The Jury

The judging system, rules and structure is based on MIXX international standards 

The IAB MIXX Awards set of judging criteria are the same in all the countries where the MIXX Awards are being held. The online judging process based on the same judging procedures, ensures that winning submissions truly reflect the industry’s best work and reward the creatives and brands successfully using the online environment in order to best achieve their objectives. Intense scrutiny during the judging process ensures that winning submissions truly reflect the industry’s best work and reward the creatives and brands successfully using the online environment in order to best achieve their objectives. 

Based on the rules & license agreement from IAB US, the judging process is held by some of the most demanding marketing executives & specialists following the same criteria as in all the other countries where MIXX Awards are being held, as such winning a MIXX Award will consist in world recognition and will be one of the most sought-after honours in interactive advertising.

Phase One

The screening of the submission – by IAB Romania. Every entry is evaluated and reviewed to make sure that it complies with all requests and demands so that the jury will have all the information needed.

Phase Two

An independent panel of highly acclaimed representatives of the entire interactive advertising ecosystem—advertising agency experts, brand marketers and major media company executives, IAB Romania & Europe’s representatives will review every entry through the online platform, keeping track of the rules of submission & the judging criteria.

Each of the members of the jury has an independent account and an online form in which will have to assign points taking into account the following:

• Strategic Approach: Judges look for a firm understanding of the context, business/marketing challenge, campaign objective, along with a solid strategy & approach of the challenge. It is important to prove the use of research, creativity, choice of media vehicles and integration with other non-interactive media if appropriate

• Creative concept: Judges will consider such criteria as engagement, unique use of medium, art direction, copywriting, integration with overall campaign, and use of technology.  

• Execution: In order to evaluate and understand the mechanism of the campaigns at this section the brief, the candidate should should provide answers for the following questions:  

• Overall description of the campaign and how well was the campaign carried out? 

• How creative or sophisticated was the campaign in its use of media? 

• What percent of the campaign budget went to interactive media? 

• How well was technology leveraged?

• What did the agency do to accomplish the brand and/or business goals and objectives outlined above?

• A thorough supply of key deliverables provided - Image & Video cases

• Amplification: This section should provide information on mechanisms and channels used in rolling out the campaign: paid media, influencers, digital PR, guerilla, OOH. (What interactive tactics & channels were used? Why and how were they used - what was the approach? What percentage of the overall interactive budget was allocated on each channel?) 

• Innovation: The judges will evaluate whether there Is there anything unique, noteworthy or interesting about the execution of the strategy

• Results: This section should provide an explanation of the success of the campaign and provide information on the achievement of the objectives and goals of the campaign and if there are evidence to back it up. What was the overall ROI? Did the performance of the campaign have a significant impact on the business? How well did the work do against your brand and/or business goals and objectives?

At the end, the judges will have to assign a Category Rational grade: A grade that illustrates the relevance (best fit) of a campaign with the specific category. 

Depending on the category the judges will give more attention to one or more criteria. For example: in the category Direct response, the criteria Results and ROI will be the most important criteria, so if a case submitted in this category has a brilliant strategy, a fabulous design and the perfect mix of media but lousy results, the case will never win the award in the Direct Response category.

It is very important to remember, when submitting the case that the judging process and results will depend on the information you submit! Be careful and very thorough when filling in the form. Lack, misleading or insufficient information might lead to disqualifying the campaign or to an incomplete analysis and/ or lower points from the part of the jury! For more information please read carefully the Rules.