • Goals
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation: success, results or ROI
Campaigns must have been executed within 18 months prior to the date we begin accepting submissions for a given program.
Why are some deadlines extended?
We extend deadlines based on applicant needs and upcoming promotional opportunities.
Who are the judges?
We currently work exclusively with an external judging partner. We are not looking for new judges for our programs at this time.
When will I find out results?
We try to announce a list of finalists six to eight weeks after the close of the program. The announcement of the winners comes about three to four weeks after the announcement of the finalists. Each announcement will be made with a headline on our website, in our daily email newsletter and on our social media platforms. Emails notify entrants in advance of these announcements. As deadlines are extended, so are expected announcement dates.

Additional Questions

Additional Questions

If you have any questions about the program or problems submitting your entry, please call Brendan Gannon at 312-960-4407 or email brendang@ragan.com.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorship Opportunities

If you are interested in sponsoring one of Ragan Communications’ award programs, please contact our team at sponsorship@ragan.com.