FoodBev.com Awards 2011

Brands

Did you launch a new product in the food and drinks industry after September 2010? If you did, our judges will pore over the best of the best and pick an overall winner. They will look for genuine innovation, the product’s impact on the market and how its on-​pack communication contributed towards its success.

The judges’ criteria for assessing the best brand redesign will take into account a product’s improved usability, shelf stand-​out, design attractiveness and marketing punch.

Functional food and drink

The functional food and drinks sector has blossomed into a lucrative and dynamic industry that continues to innovate despite the doom and gloom of our economic times. The judges will cast their eye over the best of 2011, taking into account a product’s true health benefits, its clear labelling, its nutritional prowess and its core list of new or interesting ingredients.

Innovator and agency

These people-​oriented awards will showcase the skills of those who bring innovative and exciting products to market, such as designers, marketers, agencies and creative thinkers. We invite you to consider who has excelled in your organisation; who was most influential in bringing a particular product to the public’s attention? It should be something that was launched in 2011, and we’re looking for individuals and collective agencies.

The judges will look at a product’s impact on the market – its attractiveness, its usefulness, its quirkiness and its uniqueness. They will consider an individual’s innovative approach, and a team’s collective expertise. This is a chance to emerge from behind the brand and pat yourselves on the back.

Online

There have been many interesting media campaigns in 2011, and new websites have launched to take advantage of social networking and its many marketing benefits. In these two categories, the judges will look for a targeted approach to a brand’s consumer base, its success in terms of exposure and impact on sales and/​or audience take-​up, and the creative thought that goes into launching a well-​designed campaign.

Is the website usable, effective and dynamic? Is the campaign’s message clear?

When you enter the FoodBev.com Awards, we will send you a short questionnaire to complete. This is what the questionnaire will look like …

What is the full name of your company?

This is the full name of the company or organisation that is responsible and accountable for entering the awards. If you are entering on behalf of another company, please seek their permission to do so.

What is the full name of the product/​person/​agency you have entered into the awards?

For example, the product may be ‘Amazing Cola’, the person may be ‘Joe Bloggs, head designer’, or it may be ‘Designs R Us’. You can even enter a team of people, in which case we need all of their names.

What is the country of origin?

In other words, where was the product born? Where does the amazing head designer work? Or where is the agency based?

What date was the product launched?

If you don’t know the exact day, the month will suffice. We will gladly take entries from products or projects that were completed or publicised after September 2010.

Who was involved in the development of the product or project?

This could be development partners that you would like to name, or perhaps ingredients suppliers, or packaging specialists. It’s good for us to have as much background information as possible.

Where is your product currently available?

It doesn’t matter if your product is only available in a small hut at the far end of a beach in the middle of Bouvet Island, we’d still like to hear from you and know where your product or agency is available or situated.

Please list the full ingredients of your product.

We’d like to know what goes into making your product. Of course, if you’re nominating a person for the award, we already know they’re full of genius, so no need to complete this one.

Please provide photos of your product on sale.

This is so that we can see your product compared to others. It helps the judges determine whether a product has good shelf stand-​out, or whether a redesign has made a bigger impact than its predecessor. If you can’t do this, no problem. It’s not an essential prerequisite.

What is the recommended retail price of your product?

It doesn’t matter what your currency is. We just need to see what the RRP is so that the judges have all essential information to hand.

Why did you design the product in this particular way?

If you’re entering a product, provide some background into the thinking behind its conception, or if it’s a redesign, what changes were made and why? If you’re nominating a person or team, what did they work on and how did they come to the decisions they eventually made?

What was your specific approach to marketing this product?

You could provide details of your target audience, your campaign, your client’s campaign, regional demographics etc. Did you use social media? Were you restricted by cost or distribution issues? Tell us as much as you like.

Finally, what are your hopes for this product or person?

Be as honest and aspirational as possible. There’s no shame in being proud of your work or the creative minds that make your company or agency tick.

Any images that you supply will be used to create materials for the judges, marketing materials for the FoodBev.com Awards themselves, and post-​Awards editorial materials. If you are successful in making our judges’ shortlist after the closing date of 20 January 2012, we will be in touch to let you know. The winner of each category will be announced online between 31 January and 7 February.