The American Business Awards, one of the Stevie® Awards competitions, is widely regarded as the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. But did you know that the ABAs feature one of the top competitions in the country for marketing work?
Indeed, the ABAs offer a wide range of marketing awards categories to recognize the best of recent marketing campaigns in a wide variety of industries and media. Plus there are a number of categories to honor marketing agencies, departments, teams, and individual professionals.
The final entry deadline for The 2015 (13th Annual) American Business Awards is Wednesday, April 22. Complete details on the competition are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.
Recent Stevie winners in the ABAs' marketing awards categories include AMD, GE, OgilvyEntertainment, Protection 1, Sony PlayStation, SunTrust Bank, TIAA-CREF, Univision Communications, among others, so you'll be in very good company if you win a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie in this year's ABAs.
Here's what you'll need to submit in order to enter the marketing categories in the 2015 ABAs:
a. An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominee's accomplishments since January 1 2014. In the marketing campaign categories, this will be a description of the campaign: its genesis, development, execution, and results to date.
b. In bullet-list form, a brief summary (up to 150 words) of up to ten (10) of the chief accomplishments of the nominee since the beginning of 2014. In the marketing campaign categories, this will be a list of the chief features and results of the nominated campaign.
c. Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files, work samples, and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges.
What makes a great marketing entry in the ABAs? Having done something to crow about is obviously important, but telling a great story is just as important. You'll need to impress the judges with your 625-word case study and supportive work samples, press clippings, etc. Great entries walk the line between being too boastful and too factually dry. Presenting the facts of your case in a way that will fascinate, impress, and keep the attention of the judges is key.
Awards in the marketing categories will be announced and presented at the first of two ABA awards banquets this year, on June 22 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago. Attendance is not required to win.
So here are the marketing categories in this year's competition.
Marketing Campaign of the Year - Industry Categories
E01. Agricultural / Industrial / Building: for all related products, materials, tools and services.
E02. Automotive - Aftermarket: gasoline, motor oil, tires, batteries, paint, quick-lube, oil change, muffler, transmission, windshield wipers, enhancements, etc.
E03. Automotive - Vehicles: cars, trucks, motorcycles, both brand and model advertising.
E04. Beauty: cosmetics, fragrances, hair products, nail products, beauty services such as salons, spas, etc.
E05. Beverages - Alcohol: beer, champagne, liquor, wine, wine coolers, after dinner drinks, etc.
E06. Beverages - Non-Alcohol: diet and non-diet soda, coffee, tea, juices, milk, milk substitutes, bottled water, sparkling water, etc.
E07. Breakfast Foods: cereals and other foods intended primarily for breakfast consumption.
E08. Corporate Reputation/Professional Services: includes sponsorships, image & identity, communications to promote corporations, not exclusively their products. Includes business/professional services such as consulting, accounting, legal, employments, etc.
E09. Culture & The Arts: plays, museums, music organizations, concert series, cultural festivals, theater festivals, etc.
E10. Electronics: audio and/or video devices such as TVs, radios, mobile devices, home entertainment (DVD/Blu-ray players), cameras, computer hardware, game consoles, laptops, tablets, sound systems, etc.
E11. Energy/Nutrition Products & Services: products and services aimed at the energy, sports, wellness lifestyle. Vitamins, energy bars, drinks, etc.; weight loss and fitness programs/camps, training camps and facilities, etc.
E12. Entertainment & Sports: includes entertainment and sporting events. Sporting events such as the Super Bowl, sports teams, etc. All forms of entertainment including specific films, books, DVDs, videogames, games (online, mobile, social, board, card, etc.), entertainment apps, greeting cards, online, radio and TV programming, etc.
E13. Fashion & Style: brands of clothing, eyewear, footwear, hosiery, jewelry, accessories, etc.
E14. Financial Cards: credit, charge, debit, reward, phone and other cards.
E15. Financial Products & Services: communications promoting overall image and capabilities of a financial institution and specific products or services including home banking, loans, mortgage, mutual funds, traveler's checks, etc.
E16. Government / Institutional / Recruitment: municipal or state economic development, lotteries, utilities (i.e. electricity conservation messages), membership drives, armed forces marketing communications. Includes political messages and special interest/trade group communications.
E17. Healthcare - Disease Education & Awareness: communications to educate and/or spread awareness about a certain disease or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E18. Healthcare - OTC: communications efforts for products that may be purchased without a subscription that address a specific illness, disease, or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E19. Healthcare - Rx: communications efforts for products that may be purchased with a subscription that address a specific illness, disease, or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E20. Healthcare - Services: marketing communications efforts that were developed for hospitals, HMOs, referral services, dental and medical care services, or chronic care facilities, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E21. Home Furnishings & Appliances: kitchen appliances, air conditioners, carpeting, furniture, decorator's supplies, paint, wallpaper, etc.
E22. Home Supplies & Services: cleaning products, waxes, detergents, floor-care products, fabric softeners, paper products, domestic services, mowers, fertilizers, lawn care, gardening services, etc.
E23. Insurance: communications promoting specific products or services related to insurance and the capabilities of financial institutions offering these services. All types of insurance are eligible (home, auto, financial, health, life, travel, business, etc.).
E24. Internet / Telecom: wireless/cellular providers, high speed Internet access services, online services, portals, search engines and related Internet products & services (including SaaS/IaaS and Cloud-based services), bundled communications (Internet, telephone, and cable TV).
E25. Leisure Products & Services: recreational, sporting, and camping goods/services and other items/services intended for leisure activity.
E26. Media Companies: broadcasters, magazines, newspapers, web sites, consumer or trade media, radio and television stations, including networks.
E27. Office & Delivery Products & Services: delivery - overnight delivery, packagetracking, international service, etc. Office - printers, physical servers, fax machines, copiers, supplies, office furniture, etc.
E28. Packaged Food: packaged and frozen foods both regular and diet/light.
E29. Personal Care: soap, dental products, face & body lotions and cleansers, cotton swabs, deodorants, feminine hygiene products, razors, shaving cream, etc.
E30. Pet Care: animal care products and services of all types, including food, toys, veterinary and boarding services, training, and breeders.
E31. Real Estate: homes, real estate brokers, malls, etc.
E32. Restaurants: quick service, casual dining, mid-scale, white table cloth and other restaurants.
E33. Retail: general -- stores and/or web sites that provides a multiple range of non-related or generally related merchandise, which include department stores, food retailers, and discount/bulk retailers, craft stores, etc. Specialized -- stores and/or web sites that specialize in one particular line of products (e.g. clothing, fashion, jewelry, health food, shoes, pet care, toys, greeting cards, etc.).
E34. Snacks / Desserts / Confections: ice cream, candy, chips, cookies, bakery items, nut, fruit & vegetable snacks, popcorn, etc.
E35. Software: software, groupware, operating systems, or software stored locally on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. (See category E24 for Saas/IaaS or Cloud-based services, and category E12 for online and mobile games.)
E36. Transportation: air, train, bus/trolley, taxi, subway systems, bike shares, car rentals, leasing not including automobile sales/leasing, ferries, etc.
E37. Travel / Tourism / Destination: cruises, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, travel websites and booking services, travel tours, tourism campaigns, etc.
Marketing Campaign of the Year - Specialty Categories
E40. Brand Experience of the Year - Business-to-Business: recognizing work that reaches out to business audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E41. Brand Experience of the Year - Consumer: recognizing work that reaches out to consumer audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E42. Mobile Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns targeted to consumers' mobile devices.
E43. Branded Content Campaign of the Year: A new category for 2015. Recognizing work that has used branded content - original or sponsored - to reach out to audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E44. Online Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that were conducted in their entirety online.
E45. New Product or Service Introduction of the Year: for campaigns conducted to introduce a new product or service to the U.S. market.
E46. Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year (<$3 million)
E47. Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that used word-of-mouth, video stunts, and other viral tactics as their primary means of communication.
E48. Youth Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that targeted the youth market (up to age 24).
Marketing Professional Categories
E50. Marketing or Advertising Agency of the Year
E51. Marketing Department of the Year
E52. Marketing Team of the Year
E53. Marketing Executive of the Year
E54. Marketer of the Year (for non-executive marketing professionals. There is no entry fee for this category)
Need help figuring out which categories are right for you? Contact us.
REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE
An international judging panel of more than 200 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. Results will be announced in mid-August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Rome, Italy on 21 October.
The German Stevie Awards is the second national Stevie Awards program, after the 14-year-old American Business Awards. The first German Stevie Awards was a great success. “In 2015 we received a great variety of compelling entries from organizations all over Germany. We look forward to even more companies and individuals being recognized for their innovations this year”, said Michael Gallagher, the president and founder of the Stevie Awards.
By popular demand, the Stevie Awards have announced a general entry deadline extension for its new 
It has come to our attention that updates that were supposed to have been made to the website at 
Recognizing the best in business in Germany, the program is offering the lowest entry fee of the year at 99 euros for all entries submitted by the November 5 deadline. Entry fees will rise substantially on November 6, through the final entry deadline of December 10.
Nominations will be accepted starting the week of September 15. 
Nominees in the 2014 IBAs were not able to apply for the Best of the IBA Awards directly. Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs. This year's Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on August 13.
