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The Effies reward ideas that work. An important award, but one not always seen as the most creative. Our
goal was to make the Effies more relevant to top agencies. We came up with an idea that points out a key
difference between how the Effies and other award shows judge creative. Other shows tend to group by
film, print, outdoor, etc.—and for integrated campaigns, agencies find themselves “rounding out” campaigns
with the necessary tactics in order to qualify. Essentially, the Effie Awards focus on categories of like
business challenges and compare the way the agency solved the problem.
Many agencies have been in the position of forcing ideas to fit categories so they can qualify for awards, and
we also don’t like it when our creative ideas are bound by pre-existing media buys or a client’s supposition
about a solution. When you force ideas to fit into categories, you end up with work that just feels forced. And
this is where the corner turns on this campaign from a treatise on the best way to enter work into shows, into
a mockery of all the silly things agencies and advertisers do to round out a campaign and “make it viral.”
