Welcome to the BCMA Global Branded Entertainment Awards 2024

This is an exciting new global industry awards programme to recognise the key protagonists of branded content and influencer marketing entertainment from the production, agency, platform, media and creative communities.

The BCMA is launching a new global awards programme, in association with C21 Media, titled the BCMA Global Branded Entertainment Awards. Backed by leading experts in the branded content and influencer marketing industries the awards will recognise the key protagonists from the production, media, and creative sectors.

The new awards will reward the leading directors, producers, and content creators, that have been creating extraordinary and often ground-breaking, branded entertainment and influencer marketing campaigns without receiving the credit they deserve.

The BCMA Global Branded Entertainment Awards will bring together an Advisory Board of eminent personalities from across the globe in the world of branded content and influencer marketing, led by the advertising legend, Sir John Hegarty. The Jury will include world leading brands, such as Red Bull and Best Buy, leading production companies, such as Banijay, platforms, such as, TikTok, broadcasters, such as, CNN, agencies, such as Havas and IPG Mediabrands.

It will also include leading academics such as Jonathan Hardy, BA MA PhD FHEA, Professor of Communications and Media at University of the Arts London and Dr Bjoern Asmussen, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Subject Coordinator for MSc Marketing and Brand Management & MSc Marketing Communications Management at Oxford Brookes Business School.

Key Dates

Submission deadline: Friday, 18th October 2024

Shortlist announced: W/C 18th November 2024

In-person Awards Ceremony at Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG: 4th December 2024

N.B. Your entry includes and guarantees you a ticket to the ceremony

Award Categories:

• Best Branded Entertainment Strategy

• Best Original Branded Entertainment Idea

• Best Visual Branded Entertainment

• Best Audio Branded Entertainment

• Best Branded Entertainment Series

• Best Experiential Branded Entertainment

• Best Interactive Digital Branded Entertainment

• Best Activation for Branded Entertainment

• Best Branded Entertainment with Purpose

• Best B2B Branded Entertainment

• Best Branded Entertainment Using Social Media

• Best Influencer Branded Entertainment

• Best Branded Entertainment Use of Technology

• Best Branded Entertainment Research

• Best Use Of AI In Branded Entertainment

• Branded Entertainment Rising Star

The jury will award a single prize for each category, and, among the awarded projects in these categories, the Grand Prize for the Best Branded Entertainment of 2024 will emerge. There will also be an award for the Client of the Year.

Full Category Criteria

Best Branded Entertainment Strategy

This category will be for a branded entertainment strategy maintaining a brand presence throughout an extended period of time, demonstrating consistency, high-level strategic thinking, using the full range of branding skills and techniques.

Best Original Branded Entertainment Idea

This category will award the best original branded entertainment idea, which can be a single production shown in one part or a series. The judges will look for genre defining production and excellence across all areas of casting, story and production. 

Best Audio Visual Branded Entertainment

This category will award the best audio visual branded entertainment, which can be a single production shown in one part or a series. The judges will be looking for outstanding creativity and relevant use of platforms and targeting. 

Best Audio Branded Entertainment

This category is for entries that showcase the best audio branded entertainment which could be a podcast which is entertaining, engaging or informative and has been created for a brand or organisation. Judges will be looking for entries which have added value to the brand as well as increasing their reach and appealing to new audiences. 

Best Branded Entertainment Series

The category will award the best branded entertainment series, defined as a run of 4 or more episodes. The judges will look for genre defining production and excellence across all areas of casting, story, production.

Best Experiential Branded Entertainment

This category is for entries that showcase the best experiential branded entertainment which could be a live or pre-recorded event.

Best Interactive Digital Branded Entertainment

This category is for entries that showcase the best interactive digital branded entertainment which can be a single production shown in one part or a series made specifically for a social, web, mobile and video platform.

Best Activation for Branded Entertainment

This category is for the best activation for a branded entertainment which can be a single production or series. It should demonstrate how the activation strategy impacted positively on the results for the campaign.

Best Branded Entertainment with Purpose

This category is for the best branded entertainment that has purpose at its heart. The judges will expect the work to support issues and goals for the organisation to make an impact in areas such as the environment, diversity, inclusion and gender equality. 

Best B2B Branded Entertainment

This category is for the best B2B branded entertainment that could be a single production or series. The judges will be looking for campaigns that deliver engagement, customer recruitment and retention, sales or share uplifts and brand uplifts. 

Best Branded Entertainment Using Social Media

This category is for the best branded entertainment using social media. This could be across any/multiple social platforms and in any form applied in a business-to-consumer context. The judges will be looking for an uplift in engagement, impact on customer recruitment and retention, and contribution to business outcomes.

Best Influencer Branded Entertainment

This category is for the best influencer branded entertainment. This will be for campaigns that have successfully achieved the brand objectives such as social visibility, ROI, engagement, follower growth, conversions, creativity, sales funnel development, traffic or another internally agreed goal through the use of influencers in the content campaign or strategy. 

Best Branded Entertainment Use of Technology

This category is for the best use of technology in branded entertainment and will demonstrate outstanding innovation. The judges will be looking for use of technology including VR, AR, geo-targeting, data use or facial recognition across any platform.

Best Branded Entertainment Research

This category is for the best use of research in branded entertainment. The judges will be looking for insights gained from ground-breaking research and how this impacted positively on the campaign. They will also want to see how research has been used to measure the effectiveness of campaigns.

Best Use Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Branded Entertainment

This category is for the best use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in branded entertainment. The judges will be looking for how the use of AI technology has made a demonstrable difference and positively impacted on the campaign.

Branded Entertainment Rising Star

This category will identify the branded entertainment rising star and is for anyone under 35 working in branded entertainment for a brand, production company, agency or a content creator that demonstrates an outstanding contribution to branded entertainment, as well as their own progress between June 2023 and October 2024, career development, learning and skills gained. Entrants will be required to submit their achievements in up to 450 words and include a testimonial of up to 150 words from their line manager or CEO.

The jury will award a single prize for each category, and, among the awarded projects in these categories, the Grand Prize for the Best Branded Entertainment of 2024 will emerge. There will also be an award for the Client of the Year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be a member to enter? No, we welcome everyone to enter, including brands and organisations from any sector. However, Members do benefit from an entry discount. Learn more about becoming a member of the BCMA. 

Can I enter more than one category? Yes, you can enter as many categories as you wish, and as many projects into one category as you like. There’s no limit! The more entries results in a lower per-entry cost.

What are the entry requirements? All work included in your submission must have appeared between June 2023 and October 2024.

How are the awards judged? The awards will be judged by independent branded content and influencer marketing experts. There will be a pre-judging round to select the final shortlist for the expert judging panel to decide the winners from our global community.

How much does it cost to enter? Members pay £429 per entry, with non-members paying £499. You have the option to pay in advance via invoice, or on submission through our payment partner, Stripe. There are discounts available for multiple entries, so please see the Rules & Regulations or email us to find out the deal. By submitting your entry to the awards you will be guaranteed a ticket to attend the ceremony. Only BCMA members qualify for the discounted rate which can be accessed through the BCMA Member Portal here. If for any reason the discounted rate is applied to non-member entries, this may lead to disqualification.

When is the entry deadline? The deadline for all submissions is: Friday, 18th October 2024. 

Will my entry be treated with confidence? All information included in the entries will be treated with the strictest confidence. 

Where and when will the ceremony take place? We are hosting a glamorous awards ceremony which will be hosted at Kings Place, during Content London on the evening of the 4th December 2024. Dress code will be black tie and ball gowns.

How to Submit Your Entry

1. Log in or create an account
Head over to our awards platform where you will create and submit your entires.

2. Choose your categories
Select the categories that you would like to enter from those available. You can submit the same piece of work to multiple categories, likewise with multiple pieces of work to one category.

3. Write or upload your entries
You may want to write the entry and upload it when it is complete, or you can save your entry as you go before you’re finally ready to submit.

4. Submit and pay
You can pay for your entries upon submission or you can pay for your entries in advance via invoice.

Please email us if you wanted to pay this way. BCMA member discounts are available. There are discounts available for multiple entries.

Good luck with your entries!

For any questions, please contact Yasmin Akhtar

Full Rules & Regulations and cost breakdown are available here

Sir John Hegarty

John Hegarty is Chair of the Jury and has been central to the global advertising scene for over six decades.

Creative and Founder

He was a founding partner of Saatchi and Saatchi in 1970. And then TBWA in 1973. He founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1982 with John Bartle and Nigel Bogle. The agency now has 7 offices around the world. He has been given the D&AD President’s Award for outstanding achievement and in 2014 was admitted to the US AAF Hall of Fame.

John was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen in 2007 and was the recipient of the first Lion of St Mark award at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2011. John has written 2 books, ‘Hegarty on Advertising - Turning Intelligence into Magic’ and ‘Hegarty on Creativity - there are no rules’.

In 2014 John co-founded The Garage Soho, a seed stage Venture Capital fund that believes in building brands, not just businesses.