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Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Awardy covering waitlist access, free products, platform features, managed services, awards data, security, and billing.
Getting started and access
- What is Awardy?
- Awardy is the awards intelligence platform that helps agencies, brands, and award programs access awards data, plan opportunities, generate insights, and turn campaigns into stronger entries. It combines free tools for deadline tracking, award directory browsing, and budget planning with paid platform features for agentic award submissions, managed entry services, intelligence reporting, and structured awards data access for AI workflows.
- How do I get access to Awardy?
- Awardy is currently in early access. Join the waitlist on the homepage or any solution page and you will receive an invitation when access opens for your team. Free tools including the Awards Calendar, Awards Directory, and Budget Calculator are available immediately with no signup required.
- Who is Awardy built for?
- Awardy is built for advertising agencies, creative agencies, media agencies, PR teams, in-house brand marketing teams, award program operators, and developers building AI tools that need structured awards data. Both small independent agencies entering a handful of programs and large holding-company groups submitting hundreds of entries across global programs use Awardy.
- Is Awardy available globally?
- Yes. Awardy covers award programs globally across advertising, marketing effectiveness, media, creativity, technology, and design. The platform supports teams in any market. Free tools are accessible from any location with no regional restrictions.
- How long does it take to get off the waitlist?
- Access is granted in cohorts as capacity opens. There is no fixed wait time. Managed service engagements (entry management and intelligence reports) can be discussed immediately by contacting us directly. Platform access follows the waitlist order.
Free products
- What free products does Awardy offer?
- Awardy offers three free tools: the Awards Calendar for tracking award program deadlines globally, the Awards Directory for browsing program details, categories, fees, and past winners, and the Awards Budget Calculator for planning entry costs across target programs. All three are fully free and require no account or signup.
- Do I need to create an account to use the free tools?
- No. The Awards Calendar, Awards Directory, and Budget Calculator are all accessible without creating an account or providing any personal information. You can use them immediately.
- What award programs does the Awards Calendar cover?
- The Awards Calendar covers major global award programs across advertising, effectiveness, media, design, and creative technology. This includes Cannes Lions, Effie Awards, D&AD, One Show, Clio Awards, LIA (London International Awards), Dubai Lynx, Kristal Elma, and many regional and specialist programs. Coverage is continuously expanded.
- How often is the Awards Calendar updated?
- The Awards Calendar is updated as program operators publish new deadline information. Early-bird, standard, late, and extended deadlines are reflected as they are confirmed. We monitor program announcements to keep deadline data current.
- What information does the Awards Directory include?
- The Awards Directory includes program descriptions, category structures, entry requirements, eligibility criteria, fee schedules, historical winners, and links to official program resources. The level of detail varies by program.
- How does the Awards Budget Calculator work?
- The Budget Calculator lets you select award programs and categories you plan to enter and see the total entry cost based on the current fee schedule. It accounts for different deadline tiers (early-bird vs. standard vs. late) so you can see how much you would save by submitting before early-bird deadlines.
Platform features and agentic submissions
- What is agentic award submission?
- Agentic award submission is a software-led approach to the award entry process. AI agents handle the structured parts of submission work: campaign intake, opportunity mapping, category recommendations, evidence collection guidance, and entry draft generation. Your team handles strategy decisions, client approvals, and review. The result is a faster, more consistent submission operation that scales without proportionally growing headcount.
- How does the Category Recommender work?
- The Category Recommender assesses a campaign against the judging criteria of candidate categories across award programs, checks eligibility requirements, and benchmarks the campaign against recent winners. It returns a ranked shortlist with a fit score, eligibility status, and competitive context for each recommended category. This replaces the manual process of reviewing each program's category list individually.
- What is the Entry Workspace?
- The Entry Workspace is a central hub for managing all active award submissions. Campaign materials, deadline calendars, collaborator assignments, entry drafts, and asset libraries are organised in one place by program and category. It replaces the combination of spreadsheets, shared folders, and email chains that most teams currently use for awards management.
- How does the Case Study Writer generate entry drafts?
- The Case Study Writer generates section-by-section entry drafts aligned to the specific entry form structure and judging criteria of the target program and category. It uses the campaign evidence collected in the Evidence Collector as its source material, so drafts reflect the specific campaign rather than a generic template. The team reviews and refines each draft before submission.
- Does Awardy keep my campaign data confidential?
- Yes. Campaign materials and entry content submitted to Awardy are treated as confidential. We do not share your campaign data with other clients or third parties. For full details on data handling, see our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement.
Managed services
- What is award entry management?
- Award entry management is a done-for-you managed service where Awardy handles the complete submission lifecycle for your campaigns: award and category selection, entry strategy, evidence collection, entry writing, case study video coordination, and portal submission including entry fee payment. It is designed for agencies and brand teams with strong campaign work and limited internal bandwidth for submission operations.
- What does Awardy handle in a managed entry engagement?
- A managed engagement covers: campaign assessment and opportunity identification, category shortlisting and entry strategy, evidence gathering from the campaign team, full entry writing for each target category, case study video coordination, deadline management, portal submission, and entry fee payments. The exact scope is agreed per engagement based on campaign complexity and submission volume.
- What types of campaigns qualify for managed entry management?
- Any campaign with strong creative, media, effectiveness, or technology stories is a candidate. We work with creative campaigns, media campaigns, integrated campaigns, B2B campaigns, and brand campaigns across advertising, marketing effectiveness, digital, and communications disciplines. If you are unsure whether your campaign is competitive, contact us for an initial assessment.
- What is an Awardy intelligence report?
- An Awardy intelligence report is a custom research deliverable that translates awards data into decision-ready insight. Report types include: brand award opportunity maps, competitor and winner analysis, industry award landscape reports, topic-level trend reports, winner campaign spotlights, and award program performance reports for organizers. Each report is commissioned to a specific brief.
- How long does it take to receive an intelligence report?
- Report delivery time depends on scope and complexity. A focused winner analysis or competitive audit typically takes 5 to 10 business days. A comprehensive brand opportunity map or industry landscape report may take 2 to 4 weeks. Timelines are agreed at the brief stage before work begins.
- Can I commission a report for a specific award program?
- Yes. Program performance reports are one of our intelligence deliverables, designed specifically for award program operators and organizers. They cover entrant demand patterns, category interest trends, market visibility, winner campaign themes, and entrant education gaps. Contact us to discuss the scope.
Awards data API and MCP server
- What is the Awardy API?
- The Awardy API is a REST API that provides programmatic access to structured award program data: categories, deadlines, fees, eligibility requirements, winner records, and case references. It is designed for integration into internal tools, data pipelines, and AI workflows. Authentication is token-based. Data is returned as structured JSON.
- What is the Awardy MCP server?
- The Awardy MCP server is a Model Context Protocol server that exposes award program and winner data to AI agents in real time. Teams can connect it to any MCP-compatible agent framework to give agents live award context during ideation, research, and entry preparation tasks. It is the recommended access method for agentic workflows.
- What data is available through the API?
- Available data includes: award program records, category structures and descriptions, deadline tiers (early-bird, standard, late, extended), entry fee schedules, eligibility requirements, market and discipline scope, winner records with basic campaign details, and case study references. Data coverage and depth varies by program.
- Who can access the Awardy API and MCP server?
- Access is granted on request to agencies, brands, and developers building award-adjacent AI tools, knowledge systems, or research workflows. Access is approved during the early access period on a case-by-case basis. Request access through the Awards Data for AI Agents page.
- Can award programs have their data distributed through the API?
- Yes. Award programs that partner with Awardy can have their verified program data distributed to agencies and brands through the API and MCP server. This increases program visibility inside AI-assisted entry preparation and research tools. See the For Award Programs page for partnership options.
Security and data policy
- Is my data secure with Awardy?
- Yes. Awardy applies industry-standard security practices including encrypted data transport (TLS), access controls, role-based permissions, and audit logging. For teams with specific compliance requirements, contact us to discuss security documentation and data processing agreements.
- Does Awardy use my data to train AI models?
- Awardy does not use confidential client campaign materials, entry drafts, or proprietary submission data to train shared AI models without explicit consent. Our AI models are trained on publicly available award data and other lawfully sourced datasets. Your campaign content belongs to you.
- How do I opt out of AI training data use?
- You can exercise your opt-out rights on the AI Training Policy page. If you have specific requirements around data use for AI training purposes, contact us and we will include appropriate provisions in your Data Processing Agreement.
- What is Awardy's data retention policy?
- Data retention periods vary by data type and contractual arrangement. Campaign materials and entry content are retained for the duration of the engagement plus a defined post-engagement period. Detailed retention policies are documented in the Privacy Policy and available on request in DPA form.
- Does Awardy share data with third parties?
- Awardy does not sell or share customer data with third parties for their own commercial use. We use trusted sub-processors for infrastructure and analytics. A current list of sub-processors is available on request as part of our data processing documentation.
Billing and packages
- How is Awardy priced?
- Pricing details are available on the Packages page. Free tools are available at no cost. Platform access pricing and managed service fees are available on request. During the early access period, commercial terms are discussed as part of the onboarding process.
- Are the free tools genuinely free?
- Yes. The Awards Calendar, Awards Directory, and Budget Calculator are fully free with no paywalled features, no trial periods, and no credit card required. They are Awardy products, not lead magnets: they are designed to be useful in their own right.
- Is there a trial period for the platform?
- Platform trial terms are discussed as part of the early access onboarding process. Contact us to discuss what a trial engagement looks like for your team's specific use case.
- What payment methods does Awardy accept?
- Awardy accepts major credit cards, bank transfer, and enterprise invoicing depending on engagement size. Payment terms are agreed as part of the commercial arrangement for platform access and managed service engagements.
Still have questions?
Contact us directly or explore the platform documentation.