This year, the WXO World Experience Awards have been expanded to 12 separate awards over four categories – Experience, Business, People and Technology.
Experience: Celebrating the very best in immersive and innovative creativity, delighting audiences big and small with pioneering design, beguiling storytelling and the purest imagination.
Business: Whether big budget marketing campaign or striving start-up smashing its KPIs, we shine a light on the financial rigour that puts the Economy into the Experience Economy
People: From fast rising stars to background heroes to those pioneers still preaching the experience gospel, we put faces to the names that are rewriting the Experience Economy narrative.
Technology: We celebrate the new and emerging technologies that are powering the Experience Economy, whether it’s elevating the audience’s delight or a backroom engine enabling the experience.
Enter using the below form – remember to read all the award criteria below first!
Experience Awards
Experience of the Year (Small Budget)
With an increasing amount of choice for experience junkies across the globe, how can we decide a Experience of the Year? We can’t – and that’s why our WXO judging panel will whittle down all your entries into a shortlist for the WXO community to vote on. So whether you’re nominating an intoxicating pop-up or activating global IP at scale, you need to bring your experience to life for us – give us the proof and the plaudits, the testimonials and talent, the art and the story and… Wanna win? This is how you do it.
Note: Our Small Budget category is open to projects with a production budget under $500,000.
Experience of the Year (Mid-Large Budget)
With an increasing amount of choice for experience junkies across the globe, how can we decide a Experience of the Year? We can’t – and that’s why our WXO judging panel will whittle down all your entries into a shortlist for the WXO community to vote on. So whether you’re nominating an intoxicating pop-up or activating global IP at scale, you need to bring your experience to life for us – give us the proof and the plaudits, the testimonials and talent, the art and the story and… Wanna win? This is how you do it.
Note: Our Mid-Large Budget category is aimed at experiences with budgets over $500,000.
Innovation of the Year
Whatever area of the Experience Economy you’re working in, we know what we need to do to survive and thrive – innovate. Whether it’s the newest tech, the smartest pivot or the downright coolest new tech, what has been the trucker’s shift in your experience that has dropped the collective jaw? We want to see the very best the Experience Economy has to offer – impress our community!
Business Awards
Business of the Year (Small Businesses)
The WXO is dedicated to the economy part of the Experience Economy – the proven commercial models and set-ups that make sure our incredible experiences are sponsorable, sustainable and robust enough to be here for the long-term. We want to hear from those businesses and large departments who are as good with a spreadsheet as they are with a hammer, a CAD or a Post-It note session. Show us how you’re hitting your KPIs and smashing your targets.
Note: Our Small Business category is open to start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs with turnovers under $500,000.
Business of the Year (Mid-Large Businesses)
The WXO is dedicated to the economy part of the Experience Economy – the proven commercial models and set-ups that make sure our incredible experiences are sponsorable, sustainable and robust enough to be here for the long-term. We want to hear from those businesses and large departments who are as good with a spreadsheet as they are with a hammer, a CAD or a Post-It note session. Show us how you’re hitting your KPIs and the results and smashing your targets.
Note: Our Mid-Large Business category is aimed at more established companies with turnovers over $500,000.
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Experiences are nothing without the audiences they are designed to delight – but how do you reach them? We want to highlight the campaigns that do just this. Whether navigating the intricacies of global IP, smart use of turbulent social media waters or just some killer copywriting that transcended word of mouth, we want to hear from the people behind the people – tell us how you activated them, how you went vital and just how you helped achieved a sell out night after night after night.
People Awards
Designer of the Year
One of the night’s most prestigious awards, we’re looking for the very best in experience design. From earliest EUREKA moment and rough scamp to full planned out experience designed to delight a crowd, tell us how your design stands out from an impressive crown. Be sure to include materials from along the way, showing how you’ve managed to realise your vision and stay true to your individualism and passion.
Storyteller of the Year
Can you plot a victory? Do you have the character to go the distance? A good narrative can reduce an audience member to tears of joy – but what does ‘good’ actually meam? We want to hear from the very best storytellers in the Experience Economy, sharing with us the behind-the-scenes detail on the workshops, story structures, bold planning and plain wonderful writing that go to underpin the stories that delight audiences around the world.
Newcomer of the Year
The universe of the Experience Economy is a vibrant one that is expanding fast, bringing in newcomers from other industries who see the potential for the experiential in almost every walk of life. This award recognises the new talent entering every walk of the industry, from building to budgeting to bringing an experience to life with amazing design or storytelling chops. Are you a rising star? Get in the spotlight now!
Technology Awards
Technology Solution of the Year (Small Budget)
From VR and MR to wearables (and beyond), technology plays a massive part in enabling experiential storytellers to dream their dreams and drop the collective jaw of audiences worldwide. Tell us how your tech innovations have delighted your audience, tracked user behaviour or underpinned your experiential model.
Note: The Small Budget award is aimed at tech solutions with a smaller development budget. Please provide reasoning behind your chosen category in your entry.
Technology Solution of the Year (Mid-Large Budget)
From VR and MR to wearables (and beyond), technology plays a massive part in enabling experiential storytellers to dream their dreams and drop the collective jaw of audiences worldwide. Tell us how your tech innovations have delighted your audience, tracked user behaviour or underpinned your experiential model.
Note: The Mid-Large Budget award is aimed at tech solutions with a mid-large development budget. Please provide reasoning behind your chosen category in your entry.
Innovation of the Year
This award is all about the sheer awe, the shock of the new and the innovation at the very core of the ever-evolving Experience Economy. Tell us the stories of your smart tech innovation, the smart use of existing platforms or proprietary technologies at the heart of your experience. Remember to provide plenty of evidence on why the tech was vital to your experience – use as many links, spreadsheets and testimonials to back up your tales of tech wizardry.
Timeline
✍️ Nominations are open NOW and close on Thursday, 27 March 2025
📃 Shortlists will be announced the week commencing Monday 7 April 2025
🗳️ Voting will then be open for two weeks until the week commencing Monday 21 April 2025
🏆 The Awards will take place from 7-9pm on Tuesday 29 April 2025 after Day One of the World Experience Summit. Tickets for the Summit are available via the WXO website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here for full details on tickets, criteria and more
That’s it!
You can read our original announcement here or just drop us a line at hello@worldxo.org if you have any questions. Good luck!
