Categories

Before submiting your entry, review the categories that best suit your work. Please note that you can submit your entry in MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY to increase your chances. You can also submit MORE THAN ONE ENTRY.

List of categories

1. Best Use of Micro-Blogging Platform (Ex: Twitter, Sina, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
2. Best Use of Social Media Platform (Ex: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Orkut, etc.)
3. Best Use of Mobile
4. Best Use of Alternative Tools
5. Best Use of Ad Banners on Social Media Platform
6. Best Use of Analytic Tools
7. Best Engagement with Customers
8. Best Relationship with Blogs
9. Best Reputation Management
10. Best Crisis Management
11. Best Social CRM
12. Best Branded Viral Video
13. Best Marketing Within Social Games
14. Best use of Geo-Location for Social Media Marketing
15. Best use of App for Social Media Marketing
16. Best Tool or Technology for Social Media Marketing
17. Best Student Work
18. Best Social Media Marketing Theory
19. Best Innovation
20. Best Copywriting
21. Best Art Direction
22. Best Campaign
23. Agency of the Year

1. Best Use of Micro-Blogging Platform

Twitter, Sina, Pinterest or other micro-blogging platforms are still under experimentation by social media professionals.

Here the Jury will have to judge the relevancy of the use of Micro-Blogging Platform(s) to answer the specific client challenge.

The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strength of micro-messaging platforms and show clear results of the interest generated by the messages.

2. Best Use of Social Media Platform

Facebook, Bebo, RenRen, Vkontakte, QQ, Mixi and so on, are all Social Media Platforms.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of these platforms in a relevant way to answer the client challenge.  The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of social media platforms and show clear results of the interest generated by the followers inside and outside the platform.

3. Best Use of Mobile

Mobile includes PDAs, cellphones and portable gaming devices.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of mobile platforms in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strength of mobile device in a social media context and show clear results of the interest generated by the approach taken.

4. Best Use of Alternative Tools

If it doesn’t fit in any other category, chances are that your entry fits here. Alternative tools include: applications, interactive installations, custom plug-ins, and/or Web platform that is uncommon.

The winning entry of this category must clearly show that it stands out of the normal practices and demonstrate the best use of the strengths of social media to answer the client challenge. The winning entry must show clear results and interest generated by the customers.

5. Best Use of Ad Banners on Social Media Platform

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and others, are selling ad banner space.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of these paid media space in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of ad banners in a social media platform and show clear results.

The winner should contribute to the definition of the best professional practice and have the ability to inspire the profession.

6. Best Use of Analytic Tools

There are many social media analytic tools on the market: Google Analytics, Radian6, Scout Labs. The list goes on. The Bees Awards do not evaluate technologies. Judges will evaluate the USE of the technologies: the way they helped to elevate the understanding of the consumers’ reality or behavior and the way they have helped to provides greater results for the agency’s client.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate how analytics were key in the decision making and the success of a campaign in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. In summary, the winning entry should show the importance of analytics in providing clear results.

7. Best Engagement with Customers

Involving Consumers is the new and powerful reality of digital media. A message gains effectiveness when customers are engaged and active in it. 

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate customers’ participation in a message in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The engagement must be meaningful for the customers and for the brand.  The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strength of social media platforms and show clear results of the interest generated.

8. Best Relationship with Blogs

A relationship is a long term dynamic. It is something that individuals cultivate between one and other. Bloggers have become increasingly influential and, in this category, a client challenge must be solved through communication with bloggers.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of a relationship with bloggers to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strength of blogs and show clear results of the interest generated by the readers inside and outside blogs. It must remain ethical where the promotional content doesn’t ruin the editorial content and the personal voice of the blogger.

9. Best Reputation Management

Reputation management is not the management of a crisis. It is a continuous process. It is a commitment to the company’s brands and employees. It is well prepare and has dedicated resources involved.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of social media in a relevant way to answer the client’s reputation long term challenge.  The winning entry should clearly and simply explain the nature of the reputation, the strategy adopted to maintain that reputation, the role social media tools play in the execution of that strategy and provide an example where social media has been put into action and show clear results.

10. Best Crisis Management

It happens. It lasts only few days or months, but the company’s name is under threat. Some are better to manage it than others. Some are well prepared to face a crisis and execute a plan well when it comes.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of social media in a relevant way to answer the client challenge.  The winning entry should clearly explain the complexity of the crisis, the strategy adopted and how social media has played a role in the results. It must also show clear results after the crisis has past.

11. Best Social CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) isn’t new. But managing the relationships from a customer’s database in a public environment (social media) is new.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strengths of knowledge of the customers and the intelligence of database.

The winning entry of this category should also clearly demonstrate the best use of the strengths of bringing relevant knowledge to the public sphere, engage the customer to answer the client challenge, and show clear results of engagement with media, blogs and consumers.

12. Best Branded Viral Video

Viral videos are everywhere. Some brands take advantage of this new reality.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of the video platforms (such as: YouTube, Vimeo, YouKu) in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate quality content, interest generated in by consumers, and show how it served the client’s challenge. It must be about marketing, not just entertainment, and show clear results.

13. Best Marketing Within Social Games

Social games are invading the social media platforms, mobile devices and game consoles. Some Brands are keener and more innovative than others to take advantage of this new reality.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of social games in a relevant way to answer the client challenge.  It must serve the gaming experience as well as the client need. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate innovation and show clear results of the interest.

14. Best use of Geo-Location for Social Media Marketing

Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla and other apps/platforms create new marketing opportunities for Brands.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of geolocation apps/plaforms in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of geo-location in a campaign or by itself and show clear results.

The winner should contribute to the definition of the best professional practice and have the ability to inspire the profession.

15. Best use of App for Social Media Marketing

Applications are more and more popular. Built for computers, social media platforms, mobile or tablet devices, some apps open to successful social media marketing possibilities.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of application (app) in a relevant way to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of an application or its integration within a campaign and show clear results.

The winner should contribute to the definition of the best professional practice and have the ability to inspire the profession.

16. Best Tool or Technology for Social Media Marketing

New tools and technologies to help marketer's needs come on the market everyday. The Bees Awards jury want to hear about them and select the most insightful, useful and innovative one in regards to a specific need. Please show the jury how your technology worked for a specific campaign.

Only real tool or technology for real client that really happened for real will be considered.

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate understanding of a need and the best use of technology in a relevant way to help agencies to answer the client challenge. The winning entry should clearly demonstrate innovation, insight or efficiency of a specific tool or technology applied to a specific client or campaign and show clear results.

The winner should contribute to the definition of the best professional practice and have the ability to inspire the profession.

17. Best Student Work

Student work is done in the context of a legitimate class in a legitimate education institution.

The student work has no real boundaries and should be evaluated as such: “What if we had no limits or restrictions?” Students should be evaluated more on ambition, passion, and innovation than commercial entries. The role of the student is to push the limits of what is acceptable and possible in the professional world. Execution should not be judged entirely as one would judge a professional’s work, as the idea may be more important than its execution.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strengths of social media principles to answer the client challenge.

18. Best Social Media Marketing Theory

Social Media changed the game for marketing and communication professionals. It is not a revolution but an evolution of the tools and practices. Humans remain mostly the same.

Everybody has had visions and theories of how to face tomorrow’s reality, changes, and the way to practice. The Bees Awards want to learn from you and promote your ideas.

We invite you to share with our jury a text, a blog post or a paper that shed s a new light on our marketing profession. It doesn’t have to be perfect or scientific: we simply want to be inspired.

You may read last year's winner: The Seven Myths of Hyper-Social Organizations by Francois Gossieaux from Human 1.0

The winning entry of this category must demonstrate the best use of the strengths of these platforms in a relevant way to answer the client challenge.  The winning entry should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strength of social media platforms and show clear results of the interest generated by the followers inside and outside the platform.

19. Best Innovation

Innovation is progress. It brings change and novelty to increase efficiency or quality in communication. It is something that has never been done before.  It pushes the limits of tools efficiency, of message efficiency and/or of the consumer’s experience.

Innovation, at the Bees Awards, is not about technology. Should an entry involve technological innovation, only the communication aspect should be evaluated.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the novelty factor, clearly state the challenge it solves, how it helps the best social media practices, and show clear results of engagement with media, blogs and consumers.

20. Best Copywriting

What ever the tool or platform; what ever the results are, the best writing should clearly demonstrate abilities and inspire others by the quality and elegance of the words used and the relevance of the message for the target audience and the client challenge.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the best use of the local language to answer the client challenge and adapt to the target audience. (Other languages that English ARE accepted, as long as a translation is provided).

21. Best Art Direction

Art direction is the complete visual integration of images, videos and the website interface design.

What ever the tool or platform and whatever the results, the best art direction should clearly demonstrate visual abilities and inspire others by the quality and elegance of the visuals used and its relevance to the target audience and the client challenge.

22. Best Campaign

A social media campaign must involve more than one platform or one tool. The campaign efficiency comes from the positive dynamics working between these tools, more than the singular efficiency of each individual tool involved.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strengths of a social media campaign to answer the client challenge and show clear results.  The use of different tools and how they worked together on a common purpose must clearly be stated.

23. Agency of the Year

An agency is a company, a group of freelancers or a single individual.

The winning entry of this category should clearly demonstrate the best use of the strengths of social media in its portfolio. The Agency of The Year should clearly demonstrate a dedication and expertise to social media. It must help the development of the social media industry, have convinced new clients, or have provided leadership and innovation in social media marketing techniques.