The cream of creativity

The recent transformation of the Loeries into a three-day festival with awards for both below- and above-the-line advertising means that more agencies have the opportunity to showcase their creativity and innovation. This is crucial in a world that seems to embrace mediocrity more and more each day, as it gives us all the opportunity to recognise and celebrate creativity and creative individuals, and their fantastic contribution to our society.

The Loeries are important for agencies and, indeed, the industry as a whole in that they raise the benchmark of the general advertising work we all produce. Because of their aspirational and motivational value, these awards encourage us creatives to really push the boundaries of what is “fresh” and “new” – even “revolutionary”. In an agency situation like ours at Switch for example, this adds impetus and momentum to each stage of what we do; from conceptualising right the way through to production. Teams want to give each piece of work they create their all and, in so doing, get a shot at entering the Loeries.

The Loeries also increase a creative team's marketability. Winning one not only bolsters a team's confidence but makes them hot property in the market: they have proved themselves creatively in our very competitive industry and will usually be appropriately rewarded by their own agency when they get home – or get an offer from someone who will!

Industry showcase

With the Loeries acting as a showcase for the industry, they also provide the perfect opportunity for clients to not only window shop, but find an agency that will meet their specific needs. After all, the awards aren't just about “pretty pictures”, but rather celebrate “creativity with purpose”. All adverts – from pamphlets to TV campaigns – are attempts to provoke a response from consumers. Most of the Loerie entries are thus inspired by some sort of brief, whether formally requested by the client, or thought of as an innovative solution by the creative team themselves.

With the consumer market becoming increasingly competitive and flooded with products that look the same, clients are turning to our industry to not only define and differentiate their brands, but guarantee their lifespan. The Loeries draw attention to strategies that work: to pieces of advertising that have helped to build brands and brand awareness. Clients want their agencies to develop brand loyalty among consumers. They want something that will make a customer stop and at least look at their product in a supermarket aisle, for example. The Loeries celebrate ideas that do that.

The past year has been a memorable one for our industry, meaning a bumper awards ceremony this month. See you in the whirl of other above- and below-the-line advertising and advertisers, when we crown creativity the ultimate winner!