When award-winners turn into losers

by Marc Nohr, Marketing Direct 01-Nov-08

It is rarely a good idea to send emails written in anger.

Just as it's a bad move to answer your loved one's "does my bum look big in this?" in the affirmative.

Equally there are some things you should never commit to print. I have often felt moved to muse on the topic of clients and their peccadilloes. Or to lift the lid on some of the practices I have observed in agencies and consultancies. But I don't. Phrases like "biting the hand that feeds" and "crapping on your own doorstep" come to mind.

There is one other topic I have avoided talking about, until now. And that is, why do awards sometimes mean the kiss of death to a client-agency relationship?

I vividly recall attending the presentation of an award winning case history many years ago, delivered by a client and their agency. I remember coveting the account and dismissing the thought instantly, on the basis that such a happy and successful client would never be tempted to stray from their agency. Until, that is, I got a phone call from that client a week later inviting us to pitch.

Once we had started working with that client I picked my moment and asked them how it was they came to be standing on a platform proudly showing off their recent award-winning work only to then call a pitch. "It looked great, didn't it?" smiled the client. "But it didn't really work" he added.

Years later I met another brand I'd long admired, also with a proud tradition of winning awards. Again, I asked about the award-winning work the agency had produced. "Oh those campaigns," responded the client. "They were created for awards schemes. We had a budget for one awards-busting campaign every year which we sent to a hand-picked group of our best customers."

There's no avoiding the collusion that will sometimes take place between a client and an agency that set out to win an award. And without calling in a firm of auditors, you have to assume the results included on an awards entry form are true. But as a firm advocate - entrant and judge - of industry awards schemes I think we need to remember two things. Firstly that although awards are fantastic to win, they are not the only measure of a successful client-agency relationship.

And secondly that there may be a distinction between beautiful creative work and effective creative work. Ideally we're after both.

But as judges and conveners of awards schemes, we need to continue to work hard to recognise the difference.