How’s that for a clickbait title?
Do you think I qualify for a job at the Daily Mail yet?
What about US Weekly?
Anyway, the reason for that header is because I recently read a great post about why adlands obsession with adland awards could be contributing to the demise of adland as a whole.
And yes, I think that is some sort of record for saying adland in a single sentence.
Now please don’t get me wrong, I think it is vitally important to celebrate what we do – especially in these days where business questions our validity and importance – however being myopically focused on winning awards that either [1] only appeal to the ad industry or [2] have questionable validity to the wider world of business … doesn’t seem that clever.
[As a case in point, if you claim your work achieved game-changing results but the client then didn’t adopt that strategy – or increase their marketing investment with you – the following year, then it’s fair to assume the validity of your claims may well be called into question ]
Anyway, have a read what Aussie ad legend Ted Horton has to say and you’ll also find out why The Great British Bakeoff presenters may as well be the judges at next years Cannes awards.
24 Comments
Looking at the photo, I know which 1 of the presenters you’d be.
Comment by Billy Whizz July 21, 2015 @ 6:27 amYou don’t watch it do you Billy, because if you did, you’d know Rob was one of the 2 (probably both) annoying and unfunny female comedians that are also on the show and not in that photo.
Comment by DH July 21, 2015 @ 6:32 amJudging by Mary’s comment below, you don’t watch it either. At least not properly.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2015 @ 7:51 amDo you like this Ted bloke because you look exactly like him? I know you’re not the same person because you could never say the sensible stuff he is saying.
Comment by DH July 21, 2015 @ 6:33 amAwards enhance my bonus.
Comment by Sam the strategist. July 21, 2015 @ 6:35 am2 things struck me in this post. fucking amazed horton is still alive because he must be older than jesus by now. why the fuck has no tv station seen the potential in a dutch hash brownie bake off competition. thats now my idea and bids will be accepted in brown envelopes.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2015 @ 6:53 amI would watch that.
Comment by Billy Whizz July 21, 2015 @ 7:05 amYou are the new Cowell.
Comment by John July 21, 2015 @ 7:07 amAmerica’s got wasted.
Comment by John July 21, 2015 @ 7:08 amthey call campbell cowell and im better than that fuck. call me the new simon fucking fuller. now where the fuck are these brown envelopes?
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2015 @ 7:29 amEmmy gold.
Comment by DH July 21, 2015 @ 7:11 amThat is actually quite good. I had a DVD of reality shows being tested and this is way better than 90% of those … but then when one is ‘I Want To Be A Pornstar’ and the other features people with terminal illnesses getting their own back on people they don’t like, it’s not hard.
Actually, now I come to think of it, your idea is better than 60% of the shows on the reality TV test shows.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2015 @ 7:54 amAnyone who has watched the GBB would know they do show how the contestants make the cake and they award points for the quality and taste, not just the decoration.
Comment by Mary Bryant July 21, 2015 @ 7:36 amYou can challenge how your industry is behaving but don’t knock GBB. Shame on you Robert.
Mary wins.
Comment by DH July 21, 2015 @ 7:39 amAlways.
Comment by George July 21, 2015 @ 7:43 amAs Dave said, you win Mary. I hope Ted apologises to you. Ha.
Comment by Rob July 21, 2015 @ 7:55 amWell said Mary. Shame on you indeed, Robert.
Comment by Lee Hill July 21, 2015 @ 8:01 amyour husband needs a fucking kicking for that subtle swipe at your intellectual fucking massiveness. fortunately i know you will. make it hurt.
Comment by andy@cynic July 21, 2015 @ 8:13 amGreat to know you have my back.
Comment by George July 21, 2015 @ 9:29 amNo wonder Ted’s stopped entering awards.
These days he’s annoying the shit out of Australia with Coles supermarket ads that feature the (equally aged) members of Status Quo endlessly singing “Down, down, prices are down”.
Then again, he’s probably a lot richer than I am because of it.
But it’s a far cry from when I worked with him and the great Chris Dewey twenty years ago. We did some lovely stuff.
Comment by Ian Gee July 21, 2015 @ 9:34 amWere you annoyed he stopped entering awards 24 years ago and thus prevented the lovely stuff from being acknowledged with baubles? Or did you circumvent the ban?
Comment by John July 21, 2015 @ 5:01 pmMelbourne Art Directors Club Awards 1989 for Holden. Not exactly Cannes, but it was gratifying to win Best Campaign with a car client.
Comment by Ian Gee July 22, 2015 @ 9:58 amAmen, took me 3 small years of experience in advertising to realize how much there is politics and fuss all around awards. It makes agencies lose their seriousness. Nobody than just people in advertising care about these awards, efforts should be invested in the quality of work, keeping the clients happy or getting new partnerships.
Comment by Thuymi @ AdventureFaktory.com July 21, 2015 @ 3:10 pmI’ve just had cake for breakfast. I blame this post.
PS) It looked better than it tasted. Similar to watching a case study video and then seeing the actual campaign.
Comment by Pete July 21, 2015 @ 10:00 pm