GWA success brings worldwide recognition and acclaim. But what marks out a great piece of work? Which mistakes should
entrants avoid? And why are esteemed communicators so happy to sit in judgment? By Rob Gray.

IPRA Golden World Awards 2019: what the judges look for

An important moment in the year is upon us again. The clock is ticking down and the deadline for entries to the IPRA Golden World Awards looms ever larger. Time to get a move on and submit your entries, if you haven’t already done so.

Success in these prestigious awards confers worldwide recognition and acclaim. Not to mention cachet and credibility among your peers in the communications field: from clients to competitors; bosses to business partners; future employers to potential investors.

But how to heighten your chances of savouring the satisfying glow of victory? What factors will help your work outperform other category entries?

As a regular GWA judge, I know what I look for. However, in the interests of providing the most insightful glimpse possible into the decision-making process, I asked a cross-section of fellow members of this year’s panel for their take on what makes for a deserving winner. And why some entries fall short.

Creativity in tune with objectives

“To identify a winning entry, I usually see two points,” says Hemant Batra, Managing Director of Veritas Reputation PR in India. “One, how impactfully does that PR campaign solve an issue or meet the objective for which it was undertaken? The equally important second point is to understand if creative ideas were deployed to get a better impact.

“I will give higher marks to a campaign if brilliant creative ideas were deployed. I feel right-brained people with understanding of PR tools are in short supply and we should encourage such a breed. However, many times there is creativity just for the sake of it – i.e. ideas may have a ‘wow factor’ but do not have adequate impact on the objectives. My attempt will be to filter out such ideas.”