Eligibility

ELIGIBILITY & DISQUALIFICATION

Entries are open to all clients and marketing, digital, advertising, communication and media agencies in addition to any party involved in the digital sector.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that the commissioning client has the rights to use the intellectual property of the brand promoted. Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the advertiser/owner of all rights that subsist in the advertisement.

All entries submitted must include work/campaigns from 1 January 2021 to 28 February 2023. Any work done before or after these dates is not eligible for evaluation but can be used as context if it is part of the same work/campaign being entered. Entries with main campaign duration outside the set dates will be disqualified.

All entries submitted must have ran in the MENA region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Georgia, Mauritania, Turkey, Pakistan, Somalia.

Work/campaigns can be entered in more than one category as the entrant sees relevant. But the same entry cannot be submitted more than once in a given category.

All Entries must be submitted in English.

Enforcement of rules

RULES

All entries must be submitted online via the Entrant’s dedicated login.

Only one party may enter an entry, i.e. either the digital agency or the Advertising agency or the media agency etc. may enter a piece that both parties have worked on, but not both. If the same entry is submitted by two different entrant companies, only the first entry will be accepted.

There can only be one entrant company per entry. The entrant company is responsible for payment of entry fees and is the automatic point of contact for the entry. Please ensure that all contributing companies are recognized on your entry form before finalizing your submission.

It is the Entrants responsibility to ensure that the entry submitted is relevant to its category.

All entry forms must be completed online by March 22, 2023 at 18:00 UAE Time. Incomplete entries and entries that have not been endorsed before entry deadline may be disqualified by the Organizer.

Please note that entries submitted online will not be considered complete until: all the relevant entry materials have been uploaded, submitted and payment is made within the set grace period.

Judging

JUDGING PROCESS

Entries will be judged by a jury consisting of well-known and credible digital practitioners, marketers, strategists and other experts.

Each entry will be submitted online following a template and pre-set guidelines. Each judge will individually access the entry online and evaluate it based on the “judging criteria” described below. The weighted scores for each entry will be calculated and audited by the official “audit partner” of MENA Digital Awards. Scores for both rounds remain confidential until the official announcement dates. Judges are prevented from evaluating entries submitted by their own “brand.”

Judging will take place in two rounds to determine the shortlisted and winning entries.

Preliminary Round: Determining Shortlists
All entries will be judged by a minimum of six (6) jurors. Judges will evaluate and score each entry individually from across categories. Entries with the highest scores in each category will become shortlisted and qualified for the final round.

Final Round: Determining the Winners
All shortlisted entries will be judged in a second round by a minimum of six (6) jurors. Judges will evaluate and score each entry individually from across categories. Entries with the highest scores in each category will be awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively.

Shortlisted entries may or may not be converted to wins.

It is not mandatory that each category have shortlisted entries nor have winners.

GRAND PRIX
One Grand Prix is granted at the MENA Digital Awards and it goes to the highest scoring gold winning entry regardless of category.

In the cases that no gold awards are awarded, there will not be a Grand Prix trophy.

Agency of the Year and Network of the Year
Agency of the Year and Network of the Year goes to the highest overall scoring Agency and Network as per the below scheme.

The winning Agency of the Year do not necessarily ensure Network of the Year status as the overall points by all of the Networks’ Agencies are taken into consideration to determine Network of the Year

Grand Prix: 11 points

Gold: 9 points

Silver: 7 points

Bronze: 5 points

Shortlist: 3 points

Agency of the Year
If a shortlisted or winning entry has both Lead Agency and Support agency, the points awarded to the entry will be divided and allocated equally among the agencies credited. The Entry can have more than One Support Agency.

Network of the Year
If a shortlisted or winning entry has both Lead Agency and Support agency, the points awarded to the entry will be divided and allocated equally among the agencies credited. If the agencies sharing the points are from the same Network, the total will go to that Network.

Nevertheless, if Agency A belongs to Network A and wins an MDA Award with Agency B (which belongs to Network B), then the points will be divided and shared equally between both Networks.

If Agency A belongs to Network A but the second agency is independent half the points will go to Network A. The Entry can have more than One Support Agency.

JUDGING CRITERIA
A set of criteria is being identified to analyze each entry and to fairly and accurately assess each entry on its merits. The weight of each criterion differs by the category but the total. This includes the following:

Strategy
The entry is being evaluated on how succinct and insightful the approach is to the overall issues and target audience with proven evidence.

Creativity and Innovation
The entry is evaluated based on the originality of the idea, creativity of execution as well as on innovation in measurement of results.

Execution
The entry will be evaluated on how convincing the argument made establishing a cause and effect between the objectives, strategy and results of the campaign. This entails that the entry should show the effective use of resources, technical excellence in implementing the campaign.

Results
The entry will be evaluated on how well the chosen strategies and communications methods met the set objectives. Entries must provide quantification/proof of results from a credible source (and seek third party verification of awards winners). Judges will also looking for clearly defined strategic objectives with a link to business performance.

Entry & Material Requirements

How to Enter your Work
All entries will be submitted online.

Entries are open to all clients and marketing, digital, advertising, communication and media agencies in addition to any party involved in the digital sector.

Entrant companies are requested to create a user name and password. This will give the entrant company an online account. A confirmation email will be sent to the primary contact email provided

Each company is to use their online account to submit all their entries. More than one person may use the login details at the same time to streamline multiply entry submissions.

You are eligible to enter more than one category, as long as the work submitted meets the criteria.

You can use the ‘copy’ feature to create a copy of your entry and change the category as required.

You are advised to adjust your written entry if your work/campaign is entered in more than one categories.

All sections of the form, credits, and support materials are mandatory to complete entry submission.

The Entrant can add, view and edit their work at any time before the Entry Deadline.

You may edit your entry after submitting, up until the Entry Deadline.

Please make sure all your personal details are entered accurately, including contact details, as this will be used in the awards presentation if selected as a finalist.

A final invoice with all valid submission will be sent to the Entrant Company.

If your submissions have not been paid for at close of entry they will not be included for judging.

All Entries must be written in English.

Payment deadline: March 22, 2023

Support Materials Specifications

In addition to the “Entry Form” that is submitted online, the following support materials are required for successful submission of every entry.

Case Summary Board
The case summary board is comprised of two sections.

1. The first section is a one-page summary including three images that represent the entry and a short summary of 200-300 words to include; challenge – strategy/execution – topline results.

2. The second section is a one-page with references to any support material online such as social URLs / Microsites/ Landing Page, Facebook App, Mobile App, Banners, etc. These are meant to show evidence of the success of the work.

All URLs must be live and accessible until August 25, 2023

File Format: JPEG/ JPG/ PNG/ PDF/ FLV

Showcase
The Showcase is meant to illustrate how your campaign was brought to life. The best Videos/Presentations are ones that tell the story of your campaign throughout all phases from strategy inception to execution to post campaign results.

The Showcase is a visual aide to support your entry and should not be a duplicate of your entry form. The uploaded file will be used to showcase the entry if awarded.

Entrant should only upload One Showcase; it is either a Showcase Video OR Slideshow Presentation.

For Video Length: Maximum 2 minutes

Maximum Video File Size: 150mb

Video File Format: MP4/MPEG/MPEG4/MOV

Video Language: English or have English subtitles.

You can also copy and paste the URL of your videos from Youtube or Vimeo in the attachment tab instead of uploading it as an attachment.

For Presentation Length: Maximum of (4) slides
Presentation File Format: PDF/JPEG/JPG

Entry Permission Form:
Entrant Company is required to upload one signed copy of the Entry Permission form with each entry. Entrant can download the Entry Permission Form from the Awards’ Website http://www.menadigitalawards.com/entry-permission-form

If the entrant company is an Agency then consent from both Agency and Client representatives is required.

If the entrant company is a Client, then only the client consent is required.

Payment

Payment Fee per Entry per Category

Early Bird Entry Deadline: November 04, 2022 | 06:00PM UAE
Early Bird Fees: 650 USD **

Final Deadline: March 22, 2023 | 6:00PM UAE
Late Bird Fees: 800 USD **

*Rates subject to change*

Payment shall be done by bank transfer or cheque against “Spoton Media Services and Events”
(** Plus 5% VAT)

For Bank Transfer:
Account Name : Spot On Media Services and Events
Bank Name : Mashreq Bank
Bank Address: Mall of the Emirates
Sort Code : BOMLAEAD
SWIFT Code : BOMLAEAD

For Payments in UAE Dirhams:
Acc Number : 019100039325
AED Acc IBAN number : AE 630330000019100039325

For Payments in US Dollars:
Acc Number : 019100074963
USD Acc IBAN number : AE770330000019100074963

For Cheque Payments please send the cheque to Spoton Offices
Address : Tecom, Sheikha Noora Bldg, Office 903 , Dubai – UAE

The MENA Digital Awards (MDA) is a bespoke awards show whose purpose is promote digital innovation and media in the MENA region. It is the first awards show to honor digital efforts in the region.

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