Silver Mercury announces the launch of the 27th season of the SM Awards

The Silver Mercury ecosystem of creative and marketing communications opens the 27th season of the Federal SM Awards and begins accepting applications. Participants will receive updated nominations, an expanded program of events and new networking formats.

Applications will be submitted until April 6, 2026. Then, from April 20 to April 22 and from May 13 to May 15, two stages of the jury voting will take place. The winners will be announced from May 26 to May 29, and the results will be published on May 30.

SM expands the geography of regional awards, adds new formats for networking and professional growth:

• The SM Regions Regional Awards will be held in 7 federal districts with finals in five cities: Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar and St. Petersburg.
• There will be a rotation of the SM Awards jury members for an even better and more impartial evaluation of applications.
• The blocks and nominations will be updated.

"By expanding the geography of the awards, we open the way for new talents, and by strengthening the jury, we guarantee the impeccable objectivity of their assessment. For us, these are not just numbers, but systematic work to create a unified creative space in Russia, where there are no metropolitan or regional projects — there are only strong ideas and winners," said Alina Dorokhina, Director of the Department for Development and work with members of the Silver Mercury jury.

The key focus of SM 27 is to significantly improve the quality of applications. To solve the problem of "uncompetitive" projects at the voting stage, the award launched a comprehensive training program for nominees. It includes personal support, a series of training webinars on submitting applications, and the Roasting project. The application form has also been completely updated, which now helps to present the project as a complete and convincing story.

During the preparation for the new season, the award introduced an internal rating of judges based on an analysis of the deviations of their scores from the final median. Those experts whose scores were systematically rejected by more than 50% were not invited to the new season. This decision is aimed at maximum objectivity and consensus in judging.

Every year, SM events bring together more than five thousand representatives of the creative industry. In the summer of 2026, in addition to the award, the SM Conference will be held, a large—scale conference under the slogan FOMO - Fear of missing out.

The SM Awards is one of the country's largest independent creative and marketing awards, which celebrates the best industry projects and sets professional standards. Last season, 1,718 applications were submitted to the SM Awards, of which 427 projects won, and two major awards were held in the regions, where 212 applications were submitted. Another 144 applications were received in SM Young, a project for young professionals and students who perform real tasks from large businesses.

"The SM Awards are a living organism that breathes with the industry. Each new season is a challenge to ourselves. We are opening up new horizons in 8 federal districts to give a voice to talents from all over Russia. Our strength lies in the community, and this season we will make it even stronger and louder!" said Mikhail Simonov, President of Silver Mercury.