Here we go again. It seems that every time the Army picks up a recruitment award, the knives come out (and knives are rubbish against an army).
On Wednesday we were at the CIPD awards in London. We had two nominations; the Audit Commission for best website and Gift Fundraising for best campaign. We were delighted to have been nominated and knew we were up against the Army in both categories. It was no surprise when the Army won.
Inevitably this has created something of a debate on RI5. The argument roughly being that the Army has a multi-milllion pound budget, so it’s not a level playing field. The agency that won is a commercial agency, not ‘one of our own’. Boo hoo.
But at least someone cares. I’m not sure if I do.
My overriding feeling from the night was that our ‘traditional’ awards ceremonies have had their day. An awards process that predominantly recognises ‘creativity’ is bound to be subjective, yet we increasingly work in a totally measurable industry. As well as the basic requirement to get the right bum on the right seat we’re increasingly able to measure improvements in attrition levels, brand engagement etc etc.
Yet the best supported category, by a country mile, was the ‘press ad’ category. Is this because (as some have suggested) ‘press is not dead’? Or is it because the criteria used to judge these awards has its roots in this form of advertising, despite attempts to change. ‘Press’ is therefore still the easiest category to enter.
Our supping on Wednesday night should have felt like a bumper toast to new and innovative recruitment advertising. As we surveyed the numerous press entries it felt instead like a forlorn toast to ‘absent friends’.
mikejefferies
mikeheal
