The Global Mobile Awards 2014 – what makes a good award entry?

The Global Mobile Awards for 2014 – recognising innovation and excellence across the mobile industry – have now opened for online entry, with a deadline of Friday 29th November 2013. It’s at this early stage that people often ask “what makes for a good award entry?” or “what are the judges looking for?”

It’s probably easier to start with what the judges are not looking for.

To start, judges are looking for nominations that avoid an overload of jargon, industry or technical acronyms or ‘cut and pastes’ from press releases.  Don’t forget that the judges of the Global Mobile Awards are often independent journalists and analysts that see press releases every few minutes of the day, are well trained at spotting hype and find the alphabet soup of acronyms an instant turn-off. Entries need to convey the same excitement that one feels about their product or service, so make sure you articulate that energy and bring it to life. Do this with sizzle but in a truthful and honest way and you stand a good chance of standing out. Look at it from a judge’s perspective – they have hundreds of entries to read so focus on capturing their imagination and making your entry as unique as possible.

Many entries also tend to play up technical features or new advances without explaining specifically what customer benefits are enabled as a result. And common errors also include a lack of proof points or evidence of success, as well failure to read and take note of the rules, criteria and particularly details of eligibility. Make sure that you have read the criteria carefully and that you address the themes highlighted in your entry.

An ideal entry is one that compels a judge to read on past the first paragraph and often judges will say they know a winner when they see it. Like the synopsis of a book, explain clearly using plain language what the product, service or application is, what it does, what advantages it brings to customers and why it is innovative, followed by the evidence.

Ensure that the questions on the entry form are answered directly and succinctly and if additional documents or external links are provided, that they are brief, simple and take judges directly to the supporting information, without their having to trawl and take time to find the answers. They often just don’t have the time.  Quotations or endorsements from influential customers can also offer an advantage and a good reference point for success, in the eyes of judges.

The use of video has become integral to the Global Mobile Awards. Bringing an entry to life by showing how it works and what it actually does in a real-world situation provides the best possible insight for judges. It saves them significant time and if it comes with a well-explained and clear narrative, video submissions can significantly enhance the chances of being shortlisted.  The Global Mobile Awards accept videos (via YouTube or other video platform links) of between 3-5 minutes.

Try not to leave completion of your entry to the last minute.  Take time to gather and polish statistics, supporting evidence, endorsements and video etc. When your CEO is collecting an award on stage at the Mobile World Congress, you’ll realise the effort was worth it.

And finally, don’t forget that, in the Technology Category of the Global Mobile Awards, the “Best Overall Technology Award” will be judged by the CTOs from more than a dozen leading mobile operators. Hence your entry becomes an elevator pitch to key decision makers, a factor that could make a very big difference indeed!

So, make your nominations today and good luck!