Terms and Conditions

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Awards are based on the merits of the work, not on the worthiness of the brand or messaging. That said, Awards presented by Haymarket must not conflict with Haymarket's core values of Creativity, Expertise, Integrity, Innovation, and Respect, and Haymarket's commitment to an ethical and sustainable environment.

The Haymarket Awards Entry Terms and Conditions state Haymarket reserves the right to reject any Entry/ies and/or rescind any Award at any time that is inconsistent with Haymarket's core values, including but not limited to the support of integrity in social and corporate responsibility. In the award entry process, it is the responsibility of the brand and awards entry teams to flag any entry in the submission process that may be cause for concern based on the nature of the campaign or the parties involved in the entry. For example, Haymarket's core values do not align with the promotion of tobacco products. We do not endeavour to create an exhaustive list of categories or parties that may exist or may come into existence that is not aligned with such core values. We do, however, encourage the team to keep abreast with the latest news, trends, and tides in our industry, which would inform their consideration and determination of whether certain award submissions fail to align with Haymarket's core values and require internal review. In such cases, Haymarket may elect not to accept an entry or rescind an award.

DEFINITIONS: In these Terms and Conditions, the following terms have the following meanings:

• “Awards” means the particular Awards.
• “Awards Entry Page” means the entry webpage where information and Terms and Conditions relevant to the particular Awards can be found.
• “Entry/ies” means all material and information submitted for the particular Awards.
• “Entry Kit” means the document that details the rules and processes regarding eligibility, judging, and other Entry information relevant to the submissions.
• “Entrant” or “You” means any company, individual, or organization that submits an Entry for the relevant Awards.
• “Entry Requirement” means the specific submission requirements relevant to the particular Awards.
• “Haymarket Media, Inc.” or “Haymarket” or “We” or “Us” means all of its subsidiary brands, group companies, affiliates, and/or representatives.
• “Terms and Conditions” means terms and conditions applicable to the Entry/ies and Awards.

By entering the Digital Media Awards 2026, Entrants agree to be bound and abide by the Rules. We may vary the Rules from time to time, in which case the variation will take effect from the date of publication of the Rules on our website: www.digitalmediaawards-china.com. We have absolute discretion to determine the application of the Rules or to resolve any ambiguity in them as we see fit.

Please ensure that each entry complies with the following guidelines. Failure to follow the guidelines may result in your entry being disqualified at an early stage in the judging process.

AWARDS TYPE: For all AI, Industry Excellence and Media categories, a Gold, Silver, or Bronze may be awarded. For People/Team, Company, and Special Awards (Platinum and Agency of the Year), we will be awarding one GOLD WINNER only. It will be subjected to the judges' unanimous decision on what type of awards to be given in the respective categories. This may also result in awards given in the same type or no award.

In cases where there is a single entry or fewer entries within a category, the judges will unanimously decide whether there should be a shortlist and/or whether an entry is awarded any type of award in the final round of judging.

CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS: Entrants cannot cancel an entry once the payment order is completed. However, you can delete a draft entry, or one submitted without a payment order from the dashboard. If you want to withdraw a confirmed submission, you must email the Organiser at DMAchina@haymarket.asia  Any refund, if approved, will require you to pay a processing fee of HKD1,500 and will be deducted from your entry fee before any refund is processed.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE: If there is a complaint about any Award-winning or shortlisted Entry, the Organiser may at our absolute discretion, choose to investigate the complaint. If we choose to investigate a complaint, the Entrant must cooperate fully with us in relation to that investigation, including by providing us with any information requested. If we uphold a complaint and find that the winning or shortlisting of any Entry was unfair or incorrect, we may withdraw or disqualify the relevant Entry or Award, as applicable.

CONFIDENTIALITY: Your Entry and any supporting documentation will not be considered confidential information unless clearly identified as “Confidential”. If there is certain information in the written entry paper or supporting documents that must be kept confidential, please indicate this clearly by highlighting the specific parts in yellow and mark the check box on the online form. Please do not simply mark the entire entry “Confidential” as judges might deduct marks from the scores.

• Notwithstanding the foregoing, Confidential Information does not include information that is public-facing or generally known to the public at the time of disclosure or becomes generally known through no wrongful act on the part of the Haymarket.
• The Organiser reserves the right to publish details of the entries in any related publications and materials.
• Entrant understands and agrees that Haymarket may be required to disclose Confidential Information included in the Entry to comply with applicable laws or governmental regulations or a valid order issued by a court or government agency of competent jurisdiction.

CREDITS: All details under the credits section must be accurate and consistent on the online entry form and the core written papers. You will be required to provide the above information in BOTH English and Chinese.

DEADLINES: Entrants must submit their entries according to the respective entry deadlines, including completed payment, to allow sufficient time to process and resolve any issues before the entries are pushed forward for preliminary judging. Any delay might result in disqualification.

DISPUTES: The Organiser reserves the right to withdraw any entry that breaches these terms. In the event of a complaint against any winning or shortlisted entry, the Organiser will conduct a full investigation into each case and will request detailed documentation from all parties concerned, including the complainant, the entrants, and/or the client.

The entrant will be solely responsible for clarifying the case and if any initiatives/work involved the agency's client, then confirmation on approval from the brand's representative is also required. The Organiser will have no hesitation in withdrawing an award in cases where the complaint is upheld.

DUPLICATE ENTRY: A duplicate entry cannot be withdrawn or cancelled, and the entrant will be liable for the entry fee. The entry fee is non-refundable. Any entry fees due but unpaid at the time of withdrawal are immediately due and payable.

The entrant may request to replace the duplicate entry with a new category or move the duplicate entry to a new category with the Organiser's approval, provided that the entry fee paid will not be refunded in respect of any fee difference between the entry fee payable for the original category or the new category. The entrant is required to pay any additional amount in respect of any fee difference between the entry fee payable for the original category and the new category.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible, all entries must comply with the terms and conditions, including requirements set forth in the Entry Kit and Entry Requirements.

• All entries must relate to achievements ONLY during the eligibility period. Written entries that do not focus on the eligibility period but include achievements outside the review period will be disqualified. Entries must be truthful and factual where applicable.
• Entries must be original and owned, and no additional permission or approvals from a third party should be required for use of the entry materials as stated herein and on the Awards Entry Page.
• We reserve the right to reject any entry/ies and/or rescind any Award that fails to comply with stated requirements, entrant remains responsible for any entry fees. No refunds will be issued because of the rescission.

ENDORSEMENT: AI, Industry Excellence and Media categories must be endorsed by the most senior brand representative of the campaign, authorising the entry and data to be true and accurate.

• Company categories: The endorser must be a senior management member which will be the CEO/MD/Head of the office.
• People Categories: The nominee cannot endorse their own submission. In cases where the nominee is the most senior management member/brand’s representative, then this will require the second most senior representative to endorse.

ENTRY CHANGES: Once an entry is submitted on the entry platform, all credits or any details related to the written submission, summary, supporting material, images, or video cannot be changed. Any change request will be subject to review and prior approval by the Organiser. Should any changes be approved, a fee of HKD1,500 will be charged.

ENTRY CODE OF CONDUCT: Haymarket Events, part of Haymarket Media Group, is committed to ensuring that all entrants and entries are judged fairly, equitably, and by their peers. With this in mind, we would like to remind all entrants that we expect them to enter their work in good faith, with honesty and integrity.

We expect all entries to represent bona fide work that a company or agency is proud to have produced.

We acknowledge that the use of AI has become increasingly common, transforming how people work and the outputs they deliver. In light of this, we expect entrants to indicate clearly where AI has been used — whether in the development of the work itself or in shaping the written entry or any associated assets submitted as part of that entry.

If it becomes clear that an entry, or if the work entered, has been fabricated in any way, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Haymarket Media Group reserves the right to disqualify the entry.

If results have already been published, we retain the right to rescind the award and will publish an explanation on our relevant brand sites. Please note: any such decision will be made in consultation with the Chair of Judges and/or relevant judging panel.

Haymarket Media Group stands by its values of creativity, expertise, integrity, innovation, and respect. We expect everyone who enters, judges, or attends our events to uphold these same principles.

ENTRY SUBMISSION: For each entry, you must provide separate documentation, supporting materials,2 compulsory images and an entry fee. There is no limit on the number of entry submissions, and you can enter multiple categories with the same entry. However, you should tailor your entry relevant to that specific category even when the criteria appear to be the same to avoid being penalized during judging. The written submission must address and answer the criteria for the chosen category as stated on the entry template. Judges may at their discretion reassign, provide a low score, or disqualify the affected entry if it does not answer the category or replicates the same across multiple categories. Any duplication or disputes might result in disqualification. The entrant and their company are solely responsible for providing clarification. For multiple agencies entering the same category, all agencies and clients must agree on a joint entry. Any duplication or disputes might result in disqualification. The Entrant agency is solely responsible for providing clarification.

ENTRY FEE: Once the entry has been submitted via the entry platform, entry fees are chargeable, and you will be liable to pay for the entries, even if you have not proceeded to the payment page or in the event of disqualification, entry withdrawal, duplicate submissions, or non-endorsement by management. Entries submitted are non-returnable. Entries unpaid by the respective deadlines (Early Bird Deadline by 8 December 2025, Standard Entry Deadline by 5 February 2026, and Final Entry Deadline by 2 March 2026) may be disqualified. Haymarket Media Ltd will retain the right to claim for unpaid entry fees and reserves the right to disqualify any unpaid entries and seek legal action to claim for any unpaid entry fees.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Please do not provide any sensitive or confidential information in your Executive Summary which will be published should your entry win and will be visible to the judges during the judging stage. The summary should be strictly about your entry and why you should win during the eligibility period. DO NOT provide irrelevant information or company credentials for promotional or marketing purposes. Should any changes be required, a fee of HKD1,500 will be applied and subject to Organiser's approval.

FORMAT: Formats and file sizes of the entry submission paper, images, and supporting materials must be strictly adhered to. The entrant is responsible for ensuring all formats are followed strictly as per the guidelines. Failing to do so might result in the entry being scored low by the judges and may result in disqualification.

JOINT COLLABORATION: Where multiple agencies/suppliers have worked on the same campaign/event, it must be agreed in advance between all parties involved as to who will make the entry. All parties who have contributed to the same campaign/event should be stated on the Online Form. If the same entry is submitted by two different entrant companies, or multiple agencies and brand companies have entered the same work, the submission may be treated as a joint entry at the Organiser’s discretion. For any duplicated entry, the entry fee will be forfeited.

JUDGING: Entry Kit or templates may provide judging criteria for the awards. The judges determine if an entry is worthy of being shortlisted or winning an award. All consideration of entries is based solely on the merits of the information provided in your entry.

The judges' decisions are final and neither the Organiser nor the judging panel will enter any correspondence about them.

The judges have the right to re-distribute the entries into other relevant categories or not award the category if they feel the entries are not suitable for the category entered. Changes to the category will be made solely at the discretion of the judges, and their decision is final.

We reserve the right to make or not to make any particular award in any given category.

LANGUAGE: Entry submission includes but is not limited to the online entry form, written submission paper can be either in English or simplified Chinese.

LIABILITY: Entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Haymarket from any and all claims, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) and damages arising out of or resulting from entrant's breach of any representation or warranty contained in the Terms and Conditions. You shall not exclude or limit your liability under these terms and conditions, including for loss of goodwill and reputation.

We shall not (whether in contract, tort, negligence, statutory duty, or otherwise) be liable to You under these Terms and Conditions for consequential, indirect, or special damages (including indirect loss of profit and indirect loss of revenue). Subject to the clauses above, our maximum aggregate liability to you under these Terms and Conditions (whether arising in contract, tort, negligence, statutory duty, or otherwise) shall not exceed the Entry fees You paid to us for the related Award submission.

LICENSE: By submitting the Entry, the Entrant hereby grants to Haymarket, a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, right, and revocable license, to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, display, modify (for formatting purposes), non-confidential portions of the Entry (such as campaign images or videos) in any media in connection with the Awards for educational, promotional, and publicity purposes (“License”). Each Entrant represents and warrants that it owns or has secured the necessary permissions or approvals from a third party(ies) to provide the License for Haymarket use as described hereinabove.

MODIFICATION REQUEST: Any changes after the submission of the entry will be subject to review and prior approval by the Organiser. Should any changes be approved, a fee of HKD1,500 will be charged for each change. Not all requests will be accommodated.

PAYMENT: All payments for submissions must be made at the point of submission confirmation. Once you confirmed to SUBMIT ENTRY, your entry will be processed and from this point forward the entrant will be liable for all entry fees including any duplication of entry. No cancellation or withdrawal of entries will be accepted, and in case you have made a mistake, please contact the Organiser immediately for assistance.

PUBLISH: The Organiser reserves the right to publish all entries, wholly or in part, as case studies or for publicity purposes. Please indicate by highlighting any sensitive or confidential information specifically.

QUERIES: Judges reserve the right to raise queries regarding the information provided and penalize any entry if there is evidence of inaccurate and misleading claims which will lead to entry disqualification.

RULES: The Organiser reserves the right to withdraw any entry which breaches any of the Awards Organiser's rules. In the event of a complaint against any winning or shortlisted entry, the Organiser will investigate each case and will request detailed documentation from all parties concerned, including the complainant, the entrants, and the client. If the complaint is upheld, entries and, if applicable, awards will be withdrawn accordingly.

TEMPLATE: All written entry submission papers should be submitted using the entry template provided. You may remove the DMA logo and format or design your entry but must include all required information, based on all sections. You must indicate clearly, as per each section title, which judges will score your entry based on such.

TROPHY CREDITS: Credits will be based on information provided on the online entry form under the “Credits Section”. Any request for trophy credit changes before the event is completed is not allowed. The request will be evaluated by the Organiser and if approved, a fee will apply.