Informed by The Nielsen Company

Building on the heritage of Thomas Edison and the 25-year legacy of the Edison Awards, the Edison Awards has evolved its evaluation criteria to establish a new definition for innovation and what innovation means today. "These new evaluation criteria were designed to be more relevant, more comprehensive and to reaffirm the Edison Awards' leadership position in identifying and acknowledging innovation of all types.  Our criteria actually evolve the definition of innovation, making that definition more transparent for nominees and more clearly defined for our voting bodies," said Tom Stat, Chairman of the Edison Awards Steering Committee. These new evaluation criteria ensure that all companies, regardless of industry, domain or innovation type can understand, clearly communicate, affirm and support their nomination.

Over the last six months, members of the Edison Awards leadership have worked with a team of executives from The Nielsen Company, other Edison

Award sponsors and thought leaders in design, engineering, technology, business, marketing, etc. to develop the new criteria, with the goals of evolving the definition of innovation and establishing an honest and equitable basis for assessment of each nomination. 

Nominees will be asked to provide 100-word responses in each of four criteria areas.  "While 100 words for each of the four evaluation criteria may be a challenge, we are looking at the totality and intersections of a nominee's response, and encourage candidates to think comprehensively, express the core essence of their innovation offering and employ great clarity and precision in their responses so that we can best assess the entries on their real merits," said Stat.  Beyond the evaluation criteria, a candidate's web site, team makeup and other related attributes will be assessed. The criteria, as excerpted from the actual Edison Awards nomination form, are as follows:

CRITERIA #1:  Concept

Opportunity, conception, method & development

In the true spirit of Thomas Edison, we are looking for innovations that not only address a need and solve a problem but also seize an opportunity and create a new market or industry. And true to Edison's work, we are interested in the overall method and development of the concept and opportunity. We would like to understand how discovery, collaboration, iteration, prototyping, etc. contributed to the conception and development of your innovation as it progressed from genesis to design and implementation.

CRITERIA #2:  Value

Need/desire, differentiation, advantage & cost

For Edison, value was a primary driver for his innovations. We would like to understand how your innovation satisfies an existing need or desire. We are seeking evidence for how your offering is different and whether it has distinct, game changing advantages over any alternatives. We also want to evaluate its unique value proposition, the relationship between its cost and benefits and its economic desirability.

CRITERIA #3:  Delivery

Message, engagement, availability, achievement

Edison was not only an accomplished innovator but also a great communicator, marketer and master of delivery. We would like to understand how the message and broader story of your innovation is communicated in clear and compelling ways. We are looking for interesting examples of how you have engaged consumers and how you have delivered and made your offering available to the marketplace. Finally, we are interested in how the value proposition of your offering is being achieved, fulfilled and validated in the marketplace.

CRITERIA #4:  Impact

Sustainability, social responsibility & potential

Edison devoutly believed that real innovation not only demonstrated commercial success but also sustained sensitivity to broader implications. We would like to understand the immediate and longer term impact your innovation has on the environment and society as a whole. We are also interested in how your offering may establish a vision or be the basis of a larger system or platform of innovations and how it might be an inspiration to future innovation and innovators.

For more information about the Edison Awards, visit www.edisonawards.com.  If you would like to receive a one-page "Nomination Guide," contact inge@edisonawards.com.  Nominations will be open until December 2, 2011.