Hi Sarah, can youtell us a bit more about this exciting competition? And how it works?

The competition was born after a discussion on how collaboration is key within any industry and working with collaborators is so important to produce the best results.  We met up with the Insights People, who are an award winning data company based in Manchester, and discussed the opportunity of marrying up The GA’s  skills of running a competition (gift of the year) and their data insights and access points to collecting data, and from that the idea of a kids and parents focusedHIGH awards were born.

The competition will be held four times a year throughoutthe seasons, with entrants able to enter more the one product across thedifferent categories as well as over many seasons.  The winners will receive crucial data ontheir products and sectors as well as exposure through our social media andmarketing channels.

What are the categories available to enter?

The awards will actually be split between Kids and Parents,  Kids awards will be judged by a children’s audience on the merits of the actual products, and the parents awards will be judges by an audience of adults who will be judging on whether they will buy the products for their children or as a gift for other parents. Each award is again split up into the following categories. ‘High Tech’, ‘Kits and Gadgets’ and ‘Traditional toys and games’. The parents award will be split up by ‘for babies’, ‘for occasions’ and ‘for parents’.

How will this differfrom the current Gift of the Year competition that you also run?

This award differs from the main competition as it will bejudged by the end consumers of the actual products, so the products willreceive the recognition that they deserve. Our other competition is judged byindustry buyers and key professionals who will be looking at it with acommercial viewpoint, so you can get more honest answers from the end user.

How did thepartnership with the Insights people arise?

We both work within the home and giftware world, with theinsight people providing insights into the kids and parents products reportsmonitoring screen time, trends and popular characters and we work closely withsome of their partners either as members or in the industry. We had discussedworking together and settled upon the idea of this fabulous competition on anidea of a specialised competition.

Who judges thecompetition and when? What do the winner get?

The competition is judged seasonally throughout the year where The Insights People collate their data from their various touch-points. Each season the product will go out to a group of 7,500 kids and parents, already receiving a massive reach across target audiences.  Each product entered will receive invaluable industry date for their sector, the winner will go on to receive a customer report of their products worth £10,000. They will also receive elevated promotion of their products and achievements. We are hoping to announce the winners during the various trade shows throughout the year.

Wow, that’s amazing,there must be some really useful data in the reports, what is the cost ofentering and how do I enter?

The data in the reports is fascinating and will be a huge help to the companies that win, even for entering the amount you will get to take away is enough to help shape your strategy, which is worth the small price that you will pay for entering. You can enter via the website here and you can buy tokens which equates to one entry, individual tokens cost £70. and you can buy four for £200, this will allow you to cover all four seasons with one product, but you can also enter into other categories, as you are not limited to how many products you want to enter.

to find out more and enter the competition then visit the website here