The Jury’s out on awards judging.
*Warning this blog may be of no interest unless you are an advertising creative. And even then…. Proceed at your own risk*
Criticizing the judging at Ad awards is a delicate subject. If you haven’t won anything, complaining about the standard of judging is called sour grapes, and if you just have, you are usually too delighted and too inebriated to care. So before I can be accused of either (hic!), now is the perfect time to say this. –I think we’re doing it all wrong.
Every year at ICAD and at the Sharks (the two main Irish creative ad awards of the year), chosen creatives huddle in darkened rooms to discuss the work in front of them and decide if it matches and unwritten standard, to see if it’s “Worthy”. Unlike the choosing of a Pontiff, there is no white smoke (unless you count the fag breaks) but to the outside world the system must seem as corrupt. After tortuous hours the blinking few emerge with the list of ads for exhibition, nomination or award.
It isn’t the selection of the juries that I object to. Jonny, Anne and I have all served on them and unless they are blind to her rapid ascent, Bairbre must soon follow. It’s the misguided notion of an unwritten “Objective” standard designed to maintain the level of ads that win Gold, Silver or Bronze awards.
Firstly, the jury is different every year, so how is that “standard” consistently passed down? A quick san back through the award annuals shows that it isn’t. Ads that won, 10 or even 5 years ago would be laughed out of a judging room today. And rightly so, our industry is evolving at a rapid rate. Surely the standard of our work should to.
Secondly, the awards are designed to inspire creatives, to make them go back to that blank sheet of paper for the 15th time to see if there’s any magic left to be squeezed from the parchment. To see no award being given out in Print, Posters, TV, Radio or Digital because nothing met an unknown standard is farcical and dispiriting.
Finally, in order for the standard to be “Objective” surely it should maintain itself? Few would argue that there isn’t an Olympic Standard, yet if Usain Bolt comes home first in the 100 metres, but “only” manages a 9.8second time-should we be awarding him a silver because he didn’t match the standard set 4 years ago? Of course not, which is why awards judging has to change.
Let’s simplify the system, give the best poster gold, the second best silver and the third best bronze, making the judging easier and fairer, the competition fiercer and the industry try harder.
Unless of course I win this year, in which case you can leave it just the way it is.
Rory
