WHY I stopped entering advertising award shows in 2001. And why maybe, just maybe... you should think about stopping too.

The One Show, CA, Clios, D&AD, Cannes Lions, Addies, Andies, Effies, I’ve won them all.

But in 2001, I had them all melted down, burned or recycled. I even gave away a few.

My back story...

In 2001, I launched www.the1101experiment.org Sitting on more than a few national and international award panels, I saw firsthand the politics and bullshit of many judges and judging environments.

So we made a decision.

We all simply decided that we no longer cared what strangers (called judges) thought about our work. We decided that we cared what our friends, family, clients and each other thought about our work. And most of all, we cared (and will always care) fiercely about the people who were subjected to our ads – and what they think about our work.

But here in late, late 2020 award season there are two trends I want to warn you about: smugness and credit creep.

But first let’s look at the inevitable arguments (since I’m questioning what is likely the ultimate scared cow of ad agencies):

• “Creative people depend on them” Yeah, maybe but not like they used to. (See also: Credit Creep below) Agencies may or may not reward, promote or give raises for awards. If you’re a creative person (like Lee Clow, I hate calling creative people “creatives”) you might use awards for lobbying for an office or salary hike, or getting a better job at a better agency. So to you, I say, do great work always – and good luck to you with self-promoting, networking and advancing your career. I’m on your side.
• “Agencies depend on them” Maybe. Is your shop on one of those “Most Creative Agencies” lists? If so, good for you. Keep it up. If your brand is “award-winning agency” then you know what to do and I trust you know who will judge you in the future. If real, world-changing creative work is your brand, I’m on your side too. These are the agencies I consult with.
• “The best clients like them” Maybe. But be honest, never as much as your shop likes them. Most clients don’t hate awards. They increasingly like saying they’ve won awards, but never forget their job is to sell things. And history is full of Marketing Directors and CMOs who got fired for poor sales when the ads won awards. IMHO the “best clients” make something good for the world whole solve an important problem and deserve – and demand – the most amazing, beautiful, breakthrough work every day.
• “The public likes them” No we don’t.
• “It makes our industry look better” Really? Has the amount of award-winning work increased? Have the number of award shows and categories increased? (ahem.... do I need to tell you?) Do awards make clients trust and hire agencies more? (I’d love your take on that) and most of all, do awards make life, the world better? Yes, maybe three campaigns per year actually provoke deep social thought, public commentary and debate (you might call this “earned media”, right?) and ultimately sustain in the public consciousness and positively affect the growth and scale of the client beyond three months. So I don’t see this upward trend at all. Do you?
• “It improves the work of our industry” Well, yes and absolutely no. Award-winning work, if it makes the agency who did the work produce more such work for more clients, that’s great. But be honest, it rarely happens. Great work is most often a blip on the radar and legacy creative brands, well, there’s Nike and almost nobody else. I always say we have more messages, ads and interruptions today than ever. And it’s still a 99/1% world (at best) between crap and gold. So we have more crap in our minds than ever. My personal goal is to move that to 98%/2 asap.
• “It’s our business to produce award shows” Okay now I respect you. You need awards to stay in business. Good luck with that.

Now. The two warnings I have for you all.

Smugness. Posting “Congrats to the team!” and the list of plaques, statues and trophies might swell the breast of pride in the agency but see above as to whether it actually improves anything long-term. Yes, I’ve been there, sweating sleepless nights and weekends and felt the cathartic release of a winner’s bliss and joy, but doesn’t that feel a bit like a drug addiction, withdrawal and high? I understand winning is gratifying to an insecure artist, but how long does that last?

The smugness shows up when it doesn’t feel like a forward rallying cry to clients and staff to do even better. (GEINE anyone?) Of course, I only see what is publicized, so if agencies do actually have a heart-to-heart with clients after winning awards (hmm... then why not after losing?) about increasing this quality of work, well, then I hope it has a bigger, broader, deeper effect. But I just don’t see the tide changing. Please post or share any contrary evidence. I so want to believe.

Awards are not an end. But a beginning.

Credit (Title) Creep/Inflation:

A recent award-winning video had these credits in part:

• TWO Chief Creative Officers (who wins in a fight?)
• A Group Executive Creative Director (then what did she do?)
• TWO Executive Creative Directors (who wins in a fight?)
• TWO Creative Directors (who wins in a fight?)
• No Writer no Art Director... (the visuals and words just happened?)

...and over twenty more agency, production and client names attached to something one person could easily have come up with in a moment.

Today, the credits for one commercial are as long as a Hollywood film’s, likely to convey the entire agency staff who worked on the brand, layers and layers of redundant titles, as if massed, participatory community is more valuable (and economically justifiable) than individual brilliance. Culturally, more people than ever can now logically say they worked on something big. And anything that wins will be flogged on LinkedIn for two years in a row.

And Title Inflation is a well-known, silly trend of increasing meaninglessness. Soon, interns will be Global Creative Directors.

So.

Tell the truth. Why awards?

Why are you working as an agency creative professional?

Do you care about awards? Why?

Do you care as much about client scale, growth, sales and success?

Do you care as much about the public who has to be subjected to your work?

Do you care about the world and whether your work poisons or inspires?

So, enter award shows. But do it honestiy and wide awake.

?But most of all, this request, this challenge:

Make your work better, bigger and more beautiful.

Make your work the best thing the public has seen that day.

Make your work more successful for your clients.

Make this world better with your work.

And after all, you can do all that – without awards.

Remember: sparrows flock, eagles don’t.