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The VMA New Marketing Talent Award recognises a marketer who has demonstrated marketing flair within the veterinary and animal health industry. With generous sponsorship from British Dairying magazine and supported by the VMA, this prestigious award is to recognise a new marketer, either in age, experience, or both, who has demonstrated marketing flair within the animal health industry. The winner receives a £2,000 CPD bursary for their ongoing marketing training and development and a £500 cash personal prize, as well as support and advice from the VMA committee of industry professionals. Entrants should be 34 years of age or under and/or in a marketing role for less than five years on 20th March 2020.
Submission details:
Evaluation details:
All submissions will be evaluated against the following criteria in order to shortlist a small number of candidates, usually three.
Anna Thomas, marketing executive with Agria Pet Insurance, was the VMA Young Marketer of the Year Award winner for 2017. Here she shares some of her top tips for anyone thinking of entering the New Marketing Talent Award (formerly called the Young Marketer of the Year Award).
The winner is selected following a written submission followed by meeting the judges in London on 25th February 2020. All applications are thoroughly assessed by the judges and scored against pre-set criteria. Any candidates the judges would like to put forward as finalists are debated until a final three are agreed.
Top tip: Be creative with your application! Don’t hold back, give the judges a reason to choose you, include imagery, tables, graphs and recommendations to show off the marketing skills you have used and the difference you have made.
Ensure you are available on the judging date (Tuesday 25th February, 2020) and keep this date free, as, in fairness to the diaries of all candidates, all finalists MUST attend this session.
The second part of the process is a case study, carefully selected by the judges. The finalists are invited to London to answer a business question on the case study provided in the format of a verbal presentation.
This stage is vital to confirm who has good marketing skills of their own, away from their day job and the support network around them. It ensures a level playing field, so marketers with access to smaller budgets are not discriminated against.
Top Tip: You are not measured on how ‘beautiful’ the presentation looks, but on your approach and your findings. When you come to present though, the judges do take your notes away, so ensure your slides are clear and easy to understand.
You can expect the process on judging day to take approximately 2 hours in total; the first hour to consider the case study and prepare your presentation, followed by delivery of your presentation and interview with the judges.
The third part of the process involves presenting the case study. There is only a short time to present so it is important to speak in a clear and concise manner, covering all key findings and recommendations, as well as briefly explaining the approach taken and rationale.
The last stage of the process is the interview. This is designed to encourage candidates to showcase themselves and their individual flair. Candidates are asked a number of competency-based questions and given the opportunity to engage and demonstrate their genuine passion for marketing.
Top Tip: Listen to the questions carefully and ask the judges to repeat or ask in a different way any you don’t fully understand. Pause and think about what you are going to say before saying it.
Once this process is complete, candidates are invited to attend the VMA Annual Awards ceremony where the winner is announced – a very exciting time!
Anna concludes by saying “This is the best thing I have ever done in my marketing career and has given me new-found confidence in my marketing skills.”
So could you or someone you know be the next New Marketing Talent? Start to plan your submission now or encourage your colleagues to do so.
Please complete the entry form below – all fields marked * are compulsory. Please upload your pdf files and add a brief description in the form below.
