Most in advertising are familiar with the Effie’s. It’s a brand that stands above all others. Because it is an awards programs that assesses how well brands are built. How successfully marketing and advertising objectives are met. How effectively results are achieved.
Noral is proud to be a member of the N.Y. Chapter of the American Marketing Association in large part because of our tremendous respect for this brand and its leadership under Mary Lee Keane. This year I was pleased to be asked to participate in the final round of judging the submissions.
Here are just a few observations.
1) It’s no easy job being a judge. The overall impression was the incredible strength of each submission. Consider that anyone writing a case believes they have a strong story to tell and that those are then carefully culled, and then winnowed down, for a final round of judging the best of the best. There is so much to be gained in reading these cases. It’s also a pleasure to see just how smart marketing and advertising can be.
2) The recession has had an impact on all of us. And it was evident in every case. Though it’s not really fair to say every Strategic Challenge was the same, but there was definitely a unifying theme: everyone was jogging to stay in place, to hold on during the tough economic times of the past year.
3) Digital marketing is mandatory. And this year, the cases may have gone a step even further. It was almost as if every campaign felt that it “had” to have a digital component or else risk their “effectiveness.” Some managed to do so strategically; others, just tactically.
4) Integrated marketing has evolved. Last year at the awards dinner, I marveled at the video presentations and how much harder it had become to quickly convey what made the campaign so amazing. It’s become harder to capture the winning campaign’s most dramatic element, no longer the big-production TV commercial or the impressive print ads, necessarily. It’s just a little harder to show the impact of word-of-mouth or social media campaigns …. except when you look at the results.
5) It’s fun to hear other people talk. Don’t we all get bored with listening to ourselves talk sometimes? It’s a pleasure to interact with key people in the business and hear their reactions and thoughts. In fact, I wish I could bring a few to my office for an occasional opinion or two.
The gold standard, the cream of the crop, the cat’s meow, or the bee’s knees. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is that the Effies are effective: effective in stimulating dialogue, highlighting what works, and refining a definition of marketing and advertising effectiveness against which we can all strive.
