Entries are now open for the Australasian Catalogue Association’s (ACA) 27th Annual Awards.

The ever-growing international awards program reached over 740 entries and 750 attendees last year, and this year is no exception. The 2018 Awards are heating up to be fiercely competed, with more focus on effective retail marketing and some new categories.

ACA chief executive Kellie Northwood said: “This year we have worked through our community stakeholder feedback and offer some new award categories.

“We are thrilled to include a new Point of Sale and In-Store category, as well as a stronger focus on Custom Publishing and Magalogues sector.

“Over the past quarter we have met with 127 stakeholders across the retail and agency community. It was very clear that point of sale is strongly linked to other retail campaigns, including catalogues and magalogues.

“From this, we have developed the category and added Point of Sale.”

From Home to Fashion, Cosmetics and Pharmacy to Recreation and Leisure, B2C to Retailers, Digital to Direct Mail, there is a category for your retail and letterbox marketing campaign.

Each entry is judged based on the merits of effectiveness and campaign success. Judges range from senior creatives, retail marketers and industry stakeholders, all bringing together their respective expertise to determine finalists and ultimate winners.

Award entries close 5pm on Friday 8 June 2018. Judging will take place from Monday 25 to Thursday 28 June in Melbourne, from Monday 2 to Wednesday 4 July in Sydney, and on Friday 6 July in Auckland.

To be presented by Dave O’Neil and held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, the night of nights for retail marketing will announce the winners on Friday 7 September.

“Year after year, the awards continue to be a celebration of a vibrant and growing industry,” Northwood said.

“Trends emerging throughout the year are recognised by the judging team, as are campaigns that deliver strong brand and efficacy results.

“We always look forward to celebrating with the entire industry on the night, and this year in a bigger venue will be very exciting.”

For more information on the awards, click here.