Winning can change people's lives.
The Health of Creativity 2025, a new report based on Warc Rankings analysis, finds that as creativity increases, so does effectiveness: when ideas are highly awarded for creativity the conversion to effectiveness awards doubles, rising from 21% to 44%.
But every year, awards bring new anxiety.
Someone, somewhere, coined the term "Cannes-xiety". (That doesn't even take into account D&AD, The One Show, The Clios, The LIAs). Evaluation, deadlines, timelines, price increases, sign-offs.....
Here are some TOP TIPS to make it the whole process a little less stressful. Some big shows are open/ opening this week: D&AD, Cannes Lions - we're entering full awards season. Thank you to Wendi Smith (Effie judge and TTP collaborator) and Sara Cosgrove (awards queen) for insights and contributions.
TL/DR: have a strategy, have an insight, tell a good story, give it wider context (to enhance the story), use the right metrics wisely, avoid "so what?", read the small print.
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1. Be clear on what makes your work worthy for what award show - and why
Beautiful campaign with great results doesn’t guarantee it will do well. You need to demonstrate scale of creative idea and outsized results. AND enter it into the right show.
This is obviously a little simplistic, but Cannes Lions prizes the BIG, original, left-field creative idea, D&AD the craft and execution and Effies, the tangible impact as they relate to your original KPIs and benchmarks.
There are plenty of examples of brilliantly executed work that has over-achieved its objectives but it was not right for Cannes Lions - because the idea wasn’t big enough to move the industry forward or challenge conventional advertising thinking.
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2. Your entries live or die by the categories you enter
Spend good time identifying the categories - and subcategories - and look at previous winners for a reality check and benchmark.
Jurors quickly become forensic experts on the categories they’re judging. Category selection defines the judging lens that they layer.
Just because your work could be entered into a number of categories, should it be?
Think about where it most uniquely and specifically fits the criteria. If audio wasn’t the primary creative channel - and the campaign wasn’t designed to be audio-first, don’t enter it in to Audio categories.
If in any doubt, speak to the awards team for ideas and advice.
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3. Sublime storytelling is crucial to your case
You’ve got a world-class creative team, so this should be a breeze ;)
People love stories, not data.
Both your entry and case film need to tell the work’s story concisely and emotively.
Distill it down to its core essence: it needs a beginning (a compelling hook), a middle and an end. Kill the fluff: everything needs to in service the story.
SHOW, don’t tell.
Do I want to continue watching the case film after 30 seconds?
Am I using the data in a way that enhances the story?
Am I ruthlessly discarding surplus information?
If the answer is no, keep working on it.
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4. Is your insight really an insight? Make it one.
An insight is not an observation: “Over 40s stopped buying chocolate bars”
An insight is not a generic, over-used cliche: “Gen Zs value authenticity”
An insight is not a data point: “23% of women over 45 are stressed and anxious”
An insight goes deeper. It’s a universal human truth - it sits underneath the human observation. It’s the why behind the what.
Example: Snickers’ legendary “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign’s insight was that hunger can lead to irritability, poor judgment, and generally "out-of-character" behavior. Versus the observation that people reach for Snickers at 3pm when they get a sugar craving.
A strong insight goes a very long way.
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5. Make your metrics count (not all metrics are considered equal)
You need to substantiate your results to show growth. It’s surprising how many campaigns we review don’t have substantial and meaningful metrics attached to them. Metrics also need to tell a story.
For example, if the business challenge was that the category leader dominated the market and had 4x the marketing budget, it’s impressive to say  "outsold the category leader for the first time ever by X%”
Judges prefer sales metrics. Impressions are often vanity metrics.
.Or fit the original KPI of the campaign (i.e. signups to a platform, commitment to a social cause where it’s not commercial). Use a combination of hard and soft. Awareness is good, behavioral change/ commitments are better. Sales (or equivalent) the best. Also, context is important: why are the results so good?  (see above)
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6. Clearly lay out the problem (not the same as the goal)
Set the stage and create tension. Judges might not know your industry. Outline the business context, like economic pressures, competitive threats and behavioral shifts. This raises the stakes and shows how hard the challenge is, and makes the results more impressive.
The challenge is not the brief summarised or the campaign goal.
Example:  It’s the gnarly business problem, I.e. “BrandX was struggling with 2 years of declining sales and a glut of new competitors” and NOT “we had to launch a product extension for millennials in seven US states”.
Example: New entrant in the crowded craft beer category needed to build loyalty from scratch, despite Gen Z consuming approx 20% less alcohol.
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7. Context / benchmarks give your entry colour
Statistics in isolation can be confusing. People don’t know your industry. Statistics always need to bolster the story.
Example 1: “Sales  of our cold and flu tablets went up 12% year on year” sounds GOOD, but versus what?
What is usual for the brand? If it’s been 12% increase yoy that’s less impressive. It’s always good to put in previous benchmarks
Say:
“Sales of our cold and flu tablets went up 12% 24-25, versus 0.9% 23-24. The category growth average is 2% year on year, so we surpassed both our own and the category growth levels:
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8. Tailor the write up, case studies and presentation boards to fit the category Â
A cut and paste job is NEVER going to cut it. Each write-up requires a unique entry form and even case film.
If you’re applying for an industry category (i.e. auto) then you’ll probably want to tell a slightly different story than if you’re putting it in for film.
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9. Get a ruthless second opinion
It’s easy to fall in love with every piece of work you produce. But sometimes you need to kill your darlings.
Get someone else (not in the agency) to read your write-up and case study film.
Did they find it enertaining?
Did it move them?
Did they follow the story to end?
Are they thinking “so what”?
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10. Finally - have a clear strategy, budget & timeline
You’d be amazed at how many people don’t have an awards strategy and panic.
- Evaluate your best work.
- Work out your budget.
- Map it to the awards timelines (be prepared for pesky price increases).
- Create a clear timeline and what you need by when. Award entries often straddle multiple teams (strategy, creative, production, creative effectiveness, admin) and you need a clear timepath and owners for each stage.
- Make sure you buffer time for review
- Make sure you read the small print as to what is required by when.
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🍀 GOOD LUCK
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