What you need to know about the new direct marketing guidance note
Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
The cream of creativity
Winning a Loerie: the dream of any agency. Or is it? What do the Loeries really mean for an agency? I believe that they are still as relevant and respected in the industry as they have ever been.
The recent transformation of the Loeries into a three-day festival with awards for both below- and above-the-line advertising means that more agencies have the opportunity to showcase their creativity and innovation. This is crucial in a world that seems to embrace mediocrity more and more each day, as it gives us all the opportunity to recognise and celebrate creativity and creative individuals, and their fantastic contribution to our society.
The Loeries are important for agencies and, indeed, the industry as a whole in that they raise the benchmark of the general advertising work we all produce. Because of their aspirational and motivational value, these awards encourage us creatives to really push the boundaries of what is “fresh” and “new” – even “revolutionary”. In an agency situation like ours at Switch for example, this adds impetus and momentum to each stage of what we do; from conceptualising right the way through to production. Teams want to give each piece of work they create their all and, in so doing, get a shot at entering the Loeries.
The Loeries also increase a creative team's marketability. Winning one not only bolsters a team's confidence but makes them hot property in the market: they have proved themselves creatively in our very competitive industry and will usually be appropriately rewarded by their own agency when they get home – or get an offer from someone who will!
Industry showcase
With the Loeries acting as a showcase for the industry, they also provide the perfect opportunity for clients to not only window shop, but find an agency that will meet their specific needs. After all, the awards aren't just about “pretty pictures”, but rather celebrate “creativity with purpose”. All adverts – from pamphlets to TV campaigns – are attempts to provoke a response from consumers. Most of the Loerie entries are thus inspired by some sort of brief, whether formally requested by the client, or thought of as an innovative solution by the creative team themselves.
With the consumer market becoming increasingly competitive and flooded with products that look the same, clients are turning to our industry to not only define and differentiate their brands, but guarantee their lifespan. The Loeries draw attention to strategies that work: to pieces of advertising that have helped to build brands and brand awareness. Clients want their agencies to develop brand loyalty among consumers. They want something that will make a customer stop and at least look at their product in a supermarket aisle, for example. The Loeries celebrate ideas that do that.
The past year has been a memorable one for our industry, meaning a bumper awards ceremony this month. See you in the whirl of other above- and below-the-line advertising and advertisers, when we crown creativity the ultimate winner!
About George Rautenbach
In 1994 George Rautenbach completed a three-year graphic design course at the then Pretoria Technicon. In '95 he joined ProCam, Ogilvy's promotional and direct shop. In '96 he and some friends started The Canned Chilli Company, which only lasted for a moment before it became the core for TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris's Tequila, where he spent 10 long years cutting his teeth on design, promotion, direct and advertising projects. George has won numerous awards both locally and internationally, including Gold Loeries, best of show at London International, D&AD, Cannes Young Creative winner 2001 and... many other things that he can't remember right now. In October 2005 he partnered with the Switch Group to start up Switch Through-the-Line (www.switchdesign.com), where he is creative director. And right now he's writing this CV in the third person. He feels silly.
