DMMA provides industry with top tips on how to win a creative award

Jarred Cinman, director and chair of the DMMA steering committee, welcomed delegates before the workshop kicked off with Koenderman's presentation, "Awards Frenzy and the Common Man." Other presentation topics included: "How to package your work and engage the judges (Frank Luckin, Ogilvy), and "The difference between gold, silver and bronze - and what constitutes award-winning work" (Festus Masekwameng, MotherRussia Communications).

Human, CEO of the Loeries, explained to delegates what the Loeries judges looked for in an award entry and the criteria according to which entries are judged. This consisted of five key factors: innovation, execution, relevance to the brand, relevance to the audience, and relevance to the medium. He also provided some interesting statistics pertaining to the brand's bottom line: 84% of creatively awarded campaigns produce a tangible business result and are 11% more effective at generating a market share than non-creatively awarded campaigns.

Top tips to producing an award-winning entry provided by the speakers Andrew Human (Loeries), Graham Warsop (Jupiter Drawing Room), Tony Koenderman (AdReview), Rob McLennan (King James ll), Festus Masekwameng (MotherRussia Communications), Fran Luckin (Ogilvy) and Conn Bertish (Quirk), who presented at the workshop:

1. Don't try to win an award
   
2. Remember what got you into advertising and try to do those things in your work
   
3. All the greatest awarded work has an impact on the brand or changes society in some way
   
4. Awarded work is a perfect combination of the right idea, the right brand, impeccable craft and the right people involved
   
5. Great campaigns that are irrefutably great get consistently recognised
   
6. When using stats, put them into context and make them meaningful and relevant
   
7. Simplicity wins
   
8. A really charming entry video can elevate your idea, provided it's a good idea to begin with
   
9. Tell the truth about what you did
   
10. Study the categories and understand what wins
    
11. "Winning with a conscience is far more important" -Warsop
    
12. It will be painfully obvious to judges if you don't have a great idea
    

The workshop was deemed a great success by all who attended and a "How to Take Home a Trophy" seminar is on the cards for Cape Town in the near future.

"A key objective of the DMMA in 2013 is to host educational seminars and workshops that will benefit members and assist in the growth and development of the industry, as a whole. We intend to hold many events of this calibre going forward," concludes Cinman.