How Entries Are Judged

All Mark Award entries are judged by more than 100 of cable's finest marketing professionals during two rounds. You must be a CTAM member to serve as a judge.

The preliminary round will be held April 29-30, 2008 in Arlington, VA. Judges for this round must have a minimum of three years of cable marketing experience, and professional experience at the level of Director or equivalent. (Managers may qualify, depending on job responsibilities and industry tenure.) Of course, higher level, more experienced judges are welcome. Interested and qualified volunteers should send an email to Moustapha Halidou at moustapha@ctam.com.

The final round will be held in New York City on June 12-13, 2008. These judges are professionals at the Vice President level or higher, with at least five years of cable marketing experience, and serve by invitation only. However, interested and qualified executives are encouraged to inquire by sending an email to Moustapha Halidou at moustapha@ctam.com.

Judging Criteria

Each Mark Award entry is judged against a standard of excellence, rather than against the other entries. This is not a “best of” competition. Winning entries must meet or exceed a predetermined score, set annually by the Mark Awards Committee.

In both the preliminary and final rounds, entries are judged equally on:

• Sound or innovative strategy and tactics
• Strength of creative execution against the strategy and tactics, and
• Measured results (campaigns only*).

For a detailed look at how a judge scores an entry, see the Mark Awards Scoring Grid.

*Qualitative and quantitative results are considered for campaigns only, because multiple media tactics allow for more accurate measurement than a single medium, except in the case of Direct Response Marketing.

If you have any questions about the judging process, contact Denise Motlagh, Director of Awards and Recognition, at 703.837.6557 or denise@ctam.com.