History of the ACE Awards

Origins

In 1982 the ACE (Advertising Creative Excellence) Awards was launched as a local, New York City B2B advertising competition by what was then called the Business Professional Advertising Association (now the Business Marketing Association). The vision for this award was to showcase the best in business-to-business creative work. At first, the typical entries were from industrial/chemical brands, reflecting the large number of chemical companies that were headquartered in New York.

National Prominence

By the late 1980's the submissions to the ACE Awards reflected the beginnings of the technology revolution, with many entries coming from the evolving electronics industry. Coincidently, the ACE Awards began spreading beyond New York and across the country. As a result, entries started to come in from hi-tech enterprise brands, such as Cisco Systems, Intel, AMD, Texas Instruments, Motorola, AMP, NEC, Sanyo, Samsung and Hewlett Packard.

Soon, entry numbers grew from a few hundred to as many as 700 hundred a year – surpassing the national BMA's award submissions – and caused the national association to move its timetable and scheduling so as not to be impaired by the ACE Awards. By the mid-nineties, the success of the ACE Awards caught the attention of the advertising editor of The New York Times, who placed the ACE Awards among the six most prestigious advertising awards in the country. What's more, the ACE Awards was the only B2B honor to make the list.

During the 1990's, the ACE Awards was one of the first to include a category for Integrated Marketing Communications. This was an early acknowledgement of the significance of bringing synergy to the many diverse forms of communications that companies were employing on behalf of their clients.

The ACE Awards Today

Today, entries for the ACE Awards come not only from across the United States, but internationally – including such faraway places as Australia, South Korea and Sweden. Winning submissions have come from large agencies, medium-sized agencies and small agencies. The amount of work has become increasingly diverse and exciting.

Recently, the ACE Awards has also incorporated categories for interactive communications activities and rapidly expanding applications, reflecting the need for companies to find new channels to reach their customers.

Throughout the history of the ACE Awards the consistently excellent caliber of judges has greatly contributed to the prestige and respect that have compelled advertising agencies and their clients to compete for honors in this annual competition.

The vision from the outset has been to foster excellence in B2B communications, recognize the people who work in the profession of B2B, and fundamentally create value that moves markets, products and services. B2B has had a profound effect on the economy and the worldwide business leadership of the United States. We are proud that the ACE Awards has become a major platform for acknowledging the talents of the people who create B2B communications.