Last year Cayenne did not participate in the ADDYs. The event slipped up on us (it falls right on the jingly heels of the holidays), and we simply didn’t have the bandwidth to get a submission ready. This year, we joined the fray. We started back in December. And it took our entire pepper village. But, we’re in it.
For you initiates out there, The ADDYs, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), are ostensibly a celebration of the combined output of the advertising community in any given metropolitan area. The events are also fundraisers for local chapters of the AAF. These events take place all over the country. Some are better than others. In the days of yore, ADDYs were a much bigger thing than they are nowadays. The business community paid closer attention. The event was a formal, festive affair. The judges were important figures in the ad business. And winning an ADDY was quite an accomplishment. Over the years, the shine has been knocked off the ADDYs.
But, while the significance of the ADDYs might have waned, the effort required to make the event happen has not. Producing the event requires more than a village… it requires an army. (Ask any of my colleagues who’ve done it in the past and they’ll tell you it’s mind-boggling.) The effort required for an agency to enter them properly is also substantial if not overwhelming, (especially for an industry that tends to be run by ADD people. There’s tons of detail involved… labeling pieces, entry numbers, specifications, and so forth. The effort must be organized and efficient. The account staff dreads them. I wish Cayenne were lucky enough to have one person we could devote to preparing our submission, because really that’s what it takes. But, we don’t. Which is why it takes our whole village.
Last year, about this time, I wrote a blog entry that posited the question: “What is the business case for the ADDYs?” [See To ADDY or Not to ADDY: Relevance & the Business Case, 1.17.11 ] We are a business after all. And the ADDYs represents a fairly substantial investment for a shop our size. We could, for example spend the money we spend on the ADDYs and the value of the productivity we lose in preparing the submission, on new computers. Three or four really good ones. Or we could take the entire agency to Florida for a weekend. So, what is the business case? Does it impact our reputation beyond our community of competitors? Are our clients aware of the ADDYs? Does it help us with productivity? This question still stands. And I put it out there to largger community of business people (ad folks and others).
Last year’s blog entry (rant, to be more precise) made for some interesting dialogue in the comment stream that ensued. I ended one of my comments with the following:
1. How can we make our Ad Club more relevant to agencies?
2. How can the ADDY’s (the largest celebration of work the Ad Club undertakes) be more relevant to agencies? Our Ad Club is struggling financially. I believe if it were more relevant to the companies that create advertising, it would not have to struggle. Can that change?
3. Lastly – I, for one, would like to petition the American Advertising Federation for a winnowing of categories. Personally, I don’t think they represent what’s going on in advertising these days. Having so many of them makes for a ceremony that often compares in excitement with eating a thousand pounds of grits at one seating.
Dan my lil agency is in the same boat – we wrestle every year about the local AWARD SHOW and what resources is it going to suck away from us to do it. I love patting ourselves on our backs. BUT does it really make us a stronger agency – or is it a very expensive party? As usual you have filtered down the issue into a rational and compelling discussion. Kudos!!
Hair? I pulled my hair out long ago. It’s the long days followed by sleepless nights that are beginning to wear on me. But despite “the economy” entries are up and almost everybody decided to get in the game this year. Getting the ADDYS to this point has been a lot of work for a lot of people. But judging is complete and it’s gonna be a good year to attend the wingding. You better be there.
Planning on it! Props to all your hard work, David. Seriously. Who were the judges, by the way?
The Addy awards this year will come with the business case for themselves. On a thumb drive I believe.
After last night’s impressive showing by Cayenne I decided to check out your site this morning. Fantastic work by you guys!
I hadn’t read this blog post before but it is an interesting perspective to read this AFTER last night.
Paul, I think I found your thumb drive in the restroom if you still want it.
Thanks for the kind words, Alan. Last night was a great celebration for the Cayenne crew. I’m still interested in thinking through the business case for the ADDYs. As a small shop, we watch our pennies. So, you want to make sure any significant investment you make pays off. Our rationalization this year was that the business benefits are:
1. Morale (if you have a good ADDYs year)
2. Media earned on behalf of your client
3. Brownie points from clients (you have to be wary here, though. Some clients are rightly concerned that agencies have been known to miss the strategic mark by creating something “award-worthy.”)
4. Media the agency earns related to your performance
5. Local recruiting caché
But, what I truly wonder how much attention the business community pays to ADDYs…
any non-advertising business folks want to weigh in on this??
Those are good reasons.