The Lucrative Business of Awards
During the early days of the pandemic, Access Intelligence made the decision to stop publishing Folio, its publication about the media industry.
But if you visit Folio Mag’s website, you’ll notice that there is one part of the brand that remains: the Eddie & Ozzie Awards. And it makes a lot of sense when you understand just how much money it makes. According to a couple of people I’ve spoken with, this still generates over half a million dollars in revenue with 50%+ margins.
There are multiple ways in which you can make money with awards.
But first…
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Back to awards…
First, there are the entries, which in this case cost anywhere from $350 to $400 for the first entry and then $320 to $370 for every entry afterward depending on when you submit. Take AARP. It’s a finalist in approximately 29 categories. If we assume that it became a finalist in every category it submitted for, then AARP paid $9,310. And there are numerous brands that are listed here, each of which paid that entry fee.
Second, there’s an awards ceremony. An individual seat costs $450 at its early rate and a priority reserved table of 10 costs $4,500. You’ve got to assume AARP wants to be there to receive the award for some of those passes, so that’s thousands of dollars more.
Third, there’s the potential for sponsorship. The Eddie & Ozzie Awards currently have no sponsors, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t. I suspect the sponsorship would likely heavily focus on branding, possibly including a short talk. It may depend on the industry (media may not be suitable for this type of sponsorship).
And what are the costs? There’s in-house staff to organize everything. That luncheon is in New York City, so that’s going to carry decent costs (though lunch is cheaper than a dinner). The trophies will cost some money. But that’s it.
This is why awards are so common across the industry. Your ability to generate more revenue is limited only by the number of companies that could win awards and the number of categories you can come up with. And the Eddie & Ozzie Awards are a good example of that considering it has well over 100 categories (I stopped counting after that), so you can imagine the potential revenue.
It’s an impressive business model. And so, is it any wonder that while Folio, the publication, ceased to exist, Access Intelligence made sure that the awards business continued? It can generate legitimate revenue without needing to carry much cost.
And there are many other ways to extend the awards product.
Take Front Office Sports, for example. It has a great product called the Rising 25. I emulated it at Morning Brew, but we couldn’t get it sponsored. The idea is that most awards celebrate the senior execs. The Rising 25 celebrates those that are just getting started in their careers. For the 2024 awards, you had to be born on or after May 18, 1998.
What’s interesting is that, arguably, the award is under-monetized. Last year, Anheuser-Busch was the primary sponsor. It has also had secondary sponsors. However, FOS doesn’t charge for entry. Depending on how many entries FOS gets, that could be tens of thousands in missed revenue. In the past, it has done virtual galas that have been well produced with ads throughout. But you have to wonder if it could host an in-person gala and also generate revenue.
One theory is that while Rising 25 is a great product for the audience, because those that win have zero budget, there might not be great opportunities for submission and gala revenue.
“The Best Women of X” award is another type that many media companies do. The business models are similar, and these tap into big corporations’ social impact advertising budgets. Because those are about branding rather than performance, awards can be a smart way to make those big corporations look good.
Another awards product that I’ve seen work very well is the “Best Employer in X” award. The idea is to celebrate employers within their respective industries that are doing great things. The staff participate in anonymous surveys to help inform the winners of these.
Once you’ve got the awards product figured out, there are a couple of additional ways to maximize success. The first is to tie it to an event. Since everyone is going to be there anyway, having a gala either before or right after is an easy way to keep everyone around. Or, it’s a great way to get people to pick up a ticket to the event. They might as well attend the event if they are also attending the gala.
And then what happens once you’ve been awarded? Theoretically, there’s a licensing component. Take that Best Employers idea. If you’ve been awarded the best employer the leading publication in your industry, wouldn’t you want to advertise that? If you want to, you’ll have to pay. And that can add up if there are enough categories.
The one important thing to get right here is the methodology and judging. The only reason people will submit (and pay) for awards is because they believe recognition matters. And that means it needs to feel as if there’s a true process involved. While researching this article, I found many of the awards had a panel of independent judges along with in-house staff.
Take Digiday, for example. It has 30 categories for its main awards product and 47 judges. Its criteria are:
Judges will be looking for companies or campaigns that can clearly demonstrate success over the past 12 months. Judges are seeking companies or campaigns that have seized challenges and created opportunities and will evaluate entries based on the following criteria: Innovation, Creativity, Consumer Value, Results and Overall.
Judges will require evidence to substantiate all entries. This can include details of financial performance, specific KPIs, creative evidence in the form of a sizzle reel, campaign images, or links to the final project or related sites. The judges will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.
It’s nice and simple, and all of the judges submit scores across the various criteria.
There are a ton of ways to make legitimate revenue on awards and the margins can be really compelling. My big concern with this model is that it can feel unbelievably artificial and like a cash grab. And so, it’s important to balance building a legitimate awards product while also trying to maximize your revenue. Ultimately, submissions are a function of trust. Get that part right and you could have another profitable line of your business.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to get your ticket to the AMO Summit today. You won’t want to miss it!
