Now welcoming entries for the Transform Awards Europe 2018

Benchmarking the journeys brands make for almost a decade, the Transform Awards Europe should be a key date in every communicator and brand strategist’s calendar. In March this year, the Transform Awards Europe 2017 heralded the dawn of a new era in branding – one renewed with vigour, fineness and enthusiasm. Its record number of entrants, and subsequent shortlisted companies and agencies, showcased the best of what European branding can offer. From today, the Transform Awards Europe 2018 is open for entries – and the competition can only get fiercer.

With categories including, among many others, rebranding, packaging, nation branding, corporate brands and stakeholder engagement, the Transform Awards Europe 2018 offers a diverse and inclusive insight at the state of branding in the Europe region. The 2017 winners included companies as different as Danone Light and Free to the Premier League; from Selwyn’s Seaweed to the WWF, and Merck. For all shortlisted agencies, the Transform Awards is testament to their continued commitment to working with clients and delivering the best possible strategy for their brand projects.

Andrew Thomas, publishing editor of Transform magazine and founder of the Transform Awards international programme, says, “For the Transform Awards Europe, 2017 was a key year in the recognising the progress being made in the European brand strategy sector. We were honoured to welcome companies and agencies at the top of their sector to London for our best event yet. I’ve no doubt that the Transform Awards Europe 2018 will surpass anything seen before in terms of quality, diversity and delivering overall branding excellence.”

Last year’s Grand Prix winners, British Steel and Moirae Creative Agency and Ruddocks, and ‘Best overall visual identity’ winner, Lenovo Moto and FutureBrand, highlight how the merits of a successful branding collaboration extend beyond the drawing board. The Transform Awards Europe 2018 is set to welcome the same intriguing mix of NGOs, charities, corporations, British and European company/agency partnerships. Who will walk away with a coveted golden butterfly next March is, however, is yet to be seen.

The Transform Awards Europe 2018 is open for entries from today. The early entry deadline is 6 October 2017, with the last chance to save £100 on your entries and get a fifth entry free being the 3 November 2017. The final entry deadline is 17 November, after which judging by industry professionals will take place. Click here for entry templates and information.

For any queries, contact Ash on ash.sandys@transformmagazine.net or call the Transform office on 0207 498 7008.

The categories this year are as follows:

CONTENT

Best use of a visual property: photography/ illustration/digital

This award is for the best use of imagery, including graphic, still, video or digital, during a rebrand or brand development project.

Best brand architecture solution

This category rewards the most efficient corporate organisational strategies developed for a brand.

Best use of copy style/tone of voice

This award is for the brand that best uses a verbal style to reflect its overall identity and to differentiate the brand from its competitors.

Best brand experience

This award recognises excellence in the experiential aspects of a brand or rebrand. Developments to a physical space, online portal or other location that enhance the user’s experience of a brand will be accepted.

Best use of packaging

This award recognises the company that most effectively communicates a brand’s positioning, values and visual identity via product packaging.

Best wayfinding or signage

This award honours branded signage and wayfinding systems that have been strategically developed to be effective and reflective of the brand’s values and overall visual identity.

Best use of audio brand

This award recognises companies that have employed an innovative use of sound in the development of their brand.

Best use of typography

This award reflects the role that typography has played in a brand's journey. This could be where the typography is an actual component of a wordmark or where typography is used within the visual identity. Alternatively, this award could be given when visual identity and typography have been strategically aligned through an organisation’s brand guidelines.

Best place or nation brand

This award recognises the brand journey made by a nation or a place. Entries could be from national, regional, city or district level.

 PROCESS

Best external stakeholder relations during a brand development project

This award is for the best communication with external stakeholders throughout the process of a rebrand or during a brand development project. Companies should recognise that progress requires measured communication with all external stakeholders.

Best internal communication during a brand development project

This award recognises the importance of effective communication with the internal audience during a brand transformation. Employees should be engaged and informed about change in a company’s positioning or brand strategy, ensuring the changes takes place evenly throughout the organisation.

Best implementation of a brand development project

This award is for the best execution of developments to or rebrand of an organisation. The coordinated rollout of a change helps to ensure a new identity has maximum impact on audiences

Best implementation of a brand development project across multiple markets

This award is for brand development campaigns or rebrands that have been rolled out across multiple national markets to ensure that brand identity works across different languages and cultures.

 Best localisation of an international brand

This award benchmarks the effort of an organisation at bringing a global brand to the European region, making it relevant to the local markets.

STRATEGY

 Best creative strategy

This award is for the best creative, thought-out, aligned strategy behind the repositioning of a brand.

Best brand evolution

This award is for the brand that best moves its identity into the future while maintaining links with the past and evolving in a clear and creative way.

Best strategic/creative development of a new brand

This award is for the company that has adopted a strategic or creative approach when developing its new brand in order to differentiate the company, reposition the business or otherwise change perception of the brand.

Best development of a new brand within an existing brand portfolio

This category rewards companies that develop a new brand within its portfolio of brands. As well as acknowledging the strategy and development of the new brand, the judges will also look to see what the development adds to the existing corporate or master brand.

Best naming strategy

This award honours innovation in naming. It is for the most appropriate new name for a new brand, rebrand or brand extension or where an organisation can demonstrate a clear and well thought through naming strategy.

TYPE

Best corporate rebrand following a merger or acquisition

This award is for the best rebrand of an organisation following a merger with another company or the incorporation of another company into the original brand.

Best brand development project to reflect changed mission/ values/positioning

This award is for the best repositioning of an organisation to reflect a new approach to its business.

Best brand consolidation

This award is for the most effective alignment of individually branded elements and sub-brands of an organisation.

Best rebrand of a digital property

This award is for the best rebrand across the digital and online assets of an organisation, including its websites and apps.

SECTOR

Best visual identity from:

This award is for the best identity developed and used by a brand, including all visual aspects of a rebrand from logo to typeface in the brand’s sector.

• a charity/NGO/not-for-profit
• education
• energy and utilities
• engineering and manufacturing
• financial services
• FMCG
• food and beverage
• healthcare and pharmaceuticals
• industrial and basic materials
• mining and extractives
• professional services
• property, construction and facilities management
• public sector
• retail
• technology, media and telecommunications
• transport and logistics
• travel, leisure and tourism

Best overall visual identity

This award is for the best overall identity developed and used by a brand, including all visual aspects of a rebrand from logo to typeface. You cannot enter this directly; all visual identity entries across different sectors will be automatically put forward for this award.

Grand Prix for excellence in rebranding

This award is for overall excellence in rebranding. You cannot enter this directly; all entries will be automatically put forward for this award.