The Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association (AWARD) powered by The Communications Council, clocking a 40-year milestone this year, has announced a major revamp of its Awards program.
The 2020 AWARD Awards will have an expanded list of eligible categories and an overhauled format to align with other international awards programs such as D&AD and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Recognising the changing nature of advertising, AWARD Chair Cam Blackley says the revamp’s purpose is to make the Awards more relevant and progressive.
“We look at AWARD and it was set up 40 and a half years ago with a really strong base but at a time when advertising consisted of fewer creative mediums for marketers to use, fewer tools, so it was a bit more traditional,” Blackley says.
The changes will broaden the categories and open up opportunities for players outside of traditional advertising agencies like consultancies, media companies, in-house creatives and production houses to enter.
Former Head of AWARD School Karen Ferry says the program just simply added categories on but moving forward it will be more about approaches rather than disciplines.
“I think to try and silo everyone isn't going to work because what is happening is everyone is becoming much more holistic and fluid,” Ferry says.
“So, we wanted to create an awards show that reflects that, the way the industry is changing so much and it is going to continue changing in the future.”
The newly-structured categories include Health and Wellbeing, Media and in partnership with the Account Planning Group (APG) a Creative Strategy strand.
APG Chair Kate Smither was engaged by the AWARD Committee to help develop the APG Creative Strategy categories under the new ‘Planning’ section. This will be the first time the ad industry will be able to enter an APG-recognised award in Australia since 2016.
Infamous for its extensive awards categories and long award ceremony in the past, there are nine bucket categories in total for the 2020 AWARD Awards but Blackley says a number of sub-categories have been removed.
“There's more of what the industry wants and less of what it doesn't need any more in there,” Blackley says.
“Part of the thing about looking at the AWARD Awards itself is about bringing back that stature and that credibility and really making sure that people are focused and engaged and honouring the work that people have worked so hard to make throughout the year.”
Taking on a new format, the Award show for 2020 will be held as a sit-down dinner rather than an auditorium set up. More entertainment and networking and “less reading out of names”, the show is being branded to become “the night of nights” for the industry.
“It's more than just creative and production companies there. It becomes a night where CEOs want to bring CMOs to. So, we have clients there and we have people really looking at what the best work in the region is,” Blackley says.
“Quite often the best work in this region goes on to win the top awards globally so we should be very focused on the quality of the stuff that's coming out of this country.”
To further celebrate creativity in the region, the Awards program marks only one part of what is going to be a three-day festival of industry events including a retrospective 40th Anniversary Hall of Fame celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Judges from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK will join forces for three days of live judging prior to the Awards show to determine the winners. To shake up the process even further, winners won’t know until they are announced on the evening to build hype and suspense.
“In terms of the judging panel, as part of the way that we select them they will also be a fairer representation of judges from overseas, from New Zealand and also from across Australia,” Ferry says.
“[As well as] the way that we balance all the big network agencies with independents and making sure that it's very unbiased towards all our member agencies.”
The future of creativity
Education plays a huge part in the work AWARD does. For any budding adland creative, attending the renowned AWARD School is a dream come true, learning from and being mentored by top industry talent.
As the organisation continues to make its move into its 41st year, the breeding ground for Australia’s next advertising rockstars is also getting a refresh.
“We're going to try and bring a little bit of [new and improved] thinking across all the initiatives that AWARD does like education and industry support,” Ferry says.
Taking on industry feedback, the School is seeking to fill some skill gaps through its educational programs. A new Craft course is in the works with beta testing underway and it won’t just be targeting newcomers to the industry.
“That's really looking at young professionals in the business [and] sharpening up their skills in writing, art direction and all the things that we know the ECDs and CCOs have been looking for,” Blackley says.
“Craft seems to be probably one of the areas that there's a bit of lack of depth across the industry at the moment.”
The year ahead will be what Blackley calls a “test and learn” situation as AWARD gears up to continue improving its Awards program, School and other industry initiatives into 2021 and beyond.
“We're really focused on making sure that we're working for the creative community in building something that's relevant for them, that makes good sense for them, that has great stature and that they're very proud of,” Blackley says.
“This will be year one and it's a great refocus for AWARD. We're excited about the possibilities to stand us in good stead for the next 40 years.”
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