Entries can be filed online at www.cassies.ca. Details on how to enter all categories can be found at www.cassies.ca/howtoenter.  

To win at the CASSIES, cases have to show impressive business results and prove, convincingly, that these results were substantially caused by the advertising.

Chair of Judging for this year’s CASSIES is David Rosenberg, partner and creative director, Bensimon Byrne. Te judging panel is composed of experienced people representing clients, agencies, media, academic, interactive and research disciplines.

The CASSIES has announced a new category, designed to take account of the current economy, called Success Despite the Recession. {The CASSIES Web site has been updated to reflect this change.)

"After every recession, there are great examples of how companies have weathered the storm and emerged ready to take advantage of better times," says David Leonard, chair of this year’s CASSIES and president of DDB Canada. "We felt that the CASSIES needed to encourage and acknowledge these cases, and that is the purpose of this new category. There are great stories out there of impressive decision-making in difficult times, and this category is designed to give them the recognition they deserve."

For this category, the Business Results Period must have started in mid-2008 or later. It should then run or have run for six months or more. The argument should be constructed in view of decisions made to deal with the recession.
Business Results, in terms of percentage growth, may be lower than we have been used to during pre-recession years, but will still be strong, all things considered. For example, a good result could include 'holding' market position in preparation for better times.

While this category, on the surface, may seem to overlap with Off to a Good Start (which has a six-to-12 month business results period), the thinking is different. Off to a Good Start is appropriate for a more usual situation where growth objectives are set and the business, during the first six-to-12 months of the new effort, is responding well. Success Despite the Recession is for situations where the results, on their face, may not be as strong, but they are still impressive when the pressures of the recession are taken into account.

CASSIES is presented by the Institute of Communication Agencies, the Association des agences de Publicité du Québec and Association des professionnels de la communication et du marketing.

Since its inception in 1993, CASSIES have recognized the business achievements of over 200 campaigns from Canada’s top advertisers and agencies. All award-winning case studies can be viewed in the Case Library section of the CASSIES Web site.

The 2009 CASSIES will be celebrated in an evening event Jan. 28/10, in Toronto and Montreal.