Batter up Buttercup

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:35
Written by Julie K. Battle

A slew of awards perch proudly on the reception desk in the AMPM foyer. Each day they greet me. A dozen times a day, they shine and glisten as I hustle past them from one end of the building to the other. Over the years, I have volleyed back and forth on the importance of awards. Beauty contests? Just for the client?

In a recent article in Adweek, Per Pedersen, Chairman of the Grey Global Creative Council says, “Awards are so much more than trophies. The world needs award-worthy ideas now more than ever… awards can offer more than a stage on the night of the gala, they can embrace the role of idea incubators and be a yearlong stage on which great ideas can stand proudly…”

While most of us in small agencies don’t often get the chance to produce campaigns that will garner national attention (and create substantial change), awards of any size remind us that if we swing for the fences, we may by golly, hit it out of the park.

For me personally, they represent the proverbial creative carrot. They, as Per puts it “are beacons for anyone who wants to challenge the boundaries of creative thinking.”

Having those beacons winking and blinking at me a dozen times a day motivates me to keep spitting in my glove and adjusting my cap.

What about you – do awards motivate you?