Nominations are open for the Footwear Industry Awards, and organiser Datateam Business Media is excited to announce a number of changes to the format for 2017…
The Footwear Industry Awards is now in its sixth year, and is known throughout the industry for its focus on independent retailers as well as global footwear brands.
The Awards offers everyone in the footwear trade a chance to shine, from independent start-ups through to multinational corporations. It offers the chance stand out amongst your competition, raise the profile of your business and create some good publicity.
A change to the format
In the past, winners have been nominated and selected purely by the vote of their industry peers. This year, following feedback from the industry, organiser Datateam Business Media has announced a change to the format for the brand categories. The nomination process will remain the same – brands and retailers can nominate themselves, or industry members can nominate others in the industry – but they will be judged via a combination of the vote of the industry and an independent judging panel.
How it works:
For the brand awards, brands must only be entered in categories for which they fit the criteria. They then submit a short entry statement explaining why they deserve to win the 2017 award. What makes your brand stand out? What new footwear innovation or technology have you introduced in the past 12 months? Entrants can include retailer testimonials and images. Brand entrants are whittled down to five finalists in each category, selected via the vote of the industry using a secure online voting platform held by a third-party company. Entry statements are published on the voting form on the awards website to help voters decide which brand they will vote for (incidentally creating great publicity!) Finally, and new for 2017, a panel made up of independent footwear industry representatives from the BFA, IFRA, SSF and Footwear Today will decide upon the ultimate winner in each brand category, assigning Highly Commended where necessary.
On the retailer side, the awards process will remain the same as in previous years. Retailers can nominate themselves, or members of the footwear industry can nominate them. Winners are decided by the vote of the industry, using a secure online voting platform held by a third-party company.
Click here to nominate a brand, retailer or individual in the Footwear Industry Awards! Self nominations welcome.
Division manager Carl Hearnden explained the motivation behind the change to the brand category: “Following feedback from the industry, The Footwear Industry Awards has undergone some changes. The changes to the winner selection process have been carefully designed to ensure that winning a Footwear Industry Award truly reflects the dedication and commitment of brands and retailers, with only the best receiving an accolade and independent stamp of approval.”
Bryony Andrews, editor of Footwear Today, added: “The new format for the Footwear Industry Awards is a step forward for the event. The two-tier process for the selection of the brand winners and the inclusion of testimonials and entry statements in retailer entries will provide both greater transparency of the process and greater validation for the winners. This year’s Footwear Industry Awards, held at the ever-stylish National Conference Centre in Birmingham, will be a fantastic recognition of hard work, innovation and dedication to customers. I can’t wait to meet more members of the industry and celebrate with the winners.”
Footwear Today’s journal manager, Sue Wiseman, is heading up the event’s sponsorship programme. She commented: “The Footwear Industry Awards provides an unbeatable opportunity to reach a highly targeted and engaged audience before, during and after the event. The sooner a company books, the sooner they will start benefitting from the marketing campaign!” To find out more about sponsorship, please contact swiseman@datateam.co.uk
Click here to nominate a brand, retailer or individual in the Footwear Industry Awards! Self nominations welcome.
For more information about the event and how it works, visit www.footweartoday.co.uk
