I have a proposition for you. For one year, let’s do away with award shows. Starting in January 2010, no agency anywhere in the world will enter anything. Not the One Show. Not D&AD. Not CommArts or even Cannes. Nobody wins. Nobody loses. Nobody enters.
Ridiculous? Maybe not. Think for a minute about what might happen. Would our creative product get worse without the accolades, or would it perhaps get better? Would our perceptions of good work change, having no affirmation from a glossy-paged annual? Would clients be less attracted to our agencies, or would they actually become more trusting? And, most importantly, would our creative spirits shrivel without the annual stroking of our egos?
I admit, I might sulk a little without my precious award shows, but I don’t believe I would try any less to do great work on the briefs that crossed my desk. And I believe that goes for most creatives. Good creatives want to do something great every chance they get, no matter if there is a gold star waiting at the other end.
Maybe it’s because I just got married and I’m feeling a bit more responsible, but most clients aren’t spending as much these days and very talented people I know are getting laid off. The millions of dollars we collectively pour into entry fees each year could keep a lot of talented creatives working. Surely, this would help raise the standard of our work more than a trip to the podium for a pat on the back that we paid money for in the first place.
In 2005, one of the top agencies in South Africa (Network BBDO) decided not to enter any shows after being named the most awarded agency in the country the year prior. What happened? People paid even closer attention to their work. Everyone wondered what good work for the sake of good work actually looked like. Their clients became less-suspect of their true creative intentions. Network BBDO prospered. They are still around today, doing some great award-winning work, I might add. They didn’t vanish from the face of our small advertising planet. No one died of a withered ego.
During our year without awards, if you really need a fix of recognition, I suggest putting your work on adsoftheworld.com or bestadsontv.com, or any one of the many others. They’re all free. Or better yet, just ask someone you respect to confirm if you’re still relevant or not. Call your mum as a last resort.
Imagine if we all went ahead with this idea and collectively took a year off from our self-congratulations. Better yet, what if we decided to donate 3% of the money that would have gone towards outputs, printouts, tapes, packaging, couriers and entrance fees towards a worthwhile cause. Greenpeace, perhaps. I’m willing to bet our efforts might win me a Titanium Lion in 2011.
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This is a fantastic idea. There's nothing wrong with striving to do better work, but the amount of emphasis placed on award shows is ridiculous. I don't know of any other industry where awards are given such importance. Most award shows are based as much on the strength of campaigning as the strength of the campaign. And in this economy, where talented people are losing their jobs left and right, is it justifiable for an agency to spend literally tens of thousands of dollars entering award shows?
ReplyDeleteIn the book "Cutting Edge Advertising, Indra Sinha said the following:
ReplyDelete"If you had a moratorium on awards for ten years and said that after those ten years there will be awards for the most new and original things that had emerged, then you might find that within those years all the new ways of expressing ourselves will just come out, because there would no longer be any compulsion to impress juries who are steeped in the old, conventional ways."
I agree. Problem is, it's like saying "Agencies shouldn't do spec work - even for pitches." Sounds great. As long as your competition does the same.
A few years ago Fallon decided not to enter the local Minneapolis show because they wanted to focus on the international stage. It bummed out a lot of the regional shops. Kind of like when the Rockets won the NBA Finals the two years Jordan was in retirement.
There's probably critical mass to make award shows anathema, especially in this economy. But who's going to take the first step?
An agency that can. I think it would have to be someone on top, who consistently cleans up come award show season. It's like if a men's basketball team boycotted March Madness. If Air Force did it, people would chuckle and go, "Okay." If UNC did it, people would take notice.
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