International ANDY Awards eliminates categories; best ideas to be judged purely and rewarded

Award shows in their truest form are a barometer for our industry. In its shared quest to serve it, The International ANDY Awards has listened to the community and consulted with its leaders and outliers.

Says Gina Grillo, President & CEO, The ADVERTISING Club of New York / International ANDY Awards: “Our mission is to build a show that looks to the future and remains true to our core values as an idea-based show judged by an integrated jury of global creative leaders. Over the course of the last three years, small steps have been taken to reinforce that ideas come first.

“This year, we’re taking things one giant step further by instituting the elimination of categories.  Enter your best ideas to be judged purely and rewarded accordingly.

“We know that it takes a lot of careful consideration and dollars to ensure you’ve entered the right work in the right categories.  And it’s our feeling that if you enter your best work and it wins ANDY you shouldn’t have to enter it multiple times for it to get all the recognition it deserves — because a great idea is a great idea.

“Yes, we are eliminating categories, however, the best ideas will win an ANDY and additionally your work will be considered in the following areas:

    ANDY RESET (innovative or groundbreaking ideas)

    ANDY Distinction for Craft

    ANDY Socially Conscious Ideas (Richard T. O’Reilly Award)

    ANDY Bravery Award (best examples of creative/marketer collaboration)

    Student Work will remain its own competition (Glenn C. Smith Award)

“Finally, we will continue to name a GRANDY winner (best in show) and award a scholarship to the winner of the student competition, as well as make a donation to the charity behind the best in show for pro bono work.

“As the first show of the season, we’ll also be sharing an intimate look into our judging room in a partnership we’ll be announcing soon. This will allow the community to observe and learn from the deliberation over the best ideas of the year, and offer key insights for future jurors on how they identified and curated them through the lenses above.

“Awards are indicators of all that is dynamic in our industry, let’s reclaim that position and make sure creative teams, marketers, and partners know that awards, when done right, have an impact on brands, on business, and our collective success.

“We look forward to receiving your best ideas and thank you for your continued trust with them.”

Pete Favat, Chair, 2018 International ANDY Awards Jury / Chief Creative Officer, Deutsch

Eric Silver, North America Chief Creative Officer, McCann

Professional and student entries will commence from December 2017 to February 2018.