UK Sponsorship Awards 2024 – Early bird entry fee deadline December 15th
November 30, 2023
The early bird deadline for the 2024 edition of the UK Sponsorship Awards (UKSA) is less than 15 days away. So why not wrap up your entry now before the seasonal celebrations kick in? And claim a £50 discount on the full price of each entry until December 15th.
Brands, agencies, rights holder, charities and other stakeholders can enter campaigns right now via the UKSA website at a discounted price. Shortlisted entries will be celebrated at UKSA’s 30th Anniversary gala awards event on March 26th, 2024, at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.
Popular perennial categories will be available for entry as always – notably arts, sport, media, diversity, digital activation and consultancy. But 2024’s event will also see several exciting innovations. These include a new rights holder category, a special 30th anniversary award and a revamped venue sponsorship category.
The revamped rights holder segment of the awards will celebrate the massive contribution that venues, clubs and media owners make towards the health and dynamism of the sponsorship industry. Launched to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the UK Sponsorship Awards in 2024, there will be three rights holders awards up for grabs.
The three awards on offer are for: Arts Rights Holder, Media Rights Holder and Sports Rights Holder. Unlike the majority of UKSA’s awards, these three new categories will not focus on the strength of a single campaign. Instead, they will look at the success of organisations as facilitators of sponsorship across the entire year.
UKSA’s organisers are also delighted to unveil a one-off award for the Best UK Sponsor of the last 30 years. Created to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the industry-leading event, the special award will be presented to the sponsor that is deemed by the industry to have made the most significant contribution to the industry through its creativity and innovation. The new award, decided by an open vote, will seek to identify one sponsor that stands out as the sector’s best in class. To enter, a sponsor needs to be nominated by one person and backed by a succinct 200-300 words statement of support.
In addition to all of the above there will be awards to celebrate fast-growing sectors including women’s sports sponsorship, esports, social media and sustainability. Long-running categories such as education, grass roots and PR will also take price of place in the line-up. Also back is the Spotlight Award, which will focus on the Travel, Tourism & Leisure Industry – after the Drinks industry in 2023.
Company and People Awards are always an important component of the UKSA line-up – and this year is no exception. Alongside rights holders, consultancies will have three categories, and there will be new additions to our Champions of Sponsorship hall of fame. Not to be overlooked is the Barrie Gill Award for Most Promising Young Sponsorship Executive – a signpost towards the sector’s future.
“The UK Sponsorship Awards goes from strength to strength,” said UKSA CEO Rosie Sarginson, “thanks to the robust support we receive from our friends and colleagues in the industry. This year we are looking forward to an extra special event to celebrate our 30th anniversary. As always, the range of categories on offer reflects both our shared history and the industry’s dynamic direction of travel. So don’t delay – be one of this year’s awards early birds.”
The UK Sponsorship Awards attracts many loyal supporters who attend the event year after year. But there are, of course, newcomers who have never attended – tech sponsors, for example, or rights holders that didn’t exist a few years ago. And there are some who have been absent for a few years. With that in mind, we’ve drawn up a list of ten compelling reasons why it makes sense to enter.
We’ve also drawn up some advice on how to maximise your chances. There’s only one surefire way to win a UK Sponsorship Award – and that’s to convince the judges that your entry is the best. But there are a few ways in which you can improve your odds of getting noticed. Built up over years of feedback from the judges, these insights can help you hone your approach when drafting an eye-catching entry.
The early bird deadline is not the last chance to enter. The final deadline is January 23rd, so there is still time after the holiday season if the end of year rush is too intense. For more details on any of the above, contact UKSA Awards organiser Rosie Sarginson at rosie@sponsorship-awards.co.uk
Did You Know? Last year’s Sponsorship of the Year was Heineken’s Cheers To All The Fans, entered by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment (which also won a consultancy award). Also celebrating in the consultancy categories were We Are Futures and Bright Partnerships. One of the 2023’s most hotly-contested sections was DEI, which was won by RNIB’s See The Person, entered by Wavemaker and Channel 4. In the Arts Category, the winner was a partnership between Morgan Stanley, Somerset House and The Courtauld.
For inspiration when entering this year’s UKSA Awards, why not review details of 2023’s winners and nominees? These can be found at the Awards website: http://www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk/.
