THE NINETY NINE
UNITED ADWORKERS AWARD SHOW
Entering is easy. Winning? Well…
The 99 was carefully and craftily created to be one of the toughest shows of any market. Only 99 pieces of work get in and of those there are only 12 bronzes, 8 silvers, 5 golds and 1 best of show. The next 25 highest-rated entries will receive a Merit and the following 49 highest-rated entries will receive Honorable Mentions. Like we said, this is a tough show purposefully built to only reward creative problem solving at its finest.
Entering is pretty self-explanatory. Say who you are, pick an entry category, give us the rundown of the work and be sure to follow the upload guidelines.
COMPETITION RULES
Looking for the Student Competition Rules? Click here.
Important Dates
ENTRIES CLOSE
Friday, December 22, 2023 at 11:59 PM
IN-PERSON AWARD SHOW
Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Fees
Singles - $50
Campaigns/Collections - $75
Students - Free
What Are the Entry Categories?
A project entry may be submitted to as many applicable categories. The categories for this year's show are as follows:
1. SELF-PROMOTION (SINGLE)
2. SELF-PROMOTION (CAMPAIGN)
3. ANIMATION, EDITING OR MOTION/VFX
4. BOOK, MAGAZINE OR PERIODICAL
5. BRANDING, LOGO OR VISUAL IDENTITY
6. BROCHURE, DIRECT MAIL OR LEAVE-BEHIND
7. DISPLAY AD, EMAIL OR DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
8. ENVIRONMENTAL, INTERIOR OR SPATIAL
9. EVENT, EXPERIENTIAL OR GUERRILLA
10. ILLUSTRATION, LETTERING OR PAINTING
11. INTEGRATED, 360°, OR MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGN
12. ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN OR VOICEOVER
13. OUT OF HOME, TRANSIT OR BILLBOARD
14. PACKAGING OR POINT OF PURCHASE
15. PHOTOGRAPHY OR RETOUCHING
16. PRINT ADVERTISING OR PROMOTIONAL POSTER
17. PUBLIC RELATIONS OR STRATEGY
18. RADIO OR PODCAST ADVERTISING
19. SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
20. VIDEO:10 OR LESS (SINGLE)
21. VIDEO:10 OR LESS (CAMPAIGN)
22. VIDEO:15 THRU :30 (SINGLE)
23. VIDEO:15 THRU :30 (CAMPAIGN)
24. VIDEO:60 OR MORE (SINGLE)
25. VIDEO:60 OR MORE (CAMPAIGN)
26. VIDEO CAMPAIGN MULTIPLE LENGTHS
27. WEBSITE, APP OR MOBILE EXPERIENCE
👉 A project entry may be submitted to as many applicable categories.
Entry Guidelines
"Single" entries may contain no more than 5 associated files/assets (images, videos, link to website, etc). The reason multiple uploads are permitted for a "Single" entry is to allow for the Submitter to highlight the various details of an individual piece of work. This could be a close-up of an illustration, a case study video or other methods of showcasing specific elements of a "single" piece of work.
"Campaign/Collection" entries must contain at least 3 uploaded files/assets, and may contain up to 10 total. All work entered as part of a "Campaign/Collection" entry must be related (from the same project).
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Images must be submitted in GIF, JPG, or PNG format (max 2MB per file). Images should not exceed 1920px in width.
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Videos must be submitted in MP4 format (max 200MB per file). Videos must be 3 minutes or less in length. Please do not submit video slideshows of still images to get around the still image upload limit. Any such video will be rejected. Please, no slates, bars, or tones.
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Audio-only entries, such as Radio or Podcast Advertising, must also be uploaded as an MP4 video (max 200MB per file), but with no moving imagery. However, a still image of a client's logo or a single representative thumbnail image associated with the campaign is allowed and even encouraged. Case study videos for audio-only entries are also allowed.
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A Screening Committee member will contact Submitters about any issues with their uploaded media.
If you are a Submitter and believe you may have uploaded inaccurate media with an entry, or need to correct an error associated with a submitted entry, please send an email with your Project Title as the subject line to: the99@unitedadworkers.com
Any work that was printed, published, broadcast or digitally displayed between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023 is eligible for entry into the 2024 '99 Show'. Work submitted to previous '99 Shows' or work created for United Adworkers is not eligible for entry.
Entry Assets
Unlike in previous years, entry files will not be uploaded via the United Adworkers site. Instead, we are asking agencies and entry submitters to host files related to their entries on their respective file-sharing platforms (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.).
WHY ARE WE IMPLEMENTING THESE CHANGES?
Our server simply doesn't have enough space. Often, files that exceed the competition limits set by our screening committee are uploaded by submitters, and these files very quickly eat up our available space.
Payments
Separate payment is required for every category in which your project is entered. The price of a "Single" entry is $50. The price of a "Campaign/Collection" entry is $75.
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You will not be required to pay at the time of upload. Once the submission period closes, United Adworkers will invoice you once for all the entries you submitted. You will be able to pay via check or bank transfer (an additional 2.9% fee is applied for credit card or PayPal payees). Additional payment details will be contained in the invoice itself.
Payment is due upon receipt of the invoice.
Criteria & Voting
Judges will use our custom-built judging website to virtually and remotely rate each entry. There will be one round of judging and each Judge will rate every entry's Creativity and Craft (described below) on a scale of 0–100. 0 is low and bad. 100 is high and good.
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CREATIVITY
"Is the work innovative and unique?"
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CRAFT
"Is the work well-produced and high quality?"
Scoring & Ranking
The average of each Judge's votes on Creativity and Craft will determine a Judge's Criteria Scores. The average of each Judge’s Criteria Scores will determine an entry's Ranking Score. An entry's Ranking Score will determine its place among the top 99 highest-rated entries as well as its corresponding award. See examples below.
EXAMPLE JUDGING CHART A
JUDGE 1
JUDGE 2
JUDGE 3
CRAFT
80
70
100
CREATIVITY
70
80
60
CRITERIA SCORE AVG
75
65
90
76.6
RANKING SCORE
EXAMPLE JUDGING CHART B
JUDGE 1
JUDGE 2
JUDGE 3
CRAFT
10
20
30
CREATIVITY
20
0
30
CRITERIA SCORE AVG
15
25
15
18.3
RANKING SCORE
The top 5 highest-rated entries will receive Gold and will be eligible for Best of Show. The next 8 highest-rated entries will receive Silver. The next 12 highest-rated entries will receive Bronze. The next 25 highest-rated entries will receive a Merit. The next 49 highest-rated entries will receive an Honorable Mention and round out the winning entries for the show.
In the event of a tie that would affect whether an entry falls in or out of a certain award tier, the Judging Committee will re-vote on the affected entries to break the tie.
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The Judging Committee will then deliberate over which of the top 5 highest-rated entries should receive Best of Show.
Student Competition
Students are allowed only one entry into the show. Work entered must have been created between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023. Award-winning work from the 99 Show in 2021 or work created for United Adworkers is not eligible for entry.
The Screening Committee will vote to determine whether a student's entry meets the criteria necessary to be considered for the show. All entries that receive more "IN" than "OUT" votes will qualify for recognition in The Show.
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Three awards will be given out this year: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The Screening Committee will deliberate to determine which entry deserves which award.