Women to Watch 2021 opens for entries

UPDATE: We have now closed Women to Watch 2021 for entries. Thanks to all who participated in this award.

Campaign Asia-Pacific, in partnership with Essence, is inviting nominations for Women to Watch 2021—an annual list celebrating the most inspiring women in marketing, media and communications in Asia-Pacific.

Now in its ninth year, Women to Watch continues to be an important initiative for spotlighting the exceptional work of women in APAC, against a backdrop of gender bias and discrimination that, sadly, remains commonplace.

More than half of women (53%) in the marcomms industry in APAC see their male colleagues receiving more respect than them, while 45% of women say they have missed out on an opportunity or promotion because of their gender in the past year, according to our 2021 Diversity Study, conducted in partnership with Kantar.

Women to Watch provides an avenue to spotlight the inspiring stories of women who are innovating processes, delivering results and championing change in spite of bias. We hope by providing a resource of the incredible women talent this region has to offer, this could motivate leaders to push for equality and inclusivity, as well as provide role models for other women in the industry.

We are looking for women who have proven business achievements, who demonstrate leadership qualities and collaboration, and who are elevating the industry both through their work and their passions. We are not necessarily looking for women who are at the top of their careers—we are looking for rising stars who have a strong trajectory for future growth.

Does that sound like you, or someone you know? We invite you to put forward yourself, or up to two women from your company, with an explanation as to why you/they stand out in the industry. You can do so via the online nomination form, at this link and shown below.

Eligibility details:

• Must be based in Asia-Pacific (includes Australia and New Zealand).
• Must work in any discipline within or adjacent to brands, media, marketing, advertising and communications.

Important notes to consider:

• Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by a co-worker/manager.
• Neither age nor job seniority will be factored into this list. We are open to nominations from junior roles through to C-suite, so long as the individual can prove their success thus far, and a trajectory for further growth. It is worth noting we are looking to celebrate the achievements of women who have not yet reached the very top of their professions or the pinnacle of their careers. 
• You are allowed to nominate up to two names from your company per market you operate in. To be clear, this means that if you are a company with multiple brands/agencies under it, you can nominate up to two women per brand/agency per market. We will not rule out choosing more than one candidate from a given company for the final list, if they prove exceptional.
• We will consider candidates who have appeared in other Campaign Asia-Pacific listings, such as 40 Under 40, Women Leading Change and Tech MVP—but we prefer there to be a 12-month gap if the candidate has already been featured in any of these lists.
• We do want a list that celebrates a diversity of markets, so we encourage companies to spotlight their talent from across the region.
• We will have a Women to Watch Greater China edition later this year. Nominees from Greater China are able to nominate to both lists.

Deadlines and judging process

• Early-bird deadline: Friday July 23
• Regular deadline: Friday July 30
• Final deadline: Friday August 6 — extended by one week to Friday, August 13 
• On all dates, entries will be accepted until 23:59 SG/HK (GMT+8)

The cost of entry is US$390 for early bird entry, US$419 for regular entry, or US$439 for late entry—which includes a one-year membership with Campaign Asia-Pacific. The membership can be used by the entrant or gifted to a person within the same company. Find more details about the benefits of membership here and please direct any questions to [email protected].

Once the deadline has passed, Campaign Asia-Pacific's senior editorial team will carefully read, analyse and discuss every entry to select the 40 women we feel are the most impressive and deserving of this commendation. Those selected as the most exceptional rising stars will be honoured with in-depth profiles featured in Campaign Asia-Pacific and shared across all our channels.

What to prepare for your submission

The nomination form will ask you to fill in: 

• Basic details about yourself and the nominee.
• The nominee's backstory (200 words).
• The answers to three critical questions about the nominee (300 words each).
• Comments/endorsements from supervisors, colleagues and/or clients (300 words).
• A recent high-resolution photo of the nominee (at least 1200x800 pixels at 72 dpi).
• Credit-card payment of the entry fee.
• Address and contact details for the person who will receive the Campaign membership.

We highly recommend you prepare your answers in advance before going to fill out the nomination form, because you cannot save your work in the nomination form and return to it later. Download this word document to help you prepare, so that you can easily copy and paste into the nomination form all at once.

Note: You can flag confidential information by putting it into [square brackets] or highlighting it. We ask that you only flag the specific information that must be kept confidential, rather than the whole entry or very large parts of it, since we will rely on this information to compile a profile of any nominee that makes the list. 

Tips for a strong entry 

• Layout: Use bullet points if it helps you lay out information clearly.
• Evidence: Use metrics and business results that the nominee has been responsible for driving.
• Narrative: Paint a picture of who the nominee is, what their passions are, and why they are an inspiring person.
• Thorough: You have 300 words—use as many as possible.

Questions?

Send them to [email protected] and we’ll help as soon as we can.