Agency Awards: Heroes or Zeros?
Advertising awards have historically served as the most tangible evidence of excellence for marketing agencies. Today, there are countless advertising award shows being held on local, national, and international stages, leaving client-side marketers to an endless internal debate around what these awards really mean.
Awards Celebrate and Incentivize Creativity
Marketing agencies are known for creativity, which can be difficult to measure in any meaningful way. In part, awards have emerged as a way to address the level of an agency’s creative capability to outsiders and an opportunity for agencies to get recognized for work that often gets attributed to the clients they serve. It’s a chance to recognize top talent in the industry!
Creaxion, our Public Relations/Cause-Related specialist marketing agency, recently won the "Boutique Agency of the Year" award.
Awards Give Credibility, Especially to Smaller Agencies
While some clients view advertising awards through a skeptical lens, it’s hard to deny an agency’s credibility when they have received external validation in a competitive review against other agency work.
Modo Modo Agency, AgencySparks’ creative marketing agency, regularly leverages awards as a means to establish credibility with potential clients.
Most Importantly, Awards Generate Visibility for Agencies
Standing out in the agency business is both a goal and a challenge. Marketing agencies typically devote the majority of their energy to their client work, leaving agency promotion on the back-burner. Marketing agency awards offer an easy route to publicly showcase agency work rather than only giving the brand credit.. Whether an agency wants to appeal to new clients, attract top talent, or entertain potential acquisitions or acquirers, the visibility that agency awards offer plays a crucial role in achieving business objectives.
The importance of agency awards is often debated, especially among client-side marketers. Great marketing work does not always win awards… and some award-winning work does not highlight results achieved for the client. Some believe that awards establish a much-needed standard in the marketing industry, while others view awards as an ego boost for agencies. There’s truth in both viewpoints. It is hard to imagine a more efficient route for agencies looking to celebrate their profession, obtain greater visibility in an overcrowded industry landscape, while gaining credibility for a specific competency.
Because many clients feel that awards differentiate a potential agency partner, they are an important part of the marketing mix. At Setup, we are very proud to work with top agencies that have won recognition from peers and industry organizations:
Social Media & Influencer Marketing - Everywhere Agency
PR and Cause-Related Marketing - Creaxion
Creative - Modo Modo Agency
Mobile Experience - Dragon Army
Paid Search/SEO/Analytics - Swarm Agency
UX & Web Design - LiquidHub
Interactive Media Awards winner - Best in Class
Setup connects client-side marketers to best-in-class, award-winning specialist marketing agencies. Contact us for introductions.