ThinkTV chief exec Kim Portrate on what it takes to win an effie, the toughest award in marketing
By Kim Portrate, chief executive, ThinkTV
Entries for Australian marketing’s very own Academy Awards are looming.
The Effies are the toughest marketing awards in town, but like getting an Oscar, and as any Effie winner will tell you, they are more than worth the effort you must put in it to win.
Scooping an Effie will catapult your career to fresh heights and provide third-party proof that your work, well… works.
Launched 50 years ago by the American Marketing Association and now running in 42 countries, the Effies are the pre-eminent gongs that recognise effective, impactful advertising.
But they are hard to enter, let alone win. So, to make things a tad less daunting, ThinkTV reviewed all of the entries by 2017’s finalists and winners and then sat behind the office calculator to work out what they had in common.
It’s the second year ThinkTV has sponsored the Effies and been given confidential access to the very secret pool of entries. We are committed to helping agencies and their clients understand what effective campaigns look like because we believe that effective, creative advertising, done well, grows brands and businesses like nothing else.
As with last year, we found that while there is no single formula that guarantees a win there are some key lessons to bear in mind as you set about putting your entry form together. There were a few noteworthy changes from 2016’s entries.
We’ve also added in some tasty extra bits from our own research and from leading overseas studies on effectiveness for you to digest in the handy infographics and key lessons below.
1. You don’t need big bucks to be effective
If you’re sitting looking at a limited budget, don’t despair, small share of spend does not necessarily impact effectiveness. Only 11% of entries had a budget of over $10 million, two thirds were less than $2.5 million and 45% were less than $1m.
2. Effective campaigns are open to all advertisers
The six Gold Effie winners in 2017 came from completely different categories to the Gold winners in 2016, so don’t worry if you don’t think your category is sexy for instance, it’s really not about that.
3. Focus, focus, focus
We found that 100% of finalists started with a clear outcome and tightly set objectives, and that shortlisted campaigns have fewer goals.
4. Keep it simple, silly
If you think it’s hard keeping consumers’ attention on your campaigns, imagine how much harder it is keeping the judges’ attention on the entries they judge.
5. Do your research
Simple strategies were supported with clear consumer or business insights that came directly from research, which means it was easy to see the data that drove the strategy, creative development and channel strategy. Interestingly, some 42% of finalists did both quantitative and qualitative research, which means they had a view or insight validated through empirical data. Worth bearing in mind.
6. Target EVERYONE
Successful campaigns had a stronger view on who their target audience was compared to the finalist pool, with the clear use of consumer insights almost universal. But, consistent with findings by the Godfathers of effectiveness Peter Field and Les Binet (look ’em up if you don’t know their stuff, seriously), many entries targeted both customers and non-customers.
7. Maximum reach is essential
As Binet & Field have shown, and as commonsense dictates, the most powerful creative in the world is rendered useless if no on sees it. And, ‘scuse the shameless plug but 72% of Effies finalists used TV, which as we all know is the ultimate reach machine, as a key part of their media mix.
8. Make ’em cry
We already know from 2016’s findings that emotional campaigns tend to have more impact and recent research commissioned by ThinkTV bears this out: according to the Benchmark Series ads that generate a strong emotion deliver more attention and a greater sales impact.
9. TV and online work better together
The 2017 Effies results bore out Binet & Field’s previous conclusions that TV gets more very large business effects than online video but that combined they get even more.
So, I hope that helps in some small way, or at least was a pleasant distraction while your procrastinate about actually doing your Effies entry.
If you need any more inspo, visit thinktv.com.au – there’s heaps more evidence-based research about advertising effectiveness.
Break a leg! And see you at the awards on August 30.