By the time an Effie entry has reached the winners’ circle, it has survived two rounds of evaluation. The intelligence and wisdom of the judges ensure that Effie is identifying and honoring the industry’s most effective work.
Round One
Judges evaluate all elements of an entry, written case and creative executions, on a stand-alone basis without comparison to others in their category. Judges review entries on an individual basis, without discussion.
Final Round
Finalists are judged against other finalists within their category, and like Round One, all elements of each case are reviewed and scored.
The Grand Effie
Effie awards Ideas that Work – the great ideas that achieve real results and the strategy that goes into creating them.
The Grand Effie represents the single best case submitted in a given year.
There will likely be something ‘breakthrough’ about it – whether that be the way a market was re-framed…or an insight that opened new possibilities…or a creative leap that achieved real standout…or the discovery of a new way to engage with an audience…. all with the express purpose and proven capability of delivering outstanding effectiveness.
As the Grand Jury is so senior and are expressing their collective opinion, there is, as always, a ‘message’ that will be sent to the industry about learnings for the way forward.
Only a select number of the highest-scoring gold winning campaigns are considered contenders for the Grand Effie award.
Scoring Criteria
Judges are asked to evaluate a campaign’s effectiveness using the following scoring system:
70% of an entrant’s campaign, equally weighted:
- Strategic Challenge
- Idea
- Bringing the Idea to Life
30% of an entrant’s campaign:
- Results
The judges’ scores determine which campaigns are to be awarded a gold, silver or bronze Effie trophy. Each winning level “gold, silver, bronze" has a minimum score required in order for a finalist to be eligible for an award. Effie trophies are awarded in each category at the discretion of the judges scores. It is possible that a category may produce one, two, three or four winners of any level or perhaps no winners at all.