Rights holders, federations and governing bodies have an ideal opportunity to showcase their best sponsorship partnerships through a special Rights Holder Award, one of 11 categories within the ESA Excellence Awards.

Organised by the European Sponsorship Association and now in its sixth year, the Awards entries will be judged by a panel of industry experts who will be looking for the most original and innovative ideas within a partnership and will assess how well the business objectives have been met.

The Awards focus on excellence, and all who operate within the sponsorship industry are encouraged to enter, no matter what the size of campaign. ESA has added a new category this year for companies who have used social media as the main form of communication to reach consumers or business associates directly.

Other categories include Business to Business, Business to Consumer (events or media), Business to Community, Business to Employee and a Multi-National Award for sponsorship campaigns which reach a minimum of three different countries and which reflect activity based within at least one European country.

Also new for 2012, is the ESA Best of Europe Award, which sees national award winners compete against each other to see who will be crowned the most successful in Europe. Countries including France, Switzerland, Poland and Sweden are among those competing.

The award winners will be announced at the ESA Excellence Awards Ceremony in London at the end of January 2013.

The deadline for entries is next week (5th November) so there is still time to enter. The Awards website is full of helpful information including example entry guides and case studies of past award winners.

Full entry details are available online at www.sponsorship.org/awards-2012

For further Press information, contact Helen Lamb ESA on +44 (0) 208 390 3311.

Note to the Editor:

The awards, organised by the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) are the only pan-European awards celebrating excellence across all sectors within the industry – sport, culture, entertainment, media, community and corporate responsibility.

The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) represents the interests of the sponsorship industry in Europe. As a membership organisation, its members comprise sponsors, rights holders, agencies, professional advisors and suppliers who operate at a global, pan-European and national level across Europe.

The Association works to raise standards within the industry through dissemination of information, education and training (ESA Knowledge; ESA Diploma) and to promote and protect the industry through its lobbying at national and European level.