What are the main benefits of the Awards and Publishing marketing channels?
It’s almost the middle of the year, and still the architecture and interior design awards programs keep rolling out.
Architects have tended to use Awards in the past in a single-focused way, that is, to raise awareness about their architecture practices and projects.
However, it’s possible to increase your awards return on investment by carefully considering your Awards entries in line with your business development objectives.
How should you go about this?
First, strategically select the most appropriate programs to enter, in line with your goals around your preferred project types and clients;
Then, ensure your entries appeal to the editors and journalists, to increase your likelihood of media coverage; and
Lastly, frame your entries in a client-centric way, to potentially generate new business.
Little Prince Wine by IF Architecture, from the 2021 Eat Drink Design Awards. Photography by Sharyn Cairns.
How are Awards and Publishing interlinked?
Many Awards programs are operated by Publishers, so they have in-house media partners that provide coverage of the various stages: shortlists, people’s choice voting, and winners announcements. Others have external media partners, such as Wish magazine’s coverage of the National Architecture Awards, in The Australian in November each year.
For that reason, entering awards programs can be a useful way to ensure your work is reviewed by editorial teams and other journalists, who will be scouting all of the submitted entries for the best projects to feature in upcoming issues.
Remember that once you enter an Awards program, you are effectively giving permission for your project to be published anywhere - in the associated magazine, or any other location that carries news of the awards announcement. So it pays to secure any print feature stories ahead of the announcement, especially if you have a favourite or preferred magazine that you’d like to target.
Which Awards programs are currently accepting entries?
The 2022 Belle Awards are an inexpensive program to enter with potential for coverage in several upcoming issues and online (around the shortlist, winners announcement and People’s Choice vote).
The latest awards programs to open for entries are:
the Sustainability Awards (due Thurs 30 June)
the Eat, Drink, Design Awards (due Fri 15 July) and
The UK’s AR House Awards (Early bird deadline: Fri 24 June 2022, Entry deadline: Fri 26 August 2022), and
the Belle Fanuli Interior Design Awards 2022 (due Friday, September 9, 2022)
Some of these programs provide a useful demonstration of how closely interlinked the Publishing and Awards channels are.
Starting with the Sustainability Awards program, it has multiple different categories across residential (single and multi-res), commercial, education and research, adaptive reuse and public buildings. Basically, if you’re working in the sustainability space and intend to seek more projects with strong sustainability aspirations in future, it’s a great platform to showcase your work to prospective clients.
The program also includes awards for practitioners, such as the emerging architects and lifetime achievement awards.
In 2021, Tone Wheeler won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sustainability Awards, generating media coverage.
Last year, Tone Wheeler won the Lifetime Achievement Award, which generated plenty of news stories across a range of publications and social media, including associated publications IndesignLive and Habitus Living, as well as Twitter. It also resulted in a new podcast episode about Tone’s career.
In the residential sector, the UK’s AR House Awards provides a global stage upo which to earn recognition and acknowledgement. Last year, AR House shortlisted a Perth-based project; one of 16 shortlisted houses from around the world. I was commissioned to write the story about it the project, which appeared in the December issue of Architectural Review. You can read my story about Simon Pendal Architect’s Beaconsfield House here.
The entry cost for AR House is admittedly higher than most Australian programs, but the potential for global coverage and recognition is commensurately greater.
Simon Pendal’s Beaconsfield House was shortlisted in the AR House Awards and in the December 2021 issue of The Architectural Review.
Are there any other Awards programs I should consider entering this year?
One more program that is worth entering - and was free last year - is the Inside Out House of the Year Awards. Inside Out editor Eliza O’Hare confirmed to me last week that entry details will be announced in the magazine’s July issue, which goes on sale on 28 June 2022.
You can read my article from last year - about why you should enter the InsideOut and Belle awards programs - here.
How can I work out which awards programs are best suited to my business development objectives?
If you’d like to peruse all of these Awards programs in greater detail - and compare the various categories, criteria, submission deadlines, entry fees and media partners - you can purchase a copy of SLD’s Awards Calendar here.
Using the calendar to strategically identify which programs could provide the kind of exposure and coverage among your target audience of ideal clients is the most effective way to raise awareness of your practice and service, and win more the types of clients you most want to work with in future.
And if you’ve already purchased your calendar and would like to download the latest version, you can do so via this link.
Still got questions about awards and publishing?
If you’d like to learn more about how to enhance your awards entries - to improve your chances of winning AND the likelihood of getting published and appealing to future clients - you can purchase the recording of my CPD Awards workshop here.
And if you’d just like to talk to me about any business development or marketing topics - including Awards and how to increase your chances of success and align your entries with your business goals – you can book an Acupuncture Session here. You can choose the topics we discuss, and tap into my knowledge, experience and connections to access insights that are customised for your practice.