Posted by Sid Liebenson, EVP, Director of Marketing
On Tuesday, May 19, I participated in the first round of judging for the International ECHO Awards. As a member of the ECHO Board of Governors, I’m obligated to a day of judging, and I chose the first day – when you can see the good, the bad, and the ugly.
ECHO is among the top awards for direct and interactive marketing. Successful entries must demonstrate superior achievement in strategy, creative execution, and response. Beyond these criteria, the judges look for original, innovative ideas. And the judges are tough.
Still, there was a lot more good than bad and ugly. Overall, there were more positive reviews of entries than negative (which isn’t always the case). Perhaps the economy made agencies more selective about the work they submitted.
I judged the Product Manufacturing and Distribution category, dominated by packaged goods campaigns, so I got to see a lot of elaborate, well produced work. On my judging panel were two creative directors from Chile, one from San Francisco (by way of Spain), and one from Chicago. I was very surprised by some of their critical evaluations:
- A beautifully produced dimensional mailing, with a sound chip no less, was derided as being an example of creative overkill. The strategy wasn’t particularly original and the sales points could have been made just as effectively without spending so much money. (At that point, I wanted to check business cards to make sure these judges were actually Creatives!)
- If there wasn’t some kind of online engagement element, why not? The judges were looking for examples of comprehensive integration. Entries lost favor for not taking full advantage of interactive channels. And if there were interactive elements they were expected to be out of the ordinary, captivating, etc.
- Campaigns based on a clever gimmick raised suspicion. Judges wondered if they agency had come up with some cute creative idea and then went out and found a local company to do the work for – just to enter the work in award shows. In such cases, the results were tightly scrutinized.
Maybe the tough economy and the real world workday rigors of constantly having to do more with less made these judges look beyond the merely good and pretty to find what is exciting and special in a real marketing sense. Unfortunately, we did not find many “knockouts.” But the quality of discrimination exercised by the judges gives me hope that the ultimate award winners will be highly impressive. (Let’s hope some of them are from Draftfcb.)
I left my judging day with some interesting takeaways:
- Some really great ideas can be found in campaigns that are not likely to win an ECHO. For example, I saw a truly original out-of-home execution in a campaign with weak response elements and results that could have been driven by factors other than that particular campaign.
- Doing a tried-and-true strategy and execution very well can generate outstanding results for your client. But unless you put a new spin on it, you won’t win an ECHO award. Nevertheless, I’d still be proud to deliver that kind of hard-working campaign. Sometimes the obvious strategy – done well – is the most effective solution.
- Direct marketing is harder to define than ever. Measurable consumer activity is engrained in brand building campaigns that feature promotional offers that lead to ongoing consumer dialogue…and so on. And the more integrated, the more we like it – because, often, the most integrated campaigns are the most effective. (But you all know that.)
Final takeaway: awards judging can be tedious, but its worth the effort. You really get to see what’s out there and (for direct or promotional marketing awards) what’s working. And if you’re lucky, you can pick ups some valuable new ideas.