3 reasons why award shows are crucial
June 25th, 2009 | by Dion Hughes
We’re into the last throws of award season, which means we’re almost done with the alternate pontificating, slamming, justifying and etc.
Almost.
Though I love/hate award shows as much as the next guy, here are three reasons why we should love that advertising award shows exist. Starting with one you’ve heard before… but it’s amazing to me how so many gloss over this point when they pronounce award shows ‘irrelevant’.
1. Without award shows, creatives would not see all of the most innovative thinking in the world. Clients benefit in myriad ways by having their creatives exposed to ingenious solutions such as the Kit Kat postcards. Sorry, but reading the first headlines about Best Job In The World had nowhere near as much effect on the people in your creative department as reading the headlines that it just cleared up at Cannes. Isn’t that valuable? Having the ambitious creatives of the world inspired to make their client’s business famous on as little money as possible? Using modern media in exactly the way the award show haters have been touting?
2. Our industry, like other creative industries, is fueled by insecurity. The creative people working through the weekend on your business are not doing it just so they can sell your product, make you happy and keep their jobs. They’re doing it because they want to come up with something better, something that will make them famous, or at least worthy. We see colleagues getting all the attention, and it spurs us all to try harder. Clients benefit from this by having the lower paid creatives putting a disproportionate amount of sweat and imagination into your business. You get to pick and sift through the patently self-indulgent and find the blasts of brilliance that can stand out, attract, and connect.
3. Advertising award shows are the best, most direct measurement of the creative contribution that we have. Most creatives I know start life curious about the effect their ideas have on a brand’s success. But they mostly quit asking because there is no such thing as a clear line between creativity and sales. If there were, the fog would be lifted, agencies could be paid purely on their merits, many creative people would be paid way less (and some would be paid tons more). We’d be more like Hollywood directors and writers, knowing for sure that our efforts resulted in a box office of $X. (Ahem, but it probably wouldn’t stop us from having our Golden Globes, Oscars, Cannes, Sundances, Venices, etc etc.) Clients would benefit from a more complete measurement system by knowing exactly what they’re paying for.
We’d love that world. But we’re not holding our breath.
That’s all. I’d really like to hear from any award show haters. It might be your last chance ’til next year’s season.
Image by kangster
June 25th, 2009at 10:42 am(#)
Dion!
Very much agree with your three points here. To the first point, how many times has a client called their creative team to discuss what’s won that year at Cannes or One Show? Might that not spur a very useful conversation around style, tone, expectation and intent which lead to more efficient creative development and production in the future? I think it would, and for that reason alone find tremendous value in award shows–they provide a reason to talk about the business of art, or the art of business.
Tim
June 25th, 2009at 10:46 am(#)
that’s true. in fact that’s about as simple as it can be. we all need famous examples of whatever it is we do, in order to have common frames of reference. whether as something to emulate or avoid.
June 25th, 2009at 12:34 pm(#)
I don’t like to think of myself as a hater, but I will offer some counter weight to your arguments…
1- seeing the work from around the world - that’s what the Internet is for!
2- ad peeps are insecure - so what? ad peeps need to grow up a little, if you ask me
3- awards shows as measurement for one’s contributions - do firemen get awards for saving people’s asses, or doctors, or accountants? see point #2
June 25th, 2009at 1:29 pm(#)
Thanks David. It’s okay to be a hater of award shows… i’m a hybrid myself. “Hate something > change something” to quote a past award-winner.
but let me counter your counter:
1. the internet is great at showing stuff from all over. it’s not great at all at agreeing on what is most worthwhile, at setting a higher bar. the best it can do is popularity, and that’s only a single component within what makes a certain piece of work inspiring.
2. yes, we’re a bunch of babies. and a part of that is annoying, a part of that is exactly why we’re useful. the child-like mind. it’s why we are what we are. as dave trott once said, or maybe paraphrased from somewhere else, “insecurity is a great battery to plug into.”
3. no, firemen do not get awards… actually, maybe they do, but that’s not what gets them excited about their jobs. they run to a fire, they put it out, the effect of their efforts is immediate and self-evident. a copywriter gets an idea out into the world… and… and… ? In most cases, we have no idea if it worked or not. if it had any effect whatsoever on anything. for an insecure person (see point #2) that’s unbearable. Therefore: award shows!
June 25th, 2009at 3:01 pm(#)
Hello Dion.
Sign me up for the ideal world in point 3. Like you, I have a love/hate feeling about award shows. I love them because everyone deserves a pat on the back for a job well done. We work with some amazing people in this business who tirelessly come up with brilliant solutions. It’s not up to us to judge what motivates them to win (altruism vs. ego).
I hate them because sometimes the criteria for that job well done, gets lost. People would be scared of an award that would be a true measure- one that is rooted in the mission, the message and the results equally.
Oh yeah, and then there’s politics. How many times have you heard, “We didn’t win cuz so & so was judging”. And then there’s the submission of the agency version vs. what actually aired or the it ran once in Des Moines on cable winners. Even the more marketing-driven awards aren’t perfect as how well you can tell a story plays heavily on whether or not you win. That’s the stuff that gets old.
Thanks for getting the dialog going….hope you are well.
June 25th, 2009at 3:10 pm(#)
http://giannottistudios.com/images/trophy2.jpg
June 26th, 2009at 12:08 pm(#)
hi ruth. i reckon quite a few of us would discover that what we thought was good wasn’t, and that we’d wasted a lot of money, and a lot of our own precious time. and then, there’d be a corresponding correction of people delighted to find out that they were not hacks after all.
effectiveness awards. oh yes, i have a few of those that were down to how well the submission was written. only trouble is, of course, i can’t tell which ones.
thanks for stopping by.
June 26th, 2009at 12:09 pm(#)
vinny, that is genius. well earned, too, i’m sure.
September 1st, 2009at 8:27 pm(#)
Just found this thread
First thing I noticed on fireman trophy–he’s got his foot on the bottom rung. If it was an ad trophy, he’s be clinging to it with both hands….
Dion Hughes-Speaking of recognition for your work, how does it feel knowing that 15 years later Fosters still can’t find anyone or anything to top your “how to Speak Australian” campaign.
Their only ’solution’ was to hire another Australian (again working for an American agency) to “manage” the re-execution of your idea.
I dunno, if the Commonwealth Bank can hire Goodby to do their ads (I think they are one of the best 3 agencies in the world and it’s still a dumb idea) why aren’t they tossing this biscuit to their pals at Droga 5?
Just sayin’
arb: