2023 Brief
Channel 4’s 2023 Diversity In Advertising Award brief challenged advertisers to Be Bold and ‘Proud all Over’.
We wanted brands to create a powerful advertising creative which accurately and sensitively portrays an under-represented group within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Campaigns should aim to authentically portray LGBTQIA+ communities’ stories, lived experiences and diversity.
Entries are now closed, with the submissions working their way through our judging process – but the brief remains available below for those that would like to take a look whilst this years winner is being chosen…
In 2019, our award challenged the advertising industry to better represent LGBT communities in advertising.
Starbucks/Iris won with ‘What’s Your Name’, an authentic portrayal of a Transgender teenager coming to terms with their identity. This beautiful piece of storytelling sensitively reflected the lived experiences of an often misunderstood and misrepresented community and it went on to win at Cannes Lions and was held up across the industry as a brave & ground-breaking piece of work.
We hoped this would kick-start a revolution of LGBTQIA+ representation across the advertising world. Unfortunately, it hasn’t – and we’ve seen evidence that some brands have even shown apprehension around running LGBTQIA+ focused campaigns.
So, in 2023, the Channel 4 Diversity In Advertising Award is once again asking brands to authentically portray LGBTQIA+ communities in their campaigns.
Returning to challenge brands.
Entries Open
27th July 2023
Brands and Agencies are invited to submit a 2-page PDF summarising the creative concept.
Entries Close
7th September 2023
Unless an extension has been agreed (email 4Sales@Channel4.co.uk), all entries must be submitted on this site by 4pm.
Judging Day
11th October 2023
Stage two of the competition requires the shortlisted brands to attend an in-person pitch day with our judging panel.
The Prize
The winner will receive £1million of 4Sales ad value across our linear, VOD and Youtube platforms for their pitched campaign, and an additional £100k bespoke social media campaign produced by our award-winning social content unit, 4Studio.
As with prior years, our five non-winning shortlist will also be offered up to £250k of match funded commercial ad space for the pitched campaigns, meaning the potential total prize pot for 2023 exceeds £2million.
Frequent Questions
Unfortunately as judging starts very quickly after the closing date, there isn’t much room to provide extensions to the closing date.
However, we’d always advise reaching out to us at 4Sales@Channel4.co.uk if you are struggling to meet the entry date.
Prior to submitting an entry, you MUST get full and unconditional approval from the key parties involved in your campaign idea.
In the most part, this means that the brand featured must have given approval for the campaign idea to be submitted.
However, if your campaign is solely reliant on commitment from other specific parties – eg a specific charity partner or a specific spokesperson or talent, that approval must also be sought before entry.
If your campaign pitch details partners on whom the idea is not reliant, eg Talent or Charity Partners that could be switched for a number of alternatives, then commitment from these partners is not required at pitch stage.
Take a look at ‘Entry Process’ above for full details, but in short there are two stages.
Stage 1 requires a PDF submission. This is judged by a Channel 4 shortlisting panel against the published criteria.
Stage 2 sees the shortlisted entrants invited to an in-person pitch with our main judging panel. They make the final decision on the winner based on this pitch and how best they feel it answers the brief and fulfils the criteria.
Different entrants choose different approaches in the 2-page entry. Some communicate the concept through description of the proposed campaign, others decide a sample script or imagery is needed. In short, how you choose to communicate your idea is entirely up to you.
We’d recommend you take a look at the criteria page listed above. This will give you a good guide on what the shortlisting panel will be looking for in your entry, and we’d suggest you make sure that you address all the criteria in your entry.
We strongly advise you read and understand the terms before submitting your entry.
Winners will receive the £1m+ ad value prize and will be expected to begin production of their pitched campaign.
To qualify for the prize, the produced advertisement must reflect the pitched idea, and comply with a number of timing and exclusivity restrictions as detailed in the terms.
The Prize and the Match Fund Prizes are redeemable across the Channel 4 Portfolio between 1st May 2024 and 31st June 2024.
There is the potential, subject to mutual agreement, for these dates to be flexible, pending negotiation with 4Sales.
As part of Channel 4’s efforts to champion sustainable business practices, the winner and any match funding recipients must implement the following commitments when producing the pitched advertisements;
- The brand and creative agency involved must be registered (or become registered) as an Ad Net Zero Supporter (run by the Advertising Association).
- The advertisements produced must use the Ad Green carbon calculator to measure their carbon footprint with the full and unredacted results shared with Channel 4.
- Any carbon produced as a result of making the advertisement must be off-set via https://weareadgreen.org/resources/offset-emissions-from-your-production-activities and receipt must be shared with Channel 4
- Unless a similar commitment has already been made, the brand and creative agency commit to develop and implement a long-term plan to reduce their marketing Carbon Footprint and should be shared with Channel 4
No problem – just email us at 4Sales@Channel4.co.uk and we’ll help you out!
