GLOBAL: Senior executives from US Bank, Northwell Health and Campari are among the judges being announced today for the Effective Innovation category in the 2018 Warc Awards initiative, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.

The Effective Innovation category is one of four and replaces the WARC Innovation Awards which, for the past five years, have rewarded studies that link innovation to business success. A prize fund of $40,000 will reward entries across the four categories.

Entry is free and papers submitted as effectiveness case studies are welcomed from any market or discipline. More information and details about how to enter can be found on the Warc Awards site.

The 12-strong jury will be chaired by Christopher Yu, Head of Integrated Marketing Strategy, Innovation, & Technology at US Bank.

“As non-traditional competitors continue to disrupt established industries, only those brands that are strong innovators – who know how to enable and commercialize new ideas – will continue to succeed,” he said.

“This year’s WARC Innovation Awards jury panel represents an exciting cross-section of today’s best and brightest innovators,” Yu added, welcoming their diversity of experiences, talents and accomplishments.

They include Melanie Batchelor, VP Marketing at drinks brand Campari, Bessie Lee, founder and CEO of Withinlink, a China-based start-up incubator, and Ramon Soto, SVP, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Northwell Health, a US not-for-profit healthcare network.

Joining them from the agency side are Kate Smither, Chief Strategy Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Jim Kite, Global Head of Partnerships, Business Transformation at Publicis Media, Joseph Smeaton, Planning Director at DDB Group, Fern Miller, Chief strategy and Insight Officer, International, at DigitasLBi, Howard Pull, Strategic Development Director at MullenLowe Profero, Leila Fataar, founder of Platform 13, Abby Leber, Innovation Strategy Director at Anomaly NY, and Hugo Pinto, Managing Director, UKI at Accenture.

Full details of all the judges can be seen on the Warc Awards site.

In addition to the Grand Prix, which will win $7,000, judges will also grant three $1,000 Special Awards: the Channel Innovation Award, for the best example of an innovative use of media; the Category Innovation Award, for the best example of a brand defying category norms or creating a new category; and the Partnership Award, for the best collaboration that helped a brand rethink a solution to a business challenge.

The closing date for entries is 12 February 2018.

Sourced from WARC