Ad agency snubs Perth awards as too parochial and “dominated by scam”
One of Perth’s largest advertising agencies has pulled out of its local awards show because its boss feels the event does not raise creative standards to national or international levels and is dominated by “scam”.
Steve Harris, MD of The Brand Agency, has withdrawn support from the Perth Advertising & Design Club awards telling Mumbrella “We want to set a higher benchmark for ourselves than being happy just with Perth awards.”
The Brand Agency boss Steve Harris
In an email sent to Mumbrella, Harris stated:
“None of our clients compete solely against WA businesses. They are all in a marketplace with national and global companies. We want to set a higher benchmark for ourselves than being happy just with Perth awards. This is part of a strategy to lift our aim and change our focus.”
“When you talk with client CEOs they aren’t even aware of the local awards and they don’t have any bearing on how they view and engage with their agency. They are interested in the results that theiragency can deliver, and the brand that their agency can build.”
“Creative awards have their place, if they are managed correctly. They help raise standards because they should be about best practice, and they challenge creative agencies to be more inventive to the benefit of their clients. I think we’ve found over the years that being one of the most awarded agencies in the market has helped us attract the best talent.”
“But we feel quite strongly that some awards have become too much about ego, and not enough about results. The world haschanged and the ad industry hasn’t. Agencies need to recalibrate their thinking.”
“The reality is that the local awards have become dominated by scam, and an agency can be very successful at awards shows if it undertakes a conscious strategy to win awards. This comes at a price, and the price is shifting your focus off what actually counts for your clients.”
“We’ve analysed the local awards and in most years of the past decade over half of all winners have been either from scam or not-for-profit clients. Given this it’s no wonder clients looking for a commercial outcome don’t give them much credence.”
“Unless and until that situation changes, we see no value for The Brand Agency in participating in the local awards. We will however continue to enter selected national and International awards because we think that will help us stretch to the standards we aspire to.”
“The number one client turn off in a new business pitch is an agency that stands up and talks about all the creativeawards it’s won.”
“As an agency we have a singular focus, and that is having a positive impact on the business of our clients.”
The PADC had not returned Mumbrella’s calls at the time of going to press.
Last year’s PADC awards – now in their 25th year – were dominated by 303Lowe and ‘Enjoy The Ride’ for The Office of Road Safety, one of the most awarded campaigns of 2011.
Last year, GPY&R Melbourne pulled out of the Melbourne Advertising and Design Club awards partly because the show did not count towards the agency’s Gunn Report ranking.
Involvement in local award shows is not just about the awards. It is a way to connect with and provide support for the local ad community.
Get on the committee if you’ve got an issue and stop trying to engineer publicity out of it.
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Wow an advertising agency taking the high moral ground….That’s a bit rich
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I think Steve has a good point. Against what criteria do you measure creativity? The best in your agency? The best in your town? The best in your country? Or the best in the world?
At a minimum you would need to say that national awards at least are able to recognise creativity in a cultural context, but do we really believe there is such a cultural divide between each of the states that the industry needs local state awards?
As a past president and life member of the MADC I am not saying that state based clubs are not required. As My Two Cents says, they provide connections and support for the local ad community, but an annual award show is not and should not be the only way they do this.
Better to have a truly valued and recognised national creative award program like AWARD.
Meh! Awards nights are just an excuse to.. a) get pi$$ed… B) find a new job/employee…. C) Mutual masturbation in front of your peers…. D) the opportunity to deceive your clients that even though your perfectly executed campaign didnt increase sales/recognition one iota, the “ad crowd” said it was brilliant.
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Ummm, i think we are missing the larger issue here: Who gives a shit? How is this news?
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i wonder how many times they entered the awards for no reward?
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Darren raises a good point, except that AWARD Awards isn’t a national show, and hasn’t been for years.
It encompasses Australia, New Zealand and Asia. So we don’t actually have a national show anymore.
Perhaps we should. Anyone see any value in AWARD being Asia/Pacific, when we already have so many regional (Spikes, Adfest) and international (Cannes, One Show, Clio, D&AD, NYFEST, etc) shows already?
And there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with award shows. Architects, winemakers, film makers, writers, artists, have them. Banks win awards for ‘home loan of the year’. Auto makers win ‘car of the year’.
Having the gold standard in your craft/profession out there for all to see is an important thing.
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Dear Darren & Others,
What I don’t get is are clients actually impressed by industry ad awards? You would know better than most from your privileged position, so please divulge.
Personally, I cant see the point of “best creative ad” type of awards, as these are normally ourselves judging ourselves. Can you imagine a group of lawyers celebrating “best use of font”, or a group of IT people celebrating “best documented backup procedures.” No one cares about the font – only that the lawyer’s contract gives the protections it was intended to. No one cares about the IT document – only that the backups happen properly and regularly.
Similarly, and surely, isn’t the best ad is the one that helps does what it was intended to do best – ie helps sell more product for the client?
We should stop kidding ourselves that we produce great work if it doesn’t move product.
Let’s just rename award nights “official piss-ups” and then we’re all clear.
KK
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The brand promise of the PADC is ‘Valuable Creativity’
We foster and promote the value of creative excellence in
advertising and design in WA. We run a tight ship and do just two things
very well.
Our first class provincial awards show and festival of ideas inspire,
showcase and reward local talent in the local context.
We celebrate agency performance and reinforce the serious
message of the value of creativity to all stakeholders. We
provide a platform for new talent to enter and progress in the
industry by providing ‘in the flesh’ exposure to ideas and
concrete challenges. We give creatives an objective local
litmus test before they proceed to the bigger stage.
We believe that great ideas plus great craft equals valuable
creativity.
There is a need to develop our industry so we can guarantee a continued supply of our critical raw meterial, talent.
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Secede then. You know you want to.
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