A bit harsh.
But go with me on this.
Last week I finished up judging for D&AD New Blood Awards.
It was a tricky PR brief.
Let me tell you we saw a massive variation in quality, and some yellow pencil gold. The difference between the very top and the bottom of submissions was vast.
I want to help you understand what it takes to win a D&AD New Blood Award without telling tales or stuff I’m not allowed to say.
Look, this sh*t is tough. It was an honour to be invited back and a wonderful experience, frankly. The work got us excited. A lot of Dopamine that I’m trying to replace (if that’s the correct medical term).
But it was both a pleasure and a bit of a pain.
Spending time with other brilliant creative minds at the top of their game is so valuable to me. The other judges are all PR experts.
Let me explain why it was so difficult.
How to Crack a PR Brief
D&AD judges are the pick of the bunch. I would say that. But apart from their expertise, they give their time voluntarily to really drill down into what makes creative submissions award winning.
These are the kind of people who have been in the trenches. You know, Friday swings by and you’ve been grinding on a PR brief all a week, or all month and you still haven’t cracked it but the client presentation is tomorrow.
The’ve been there when every basic, first rate, lame copycat idea has been suggested.
After 8-hours of voting, debating and analysing, we never explicitly spoke about this, but you just know.
We deliberated over the work. A lot.
Want to Know the Stand Out Piece of Advice?
“Who cares”.
Ask this about your idea.
Will anyone care about the work? Will they talk about it? Does it have any value other than being self serving for the brand?
It’s something that stuck with me since. It’s a very handy tool for testing a PR campaign idea. It’s so harsh.
While it’s not new to me, it’s a little trick I’ve used many times but it was good to be reminded. So simple. Actually brutal.
It gets to the point and does the job. Try it on your next advertising idea. We all want growth right?
If you can work out what creative thing you can do in the world that will resonate with people in their heart, you can win. I know it’s not that simple but actually, maybe focusing on one technique and really doubling down could work.
D&AD New Blood Sets the Standard in the UK and Globally
The shortlist of D&AD winners it out now. It’s a gold (yellow) standard of what emerging creatives are going to be putting out in the world and you can look.
While the Yellow Pencil, Graphite and Wood tiers are yet to be announced you can look at the work that made the cut here. It’s the top slice of what excellent creativity looks like today.
This post first appeared on Medium
Note: I am Jury President for the giffgaff and 02 briefs. This is a voluntary position, but as such, I support the work of D&AD New Blood, just so you know.