Evcom Screen Awards how to improve your chance of winning

www.everysense.co.uk

Angela Law, EVCOM Board Member Director, Every Sense

@Every_Sense [email protected]

© Every Sense Ltd

How to improve your chance of winning

an EVCOM Screen Award

mailto:[email protected]


About this presentation • This power point contains the

script of a presentation previously given to creative agencies entering the EVCOM Screen Awards

• It isn’t pretty and breaks all the rules for a slide show. But it does contain useful info on how to think about the EVCOM Screen Awards & maximise your investment & chances of winning

• It is intended for creative agencies though clients and in-house units may also find it helpful.


Busting some myths • ‘The same agencies always

win’- Not true. In my experience the judging process is totally fair and rigorous – judges invest huge amounts of time / attention. However some agencies do have a consistent track record of creativity and they invest in their entries – you can too! • ‘Big budget projects will

always win out over smaller budgets’

- Not true. The judges do not know the budget (except for the Laurus Award.) I have seen plenty of terrible projects for £100k and great ones for £15k!


A winning investment See your Award entries as a strategic marketing investment• In a very competitive sector

winning awards can be part of your differentiation

• Awards can help prove how you add value

• Awards give you reasons to communicate with clients / prospects

• Awards can raise your profile (company and individual)

• Winning awards creates a virtuous circle of quality, awards, high visibility, talent, more work etc


A winning investment Identify your potential award-winners early • In my agency we identified

potential award-winners at brief / concept stage to ensure they were completed to award-winning standard

• Identifying potential award-winners early also enables you to hard-wire evaluation into the project and set out with client to do best possible evaluation of effectiveness – proof of ROI is increasingly important in entries. (This will also help you win an Effectiveness Award.)


A winning investment Identify your potential award-winners early • Also enables you to gather

relevant material as the project progresses – this is especially important for Live Event Awards where relevant photos and video of the project in action is crucial


A winning investment Enter best work multiple times • If you have a cracking project

that is good enough to enter into a Category Award then it should be good enough to enter into Production Arts and Crafts Awards too. (Your competitors will do)

• Look carefully at the Category Awards – as some projects can legitimately enter more than one category

• If your project is good enough for the EVCOM Awards it is likely to be good enough for a number of other creative and industry awards


A winning investment Enter best work multiple times • If this sounds expensive then,

again, consider the cost of entry as a strategic marketing investment

• As a creative agency with a £1m turnover – you should have a marketing budget of 2%-5% of turnover – enough to give a significant number of entries if you have the right projects and if you make the most of the award wins


A winning investment Know the standard • Again, this is a strategic

marketing investment. I cannot emphasise this enough. You must have a good idea of the standard your entry will be up against. To do this:

• Watch previous winners on the EVCOM player

• Attend the awards and events• Look at competitor’s award-

winners • Volunteer to be a judge – a

superb learning experience all round (just email EVCOM – they are always looking for judges)


A winning investment Involve your clients• It is your responsibility to have

the client’s approval to enter projects

• Think carefully before entering commercially-sensitive material

• Winning awards is often good for clients (and their careers)

• Some clients will be willing to pay or share entry fees

• Involving your clients may make it easier to gather evaluation or relevant materials


A winning investment Make commercial sense of your award • No point in investing in entering

good-quality projects for Awards if you don’t have the time, resource and a plan to publicise your win

• EVCOM will alert you to the value of attending the actual Awards

• Have a plan ready to announce your nominations and wins asap (your competitors will)

• See the Every Sense Guide to Making Commercial Sense of Winning Creative Awards at http://www.everysense.co.uk/guides

http://www.everysense.co.uk/guides

http://www.everysense.co.uk/guides


A winning investment No ‘me too’ entries• Don’t copy other agencies’

previous award-winning ideas. Judges will spot derivative or tired ideas and be unimpressed

• Originality, creativity and effectiveness is key – for you, your client, your audience and awards


How to make the judges happy Consider the judges • Most first round judging is done

by individual judges alone in front of a laptop or tablet. They are judging as unpaid volunteers after a long day, or maybe at the weekend. Though they are dedicated they may have dozens of entries to look at. You owe it to your entry to make it a flawless, easy, process for the judges


How to make the judges happy Enter excellent, original,

interesting, effective work Prepare early and invest time

in gathering the relevant supporting materials – don’t emphasise items the judges cannot see or experience

Analyse your project as it now stands – it may have developed significantly since the original brief. Write about it as it was delivered


How to make the judges happy Don’t ask the intern / junior to

write your entry. Get your best writer / person who knows the project well to write it. Invest as much time in the entry as you would in getting a proposal or script right.

Make your entry clear, interesting and easy to grasp

Make sure your entry is of the right technical standard and to highest possible quality. EVCOM provides guidance on quality required. This may take some time so don’t leave it to the last minute


How to make the judges happy Suitable evaluation – is not

‘the client loved it.’ Demonstrating effectiveness and ROI is more and more important and feasible. (Though views or click thru’s alone may not be enough – what did the target audience do as a result and how can you prove it? What was the impact on the client’s business and how did that compare to target impact?)

Think about what to put on the entry form which has limited space and what to add as useful additional documents/ evidence


How to annoy the judges Hasty or ill-thought out entries - if you haven’t bothered no-one else will Typo’s, errors – as aboveTechnical glitches – if it doesn’t work it has zero credibility Incomprehensible jargon or acronyms Puff & adjectives – let the judges decide if it is ‘beautiful’ or ‘creative’


How to annoy the judges Name checks – be scrupulous in ensuring your entry is anonymous – name checks are counter productive Derivative work


[email protected] © Every Sense Ltd. All right reserved. No part of this presentation or its content may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means now known to be invented without prior written permission of the author, Angela Law.

Remember - you have to be in it to win it - good luck!

mailto:[email protected]


About Angela Law • Previously MD of production

company which won IVCA Grand Prix; IVCA Effectiveness Award (twice), numerous IVCA Gold Awards; New York Film Festival Grand Award (equivalent to Grand Prix) & many other creative & effectiveness awards

• Frequent awards contributed to agency being in top 5 of Televisual Peer poll for many years

• Chair and judge for over 20 years

• Guidance based on that experience, plus working every day with EVCOM members


About Every Sense • Every Sense is a specialist

business consultancy. We help creative companies grow, prosper and achieve their potential

• Work with many of Televisual Top 50 and EVCOM (previously IVCA and Eventia members) plus many other creative agencies

• Provide the EVCOM Member Support Service for Business Consultancy. EVCOM members receive an hour of complimentary consultancy and discounted rates – if we can help you in any way – just get in touch

Evcom Screen Awards how to improve your chance of winning

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