Legals

Entry Criteria

Eligibility

• An entry into the competition (Entry) must be original although parts may have been published before. 
• All entries except Long-Term Effects must be for work that ran between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2026 (Eligibility Timeframe). For an Entry to be eligible for entry, the bulk of the data in the campaign submitted must relate to the Eligibility Timeframe.  The campaign must have run in Australia and will be evaluated based on the isolated results achieved in Australia during the Eligibility Timeframe. Overseas data may be included in the Entry for additional context. The Long-Term Effects category allows an extended Eligibility Timeframe.
• The campaign must comply with all legal requirements and industry codes including the Advertising Council Australia’s Code of Ethics available for download at aca.org.au and https://aana.com.au/self-regulation/codes-guidelines/code-of-ethics. Non-complying campaigns will be ruled ineligible.
• Campaigns that have had a complaint upheld against them by a self-regulatory authority will be ineligible unless the case study can demonstrate that the particular execution in question had a minimal impact on the results.
• Each Entry must be for a bonafide client that has paid for media placement (entries for scam campaigns will not be eligible).
• All Entries must be paid for in full by the closing date. There will be no refunds for disqualified Entries or withdrawals after the closing date.
• Previous entries that have won an Australian Effie are not eligible to re-enter unless there is completely new creative, new data from the current eligibility timeframe and a completely new entry. 
• Previous winners of Long-Term Effects and Brand Value can re-enter as long as there is new creative, the entry complies with the rules for that particular category and there is a two-year gap from the previous winning entry. 
• Previous entries that have not been awarded an Australian Effie may be re-entered in subsequent Effie competitions provided it is a new entry based on new data that complies with the Eligibility Requirements. The entry does not have to contain new creative work. 

Entry

• You may select only one category from List A and no more than four categories from List B for each campaign that you enter. Each entry must be written specifically for that category. 
• Your agency or network name must be excluded from all campaign materials that form part of your Entry and which are seen by judges; this includes in the footnotes if the research was carried out in-house.
• All Entries are to be submitted online with supporting data and creative. Data sources must be provided for all data and results in an Entry with clearly labelled charts, graphs and images. Failure to provide a source for any data in an Entry is a ground for disqualification of that Entry.
• Entries need to build a compelling business case and demonstrate the degree of difficulty and budget. Higher marks may be awarded in cases with a greater degree of difficulty. The most obvious of these are long-term effects, or success in highly competitive markets. 
• Objectives should be quantified and Entries will be marked down for not providing measurable goals unless the reasons for not doing so are well-argued. Entries must show how the campaign achieved or exceeded objectives and demonstrate how the campaign made a difference. The results should relate to the objectives; the data should support the assertions; the timescale should be clear. Hard data (sales, share) is often more convincing than intermediate (awareness, equity), or soft (e.g. social “likes”, qualitative feedback), although they can help support your case. 
• Entries should succinctly explain the overarching strategy and how it was creatively executed. Entries need to explain the communications strategy that took the idea to market. We need to understand the channels used, and why. 
• You must submit a separate entry and pay separate entry fees for each category submission for a campaign.
• You are required to complete the Advertising Council Australia Effectiveness Data Questionnaire 2026 for each campaign submitted. This has been designed to collect data that may not have been included in the entry. Note: if a campaign is entered into multiple categories, the questionnaire only needs to be completed once. This questionnaire will enable the Advertising Council Australia to develop a database for case history analysis and insights. All data will remain confidential and be aggregated so it is unable to be linked back to an individual entry.  Completion of this questionnaire is compulsory. 
• Our decisions in all matters relating to the Effie Awards shall be final and binding. We reserve the right to refuse an entry, create new categories or combine categories. 

Proving effectiveness

The evidence for this may vary from case to case, depending on the category and specific objectives. Advertising rarely works alone and you must have examined other factors that could have contributed to the results. 

An attempt should have been made to assess the contribution of other factors. Market Mix Modelling, if available, can be used to help isolate this. Indexing, or other methods, can be used to respect the confidentiality of data.

Demonstrating if the campaign was a good investment

Judges need to be convinced that the campaign was a good investment. While many entrants have relied on ROI in the past, this is not necessarily the only solution. Judges are given clear directions to mark along the following lines:

All Categories (Other Than ROI)

• While a sales and/or market share uplift will frequently have been the objective, the campaign may have had objectives such as a reduction in cost per acquisition, justifying a price increase or maintenance of distribution. Whatever the objectives were you need to show the judges how the investment was worthwhile. You might think about how you would convince your C-Suite that the money was well spent.
• Soft intermediate measures such as ‘likes’ or media exposure will not be accepted as proof of the value of the investment without a clear demonstration of how this led to specific business or behavioural outcomes.
• When profit was not the primary objective, entries must convince the judges why the campaign should be assessed on non-financial objectives and must demonstrate how the effectiveness has been evaluated by the commissioning organisation. This might include a Social Return on Investment (SROII) calculation.

ROI Category Cases

• Cases entering the ROI Category must demonstrate a profitable Return on investment. For commercial cases, an ROI calculation is required. This data can be indexed and/or excluded from the published case on request. We recognise that there will be occasions when profit cannot be demonstrated. For example:
  • When the client will not divulge profit margins, we can accept the use of category normative margins;
  • When the return is expected over some years, judges will consider projected ROI or lifetime value, but remember that judges will be sceptical of projections they consider overly optimistic.

Word Count

You must disclose your word count in your Entry. You must adhere to a maximum 3,500 word limit to tell your story. Long-Term Effects and Brand Value entries may allow up to 4,500 words. This includes the 400-word Executive Summary and a supporting image to summarise your case study for the judges.

Do not include your footnote word count into your overall word count. R