How to win a UK Sponsorship Award 2026 – judges tips

As a basic rule, UK Sponsorship Awards are won and lost by the quality and creativity of the campaign. But there’s no question that some potential champions are let down by their entry. Typical faults include lack of clear objectives and failure to provide evidence of success – though it’s also worth noting that a poorly-constructed story can make it harder for judges to get swept up in the entrant’s enthusiasm.

To give entrants the best possible chance of winning an award, UKSA has pulled together a few insights to help with the drafting of the entry. This, of course, is not a guarantee of success. But it should at least help focus the mind.

In addition, the UKSA team asked 2025’s judges what they would say to help steer the class of 2026. Here are some of the key comments that came back:

Clearly-defined objectives: “UKSA Award entries need some proper pre-event or pre-sponsorship goals or KPIs. Sponsorship is so versatile and can do so much, but part of its challenge is that the objectives aren’t always set out, communicated and measured against. This is an essential challenge for the whole industry.”

Keep objectives front of mind throughout entry: “The key advice I would give is keep objectives to the point and simple; then thread them through the awards entry, crucially linked to measurement. Some entries either try to show they have covered every possible objective, which results in the thread being lost; and/or they lose the thread between objectives and results which renders their entry difficult to quantify.”

Impact & Originality: “The essence of a winning entry is about impact, originality, fit with the property and a sense of shared vision and purpose. It should utilise a range of impactful assets and channels, plus have resonance with consumers.”

Creativity – but not for the sake of it: “Not everything needs to be ground-breaking - indeed most of the target market aren't looking for ground-breaking. But the campaign and its execution needs to be able to clearly demonstrate thought and creativity in how the sponsorship has been brought to life.”  Make good use of imagery within your entry - by adding links to videos, etc. and uploading images.

Compelling evidence: “I’m looking for the clear exposition of an interesting and creative approach, taken to address a clearly-identified challenge or opportunity, supported by compelling quantitative and qualitative evidence.”

"The award entries that do the best are the ones with the excellent supporting material. So often I read a well-written award entry but struggle to fully understand the activation because the submission doesn’t include imagery or film content to bring the campaign to life for the judges. I don’t want to have to search for a campaign online to find out more about it - the entry submission really should provide all of that information and it’s such a shame when it doesn’t."

Contextualised measurement: “Entries should be outcome and impact focused rather than just a list of outputs (ie demonstrate increase in sales, participation, trust etc., rather than just citing reach, number of posts/pieces of coverage).”

Make it easy and bring it to life for the judges: “Signpost the entry – we read lots of them, make it simple to understand and find the relevant information. Use the entry attachments as a way of showcasing the work. Video summaries of the campaigns really bring things to life, if you can include one, please do so.”

"Follow the suggested structure for the entry - Pre-campaign analysis, Objectives, Execution/Exploitation, Demonstration of Success. This makes the judges job much easier than having to 'find' the answers in entry."

"Judges read a lot of awards so I encourage all entrants to think about how they can make their award entry stand out and how easy their entry is to read. Focus on storytelling that is simple, creative and impactful!"

"It’s a mix of the 'why' and the 'wow'. Winners explain the objectives behind a project: why it was chosen, what the sponsorship is looking to achieve and then they wow the judges - with a creative idea, with the completeness of the execution, with stunning results."

Where next?: “Talk about what you are doing next, brands don’t stop at the end of an activation. What can you do/are you doing differently next time around - as no sponsorship or partnership is perfect.”

Final Thought: Five Golden Rules

1. Give a clear rationale for the sponsorship /partnership.
2. Explain why sponsorship was the answer to the brief.
3. Demonstrate a creative/innovative execution - use all opportunities to bring the entry to life with visuals.
4. Provide clear evidence of delivery against objectives for both partners.
5. Inspire admiration among industry peers.

For further inspiration when preparing to enter the 2026 UK Sponsorship Awards, why not review details of 2025’s winners and finalists? These can be found at the Awards website: http://www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk/