McCann Singapore’s 2012 Effies submissions proves effective with a jump in submissions

The Effies only award the most innovative, impactful campaigns so McCann Singapore threw down the gauntlet to Singapore’s creative industry this year with an integrated campaign that challenged marketers to prove that their work works.

The Effies are the only global awards show which sits at the intersection of creativity and effectiveness, rewarding the great ideas that achieve real results and the strategy that goes into creating them. The Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS) tasked the agency with creating a campaign which drove award submissions and also elevated the significance of advertising effectiveness throughout the industry.

Commenting on the campaign, Todd Waldron, Executive Creative Director, McCann Singapore said, “We set out to create a campaign which embodies the Effies core principles – that as an industry we hold creative to its highest standard, and demand the work delivers real results. If it doesn’t get results, it doesn’t get an Effie.”

The call for entries was announced in February with an attention-grabbing International Herald Tribune tip-on delivered to Singapore’s top marketers, complemented by a personalised eDM from the fictional ‘Campaign Today’.  The provocative pieces were individually tailored so that each recipient would see a report that personally accused them of being ‘not concerned with effectiveness’, creating buzz throughout the industry.

“We know Singapore cares about Effectiveness – when we alluded to the fact that Singapore’s marketers might not, I had to personally reassure many of them that we were just trying to get their attention,” said Ben Lightfoot, CEO McCann Worldgroup Singapore and the 2012 chairman.

The latest and final series of work in the campaign is a collection of three striking print ads emphasising the painstaking craft behind many of the finalists’ campaigns – over 82 hours of cutting, gluing and kerning went into the creation of the 3D lettering of ‘Type’ alone. However, the copy on each piece is a timely reminder that beautiful creative does not necessarily create a successful campaign.

“So often in our industry we focus on the creative – the passion, detail, and effort poured into bringing the great idea to life. But do we also remember what really matters the most to clients – did it sell the product? Setting and exceeding objectives through creativity must be intrinsic to every campaign,” Waldron continued.

Terry O’Connor, CEO, Courts Asia and president of IAS (Institute of Advertising Singapore) said, “We set out to elevate the Singapore Effies this year and are delighted with the results. The campaign led to a 17% increase in the number of entries compared to last year, and importantly, the judges noticed a continuing improvement in the standard of submissions.”

Credits – Executive Creative Director: Todd Waldron. Creative Director: Alfred Wee. Copywriter: Alex Tagaroulias. Art Directors: Hans Ibrahim, Hanne Eriksen.