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Honoring the people behind emerging brands

Breakout Brand Leaders is a new award from Ad Age to honor individuals who are driving the marketing success of up-and-coming brands today. From people leading challenger brands that successfully take on giants in well-established categories to those who have turned around older companies now experiencing a surge in sales and popularity, the honors will identify executives who are propelling growth using marketing and advertising.

 

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Honorees will be notified in August and profiled in a special feature publishing in November 2023. The 2023 class will also be celebrated in person at the Ad Age Business of Brands conference on Nov. 8 and 9 in New York. Visit AdAge.com/BusinessofBrands to learn more.

 

Questions?

Visit our FAQs and important information sections. If your question isn't answered, please contact the Ad Age awards team.

DETAILS


Ad Age is issuing a call for its first class of Breakout Brand Leaders. We’re looking to identify individuals who are influential in driving up-and-coming brands to sales and market-share success. This includes people leading challenger brands, those creating innovative brands in new categories and folks who have turned around older companies currently experiencing a burst of growth and popularity.

Although we are interested in identifying people in roles related to marketing, we will also consider people in other positions, including founders or those related to strategy or innovation that significantly contribute to go-to-market strategies.

 

Entry requirements

You will be asked to submit a compelling 350-word summary in English addressing why you or your nominee deserves our Breakout Brand Leaders honor. Please also submit a headshot.

Entrants will also be asked to demonstrate the recent success of their brand with metrics including sales figures, market-share gains, growth in investment or similar data. This is key in helping judges determine the health and momentum of the company as well as the impact of current marketing and media strategies.

Note: This is not a lifetime achievement award nor is it an award for the brand/company itself; specifically, we look for meaningful or measurable accomplishments made by an individual within the past 12 months.

Nominees can reside and work anywhere in the world, but entries must be made in English. 

 

Pricing & Deadline

Entry fee: $350

Deadline June 5, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET Deadline June 12, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET

There will be no deadline extensions beyond the timeline outlined above.

Please pay strict attention to all the entry requirements as fees are non-refundable once entries are submitted.
 

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FAQs

We are looking for leaders at brands, companies or startups that have experienced business success in the past 12 months where marketing and media strategies have played a significant role. Individuals can reside and work anywhere in the world, but must work in-house at the brand/company. Executives may have a marketing or media title, but may also be founders or people that significantly contribute to the marketing and media strategies.

Agency executives and independent consultants are not eligible for Breakout Brand Leaders. For those entrants, please see our 40 Under 40, A-List & Creativity Awards, Leading Women and Web3 Marketing Trailblazers awards.

No team entries will be accepted. If you have more than one candidate, please submit them as a separate entry.

Breakout Brand Leaders is not just for leaders at direct-to-consumer or startup brands. Executives at older brands that are currently experiencing a renaissance or have recently burst on the scene are also eligible.

There are also no requirements on the age of the brand, however entrants should demonstrate the recent success of their brand with metrics including sales figures, market-share gains, growth in investment or similar data.

The entry form requires that you submit a compelling 350-word summary in English addressing why you or your nominee deserves the honor. Please also submit a headshot.

Nominators may also submit supporting evidence, including case studies from work, creative pieces (images, videos) or links to product demos. Work supporting a candidate’s submission must have debuted and run within the past 12 months. Please also be judicious with your selections—it’s better to provide a shorter but dense picture of the entrant’s accomplishments than a laundry list.

Please note: This is not a lifetime achievement award nor is it an award for the brand/company itself; specifically, we look for meaningful or measurable accomplishments by an individual within the past 12 months.

No. Nominees from outside the U.S. are welcome to enter; all entries must be made in English.

No. Anything included in an entry should be considered as public information. There’s no space for explicitly confidential information, and we ask entrants to anticipate that anything in their entry could become public—mostly because we don’t want to wind up trying to honor a winner without being able to tell anyone why we want to honor them.

The deadline for all entries is June 5, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET.

All entries must be submitted and paid by credit card online at AdAge.com/BrandLeaders. Please contact awards@adage.com if you experience any issues submitting payment.

Unfortunately, once you have submitted your entry, you will not be able to log in to edit the form in any way. If there is factual information that is incorrect, please contact the awards team to request a change.

Please note changes cannot be made once the final deadline has passed and judging has started.

The Breakout Brand Leaders class of 2023 will be notified in August and profiled in a special report to be released in November 2023.

Our awards team is here to help with any technical issues you might experience. Please contact .

Please note that your account on AdAge.com is separate from an account you create for Breakout Brand Leaders and any other Ad Age award programs. When you click "Enter now," please make sure to register a new account (unless you've submitted to our awards before and already have one). If you still experience any issues logging in, please email awards@adage.com.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

 
Please pay close attention to all the entry requirements as fees are non-refundable once entries are submitted.

Please keep in mind: Anything you submit, including results of the work, may be published. Do not submit anything you wish to withhold as private information or that you do not have permission to share publicly. This also includes ghost campaigns or imaginary or inflated revenue figures.

As part of Ad Age’s diversity efforts, we encourage all those entering to carefully consider those on your team from diverse backgrounds, as well as the work they have done, when you assess submissions. This is an opportunity to shine a light on all your talents, especially those who may have not received recognition in the past.

Breakout Brand Leaders FAQ

Terms & Conditions

 

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CONTACT US

 

Got questions? We're happy to help

Award inquiries:  awards@adage.com