Lest I be chastised by the been-there-won-that creative gentry, let me submit right at the start that I believe awards have a very important place in any creative industry. In the case of advertising, I believe awards are necessary to inspire not just the creative fraternity but also the clients who engage them and the media that amplifies those ideas and elevates the quality and stature of advertising. When someone sends me a 20th-anniversary issue of a magazine that carries a story headlined ‘Roar India, Roar’ that I wrote many moons ago, I am reassured that this has always been my stance. That said, it makes me ponder. What is the role of awards and recognition for Indian advertising today, and what was it 20 years ago?
I would certainly like to dwell some other time on the gaming of effectiveness awards across markets. But for now, in the aftermath of Goafest and Cannes Lions, let’s stay with creative awards.
In a nutshell, festivals like the Cannes Lions have served the purpose of demonstrating the power of creativity. And how! Among the campaigns that win is work that moved consumers before it wowed the jury. And then there is always work that you see on ad portals and thereafter among shortlists and winners.
At the Kyoorius Awards earlier this year, I asked several adlanders about the two big awards that we have in India. While endless award shows mean agencies must pick and choose what they enter, hence bringing down the level of competitiveness, is there merit in having two shows? If there can be a D&AD and Cannes Lions, an AdFest and Spikes in APAC, why not a Goafest and Kyoorius? If one were to look at what wins at both, as is the case with other regional advertising awards within India as well, there is work that has been crafted for awards. It is no secret and it is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. For, in raising the creative bar even for the sake of awards, one is evangelising brave thinking and taking the craft to the next level. We are following the global awards in a sense.
It’s okay to have begun there, but that seems to have become the mainstay, being the low-hanging fruit. Make no mistake: from Ericsson to Cadbury more recently, and from Nike to Kan Kajura Teshan and Ariel among many others in between, several astounding pieces of hardworking mainstream work from India have indeed wowed global juries. One needs to feel no less proud of a smart idea rooted in spectacular art direction that aced it across categories. But if that is what got one on the global or national stage, one ought to aspire for higher. In doing so, agencies and marketers will actually elevate mainstream advertising. They need game-changing ideas for brands, not just hacks to game award shows.
Some of the young crop are now confused. They stand inspired by the 2024 Cannes Grand Prix-winning Coca Cola work in Print and Publishing. On the other hand, they are also privy to the criticism that it is nothing but greenwashing. That perspective is being voiced not just by environmentalists but also peers in the marketing and agency universe. The jury chair, DDB Colombia’s John Raúl Forero, has said that it met the jurors’ requirements with respect to the category. It was indeed a great idea, spectacularly executed, and refreshing in the context of the challenging category. But the young crop must aspire for more.
Greenwashing is not the issue in the context of this column. Social impact causes that align with brand are the need of the hour, offering brands meaningful avenues to demonstrate brand purpose. But there must be cognisance in today’s world that genuine purpose-driven work will tower over purpose-tailored for categories and awards.
I would go as far as to contest that the number and nature of categories in creative award shows can come in the way of game-changing ideas, necessitating a tailored approach instead to crack the award rather than chase the big idea. Categories defined by medium are needed to further craft and innovation, but are we solving for the medium or the brand? They are also needed to rake in entries and make awards feasible. That’s why we see the same campaign entered in a dozen categories.
Yes, the smart posters, OOH, audio / radio spots that take creativity in a medium to the next level must be cheered in isolation. But the greater gratification should be reserved for real work that also impressed juries. And if it is rooted in purpose, it must demonstrate the sincerity of intent.
The more awards encourage entrants by rewarding them for wins for the one-offs and tacticals, the further they stray from their reason for existence. Strategy has to be the core of celebrated creativity and authenticity has to reign supreme. This has to manifest in some form at national awards and at the grassroots, at awards run by regional advertising clubs. All Gold Lions should not carry the same value when it comes to recognition, promotion or hiring, both at the client and agency end.
There are markets in the world that I will not name, where more-of-the-same-awards-game has resulted in everyday work becoming safe and mundane. Thankfully, India is not in that zone. The work that works wonders in this market far outweighs the recognition our work gets on the global stage. Perhaps it is time for Indian award shows and employers to recognise this, rather than ape the global creativity awards template.
Yes, creativity must be celebrated even if it is for creativity’s sake. But that cannot equal creativity whose purpose is to move the needle for the brand on stated objectives.
As this Cannes 2024 Grand Prix winner in Data Lions from MasterCard showed in the context of Ukraine and Poland, growing together, not apart, is priceless.
The lesson from Heinz’s Ketchup Fraud meantime, might well be that we can pretend to have won a Lion for real work, but like consumers who could tell the real Heinz from other ketchups, the real work will stand up to be counted.
The single biggest purpose of a creative award should be to inspire. For that inspiration to be real, the purpose of the advertising has to be real – be it to sell more of a brand or to get warring guerillas to drop their weapons. If the sincere intent is to make an impact like this Lowe Bogota work, that is its greatest reward.
(The author is an independent marketing and content consultant. Views are personal.)
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