Brand awareness and award winning ideas can certainly be worth the investment
Any good creative director would push their clients to enter award shows, but is it worth the investment? Well, there’s no easy answer.
Great creative work can bring your business incredible ROI. More often than not, award-winning pieces build their brands exponentially by disrupting the norm in a positive way that draws the attention of the media.
Exceptional work that creates that kind of attention often becomes one of the most talked about brands of the year, creating brand awareness, reach and increasing brand love at a ridiculous rate because that’s the power of great ideas.
However, big ideas can miss the mark too and easily so.
Not knowing who your audience is could let your award-winning campaign down, no matter how cool the idea is. The South African market is unfortunately very conservative so there’s a fine line creatives should look out for. One way to try cover yourself is by making sure everything you do is smart and relevant.
Other things marketing directors should look out for:
– How original is the idea? Is it something your brand can capitalise on or has someone else done it before in other countries?
– How does it compare to previous Cannes winners and other creative work in its category?
– Will it make a meaningful difference?
– And everyone’s golden ticket – will it bring about behavioural change for good?
Another thing to consider when it comes to ‘proactive’ work is that not only will you be paying for the idea, you’ll be paying for the execution.
If it’s a grand-scale setup – is it aligned with your marketing objectives? If not rather put this idea on hold or ask your agency to create another campaign that aligns closely to where you want to position the brand.
So if the idea measures up against all the above-mentioned points and looks promising, allow your agency to feed their creative passions and go full steam ahead because your brand will benefit in the end.
KFC and Chicken Licken are quickly becoming SA’s brands to watch because of their proactive work from Ogilvy and Joe. Your brand could be too but don’t let your agency persuade you if it’s not worth the investment. Instead, guide them by asking them to create a proactive piece that will reach your objectives or sell one of your worst performing products.
Proactive work gets your agency ignited and passionate about your brand bringing about innovative and ground-breaking ideas that could readily transform your brand so, yes, award entry work can, most definitely, be worth the investment.