The judging days took place on November 3 and 4, 2011 in New York City. Over 60 judges reviewed and discussed the entries that were submitted. You can view the list of finalists HERE. The winners will be announced at the 34th John Caples International Awards on Thursday, March 22, 2012 in New York City.
How will they be judged?
A panel of approximately 60 judges will select the winners through an extensive and thorough two-day process. These judges must be executive or SVP creative directors. All judges must presently work as creatives and must have done so for at least five years. Round 1 is the elimination round. Round 2 is the scoring round.
Judging is based on a creative solution to the marketing problem via:
- Concept: the overall creative idea
- Copy: how well the copy is crafted
- Art direction: the use of design and graphic elements to deliver the message
Any judge that has a conflict of interest, including but not restricted to: working for an agency that submitted that campaign, and/or involved with any aspect of the project, will not be allowed to judge that entry. Judges may move entries between categories if deemed unsuitable to one but appropriate for another. Scoring entries will be made at the discretion of the judges, and their decision will be final.
Placers (gold, silver and bronze) will be determined based on overall scoring. There may be multiple placers or no placers at all in each use of media.
To become a finalist, each individual entry must be vetted by a triumvirate of creative peers during two successively-eliminative judging rounds. For the final round, the finalists are numerically scored for copy, for art and for concept, by two separate triumvirates of international judges. The cumulative total of the six individual creative directors is decisive. If no Finalist reaches the preset score for a prize level, no prize is awarded. If two or more reach the same prize-level score in the same category, there will be multiple winners. Thus, a category may have several silver (2nd), prize winners, say, without a gold (1st).
How are judges picked?
Candidates for judges need to submit an application online that will be reviewed by a committee to determine eligibility. Candidates must have at least five years of hands-on experience as a direct marketing creative. Applications for the 2011 Caples Awards are no longer accepted.
THIS YEAR'S HONORARY CHAIR
Christa Carone, CMO, Xerox
Christa Carone is the chief marketing officer of Xerox Corporation. She was named to this position in September 2008, and was appointed a vice president of the corporation in May 2010.
Carone is responsible for global marketing strategy and initiatives that include advertising, experiential marketing, public relations, internal communications, integrated campaigns, interactive and social marketing, and the Xerox Foundation. She is also the steward of the company's brand, leading global activities that serve to protect the value of the Xerox name and multi-billion dollar brand.
Previous HONORARY Chair of Judges
2010 Sanjay Gupta, Ally Financial
2009 Michael Mendenhall, HP
2008 Jeffrey Hayzlett, Kodak
2007 Deborah Radcliffe, Pfizer
2006 Ian Baer, iCrossing
2005 Howard Draft, Draftfcb
