Creativity equals effectiveness

"The cry is always 'Show me the money'. My response is always 'Buy some creativity'. You as marketer want to break through the sales barrier; you need to bring down the wall of consumer indifference. You have to bust through the wallpaper of mediocrity. In today's media blur, the scarcest resource is the attention span of your consumer," Schalit says.

"Considering that the amount of media has increased by over 200% in the last 15 years and yet time spent consuming media has remained unchanged, marketing and sales needs artistry more than ever to break through the clutter.

"This is exactly why the onus on the judges at this year's Loeries is more important than ever in rewarding and inspiring agencies and their clients to create fresh ideas. Compelling content is the new deal breaker. Yebo, Messrs Marketer & Son, I'd go as far as to say, if your agency ain't winning at Loeries your agency ain't doing its job.

"And we're not talking about the 1% of scam, made-for-awards work that somehow manages to sneak through - this year's judges are going to be even more scrupulous in trying to sniff those out. We're saluting the 99% of winners that make creativity the most powerful weapon in any marketer's arsenal."

Schalit backed up his 'creativity = effectiveness' argument by comparing past Loerie winners to past Apex Effective winners.

"To gauge the effectiveness of creative advertising, look at last year's Apex Effectiveness Gold winners: Exclusive Books, Cell C, Standard Bank, Corsa Lite. They were all big Loerie winners too; not only did they take home Grand Prixs but General Motors was Advertiser of the Year. The previous year, that honour went to Exclusive Books.

"Another example is Metro FM, whose multi award-winning campaign not only put the ailing station's ad revenue back in the black (up a cool 70% over two years - Source: AdEx), it earned an Apex Gold for Effectiveness into the bargain."

He adds this is precisely why Loerie judges have to be open to new ideas, to rewarding new conventions: "We live in a democratic, wildly unstructured, joyously spontaneous, colourful, exuberant, revolutionary country. You can only afford to sell with imagination. Creative advertising was, is, and always will be, the most effective weapon in any marketer's arsenal.

"So I guess if you want the competition to go green and your client's bottom line to soar into the black, create the kind of advertising that compels a Loerie judge to hand out gold."

The deadline for entry submission is 12 August 2005. Because the entry process has been automated and brought online, those in charge of submitting their agency's entries can only do so at www.theloerieawards.co.za. All queries can be directed to .