Not all awards are born equal
In this guest post Jonathan Kneebone argues the ad industry needs to focus on which awards really matter, and puts the case for D&AD.
There are simply too many award shows for one industry, business, call this thing we do for a living what you will.
There are four Grand Slams in the world of tennis amongst a year long calendar of competitions. Not forgetting the Davis Cup, of course. But tennis is a competitive sport. And that’s generally what these guys signed up for to sustain their Monte Carlo lifestyles.
You could spend your entire year competing to win advertising awards of course. Or indeed, judging them. But frankly, haven’t we got better things to do? I think there was a failed attempt a few years ago by some senior creative directors to agree to just enter a few, to limit the sheer expense of it all if nothing else.
People might rememeber that about ten years ago it was almost impossible to buy a bottle of wine – no matter how terrible – that wasn’t covered in those cheap gold, silver and bronze medal stickers. Of course, no one would ever admit that the silver medal on this bottle of wine meant that it came second in a competion between two terrible wines, but it didn’t take long for consumers to catch on.
That is excactly what’s happening in this industry. Clients can also see the diminishing value of an award. Its also a bad look for the industry in that it doesn’t look as “grown-up” as other industries that hold one award event a year…if at all.
Scamme is the dodgiest of the lot
Gread words JK. Agree 100%
I think the madness really got out of hand when the Gunn Report started being taken seriously.
And the people who are getting seriously rich out of this clusterf*&$ aren’t working in the creative departments.
Agree too JK.
Remember when winning a bronze at AWARD actually meant something?
Speaking of which, isn’t AWARD not-for-profit too? Should we be supporting our local industry over the French Riveria / based in London industry? Which also supports the next generation of talent who can’t afford to attend uni / private college?
“I remember Paul Arden telling us that if a truly original piece of work didn’t win an award then chances are the jury weren’t good enough.”
The best award I won in my life wasn’t the biggest, it was the one judged by people I truly respect and admire in the industry.
Thanks JK, a really insightful piece.
Agree entirely JK,
Except for perhaps the paragraph about an individual that’s borderline defamatory.
I recall a chat last year with a rather good creative from a notable agency. It went like this:
Me: How much has your agency spent on awards in the last year?
CD: Oh around 90K.
Me: How many awards did you win?
CD: Well we’ve just recently picked up 4.
Me: And how many of those 4 were legitimate submissions?
CD: Oh 2 of them were.
Whilst the industry needs to focus on which awards really matter. It also needs to submit work and results that really existed.