Women to Watch 2023 open for entries

Campaign Asia-Pacific, in partnership with EssenceMediacom, is inviting nominations for Women to Watch 2023—an annual list celebrating the most inspiring women in marketing, media and communications in Asia-Pacific.

Now in its eleventh 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.

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.

The first step to doing this is filling the following form and downloading the entry kit for all your FAQs. All application details are as 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 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

Early-bird deadline: Thursday, 27 July 2023 
Standard deadline: Tuesday, 8 August 2023
Final deadline: Tuesday, 22 August 2023
Winners announcement: Thursday, 28 September 2023

*Cut-off times for the entry deadlines are 6 PM Hong Kong time (UTC/GMT+8).

The cost of early bird entry is HK$3,250, the standard entry fee stands at HK$3,650 for late entry is HK$3,850—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].

Entry fees is made at the time of submission and is non-refundable. Haymarket Media Ltd will retain the right to claim for unpaid entry fees and reserves the right to disqualify any unpaid entries and seek legal action to claim for any unpaid entry fees. 

Judging process

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 (250-300 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 Asia-Pacific membership.

Entries are to be submitted online via our entry platform; you can enter via the ‘ENTER NOW’ button at Women to Watch website. We highly recommend you prepare your answers in advance before going to fill out the nomination form or you can save your work as draft in the nomination form before you confirm your submission. Please refer to this entry platform guide to help you prepare the nomination.

Note: Please 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.