The shortlist for the 2010 European Sponsorship Awards has been announced.

The list of finalists includes global brands such as Aviva, Barclays, Guinness and Philips. The campaigns ranged from education and sport to the environment and culture. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Stockholm and O2 Be The Difference / Irish Rugby campaigns were among those short-listed for the Business to Consumer award. Elsewhere, telecommunications companies Turk Telekom and BT were both listed in the Business to Employee category.

The entries for all seven categories have been judged by a panel of nine expert judges from across the continent. A second round of judging is currently underway. The winners will be announced on 24 November at the ESA Awards ceremony in Amsterdam, held at the Heineken Experience. The ceremony forms part of the Future Sponsorship conference which is held in association with ESA.

“The entries are always inspiring to read,” said ESA’s head of policy Helen Day, who chaired the panel of judges. “They reflect only part of what is going on today in our very creative industry. The campaigns were innovative and of a very high standard making it difficult for the judges to select the shortlist.”

Full details of the shortlist can be found at http://www.sponsorship.org/esa2009/awShortlist.asp.