Why Gerety Awards Is Rethinking the Traditional Awards Model

The Gerety Awards has confirmed May 15, 2026, as its final entry deadline. For marketing and communications professionals still considering a submission, the window is closing.

The deadline is not the main development here. Gerety has also announced two new initiatives that change how the programme works, not just when it closes.

Gerety Opens Up the Judging Process With New Pre- and Post-Jury Initiatives

Most advertising awards follow the same format. Agencies submit. Judges score behind closed doors. Winners are announced. The process is opaque by design.

Gerety is changing that structure with two formal initiatives, one on each side of the judging room.

The first is a series of jury insight panels running in the lead-up to judging. Panels will feature executive jury members and will be run in collaboration with advertising trade press and associations. Conversations will cover themes and trends in submitted work, the standards being applied, and how creative excellence is developing across the industry.

The second initiative launches after the executive jury finishes shortlisting. Gerety will assemble a 30-minute reel of the highest-scoring shortlisted work and distribute it to more than 1,000 industry leaders across 70 countries. The reel will be screened internally at agencies and companies before official results are announced.

260-Plus Judges Across 15 Cities, Including Bangkok

The 2026 executive jury spans more than 260 judges from more than 50 countries, convening across 15 in-person sessions. Host cities include London, Auckland, Toronto, New York, Paris, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Dubai, Madrid, Milan, Mexico City, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Sao Paulo.

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Bangkok's inclusion places Southeast Asia directly in the judging geography. For marketing and communications teams across Asia Pacific, the screening reel offers a direct benchmark against what a global jury has already rated most highly, before award season officially begins.

Judges span creative directors, strategists, producers, filmmakers, brand leaders, and social specialists. The jury reflects how modern communications work gets made, not only how it gets awarded.

What Gerety's Co-Founder Said About the Access Rationale

Gerety Co-Founder Lucia Ongay stated the intention plainly. "Gerety has always been about offering a powerful perspective on what makes work truly resonate," she said. "By opening up access through conversations and screenings, we are inviting more of the industry into that perspective, not just to see the work, but to engage with it."

The traditional awards model keeps insight locked in the judging room, with only winners walking away with something tangible. Both initiatives are designed to create formal touchpoints before and after that room.

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The jury insight panels are worth following even without a submission. Conversations will cover creative standards as they are being applied in real time. That is direct intelligence on what global judges consider excellent.

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The screening reel functions as an early creative intelligence briefing for leaders benchmarking their own output.

Entry fees are 440 EUR per single entry and 750 EUR per campaign entry. The final deadline is May 15. Grand Jury selection from the executive jury shortlists follows.