Judging Process

ROUND 1 JUDGING: 

Round 1 Judging is conducted remotely during a prescribed time where judges vote entries in or out or abstain based on the entry criteria for each Category.

This is a self-managed process done online during the prescribed timeframe: 2nd June - 9th July 2026.

Round 1 Discussion:

Loeries CEO and IAB CEO in discussion with the Jury Chair discuss the following 3 tiers of work.

• Tier 1 - Progressing to Round 2 – based on percentage votes IN
• Tier 2 - Not progressing to Round 2 - based on percentage votes OUT
• Tier 3 - Work that is up for discussion by the panel to decide if it goes through – this is the middle ground that needs to be motivated to progress or not.

Jury Chair meets with Jury to establish which work goes through from the Tier 2 and Tier 3 list

This is done in an online session (max 2 hours) to establish the finalists. These aggregated results determine the BMA finalists, which are announced in the press ahead of Round 2 Judging.

ROUND 2 JUDGING

Round 2 judging is conducted in a hybrid format with 2 geographical in-person rooms connected virtually.  Jury Chair and members will be guided through the work and will score the work without any discussion. Once all votes are in the score sheets are created and shared with the Jury Chair. The jury is then able to discuss the work as a group without impacting the scoring.

The final scoring sheets, including metal allocation are signed off by the Jury Chair, Loeries CEO, IAB CEO and Jury President.

Shortlisted entries do not automatically qualify for an award. Ahead of round 2 judging commencing, a pre-determined metal estimation will be communicated to the Jury Chair to share with the panel. 

Self-promotional work will not be eligible for Gold Pixels. If you have any entry queries, please send an e-mail to thebookmarks@iabsa.net 

If you have any technical queries, please call us on 011 772 1220 or send an e-mail to bookmarks@loeries.com

BOOKMARKS DIGITAL RANKINGS

The Bookmarks Digital Rankings serve as a strategic tool to benchmark performance in the 2026 Bookmark Awards. Post the awards announcement, winners are invited to update their credits via the Bookmarks entry portal, between 14 August and 18 September 2026. The corrected data will be used to determine the final rankings.

Bookmarks rankings are extracted from entry data using a scoring matrix allocated to gold, silver, bronze and craft winners, as well as finalists from the 2026 awards. The information provided on the entries provides the data which is used for rankings. The Bookmarks rankings are administered by The Loeries system, and the onus is on the entrant to ensure correct data is inputted during the credit update period following the awards show in August. The Loeries can not amend data once the period for updates has closed.

Take note when updating your credits:

• Where more than one individual is credited in one area the points are split between the individuals.
• A Publisher cannot receive points as both an agency and as a publisher. Publishers entered as agencies will default to publisher ranking.

Bookmarks Digital Rankings for 2026 will open to allow agencies to update their credits post the awards show on 13 August 2026 for a limited time. Rankings will then be ratified by The Loeries and announced in the press at the end of the 2026 year.