Entries Tips & Tricks

Increase Your Chances of Making the stage

You worked hard this year to create inspiring, humorous, thoughtful, and eye-catching campaigns for your clients. We know you want to take home that sweet, sweet victory at the 2026 American Advertising Awards, so here are some entries tips and tricks to properly showcase your work in all its glory.

The truth about judges

  • Judges get irritated. They don’t like looking at an entry submitted to the wrong category.

  • Judges get confused. Do your best to make sure everything about your entry is clear.

  • Judges don’t agree. Their scores are averaged to keep things fair.

  • Judges have biases. This is why you must ensure your name and brand are not listed anywhere on your entry. If they are, we will have to correct it and you will be charged a fee for our time and service.

Tips & Tricks

Enter the correct category. Read the Rules and Guidelines document for your competition:

  • Ask if you don’t know the correct category. You have plenty of time to ask us questions prior to the final entry deadline, so ask. Our help prior to the submission is free.

  • When out of time and in doubt, just get it entered. We will move it if we need to. Just know you will be charged a fee if the category you entered isn’t correct. It’s not personal, it’s just the way it is.

  • Keep your entry as simple as possible for the judges to understand. Give us only your best pieces. If something didn’t come out right or is confusing, leave it out.

  • Read and follow the rules. Don’t irritate the judges by not following the rules. An example: For the integrated category, enter ten pieces only. You don’t want us randomly choosing for you. We might not pick your best, so don’t leave it to us.

  • Provide CONCISE explanation where allowed.

  • If it looks false (like it hasn’t actually been used in real advertising), include proof.

  • Double check all website addresses. If the website address is wrong or isn’t live, they can’t judge it.

  • Make sure there is someone available to answer questions during judging.

  • Approach entries like a client presentation. Make sure your uploads and physical pieces look professional.

  • Provide context when you can. (ie. show a photo of someone wearing your t-shirt or the billboard where your work is actually located).

  • Photograph complex items. A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

  • Assume nothing. Everything you enter needs to be very clear.

  • Provide written or digital summary where allowed. Don’t include this if it isn’t indicated in the rules for your category.

Increase your odds of winning

Play the numbers game. Enter more. Statistically, one in five entries wins something.

  • Enter individual things in multiple categories. (eg: If you are entering integrated projects, enter the individual pieces in other appropriate categories).

  • If you don’t win, attend the show to study the winners.

  • Before you enter something, seek unbiased feedback. Ask the person who is always kind of a jerk about things.

  • ALWAYS forward silver winners. Sometimes silvers win golds at the District and National levels. Remember, judges don’t agree. A new set of judges is a new opportunity to win.

Questions?

New to the American Advertising Awards? Not new but submitting in a different category or format than you have in the past? We're here to fuel your success. To set up 1:1 help for your entries with an American Advertising Awards expert, reach out to KC Ad Club American Advertising Awards Program Manager:

Amy Tokos
aaa@kcadclub.com

Entries Open Soon

Additional FAQ’s

  • No, the ADDYs are open to all professionals, students, and agencies in the Kansas City area. However, KC Ad Club members do receive a $55 discount on entry submissions. Depending on how many entries you’re submitting being a member could be a major cost-saving advantage. If you’re interested you can learn more about our individual member and corporate membership opportunities.

  • Upload media files for video, audio and still images. We support a wide range of popular media file formats. Examples include .JPG, .PDF, .3GP, AAC, .WAV, .MP3, AVI, FLV, MP4 and MPEG-2. Quicktime files ending in .mov are also generally accepted, however, .mov files using proprietary codecs such as Apple Pro-Res, RED, ARRI or Avid will not be transcoded and therefore are not accepted. Maximum file size is 1gb.


  • Judging of all entries for the American Advertising Awards will be done online, using the digital content provided via URL or media files during the online entry process. Physical submissions are NO LONGER REQUIRED.  

    Award winners will be notified after judging and asked to drop off a sample of their work for the show gallery.  All entry samples become the property of KC Ad Club and will not be returned. Do NOT send original or irreplaceable artwork. It will NOT be returned.


  • Entries may be entered into only one local American Advertising Awards competition, which is determined by the location of the agency or company that created the work.


    In addition, the piece MUST be entered under the Geographic Considerations of the entrant. In Elements of Advertising, entries may only be entered in the CBSA, DMA or MSA in which it was created by the original creator of the work, not the agency or company that commissioned the work. If an affiliated competition does not exist in the CBSA, DMA or MSA, the district will direct the entrant to the nearest affiliated competition.

    Although not recommended, the entrant, if other than the agency/creator, may choose to enter the work on behalf of the creator (examples include, but are not limited to: photographers, illustrators, printers, production companies or clients). In this case, the entrant’s address will determine which local show the work is entered. It is important, however, that the parties communicate to ensure the work is entered and eligible in only one market. Should a conflict arise and work is entered without knowledge in two markets, the N3AC defers to the rights of the creator in all cases.

  • All entries in the American Advertising Awards are required to upload a file (or files) to complete their submission. In the case of interactive entries submitted with a URL, it is acceptable and recommended to capture a screenshot of the website home page and upload it as a PDF. This file will be used by the judges (as reference only) to ensure that they are judging the correct site. All judging will be conducted using the online interactive content itself.

    • ● For Website and all Online/Interactive entries, submit the URL address. 

      ● For multiple URLs in a campaign category entry, create a webpage that contains each of the individual links and provide the single URL to your newly created page, i.e.-— www.somedomain.com/AmericanAdvertisingAwards_entries.html. 

      ● Do not submit a URL that leads directly to a “swf” file. 

      ● Judging will be done online, using the URL whenever possible. URLs should not require any username or password for access. In cases where this already exists, the entrant should create an independent URL. 

      ● URLs, banners, slates, and menus must not contain any references to the entrant. 

      ● Do not submit executable files that will attempt to install a program on the judging computer(s). Executable files cannot be judged and will be disqualified without reimbursement of entry fees.

  • No. Rather than re-entering all that information, you can select multiple categories for your entry to be submitted into. You can then continue editing your entry and change what needs changed for each entry (i.e. Entry Name, specific entry information). Finally, you’ll submit both entries together as separate entries for the categories chosen.


    To do this, complete choosing your first category for the entry. Then, select “Add Another Category” to open another set of dropdowns to choose another category for the entry.