Awards Night on Dec 3:

Effies help add more accountability

One of the greatest criticisms being faced by marketeers is that they are sometimes not responsible and held accountable for the results derived from their strategies and activity. Therefore, the Effies aim not only to help add more accountability in to communications but also reward and recognize the best Marketing, Advertising and Media professionals who ran effective campaigns during the stipulated period said Chairman, Effies Tilan Wijesekara.

Q: What is the Effie Awards all about and what makes it unique?

A: There are a few factors which make the Effies unique. Firstly, its the only Marketing Communications awards program which recognizes the effectiveness of marketing campaigns in Sri Lanka, in terms of delivering revenue, profitability, brand equity, brand awareness and recall.

Another factor is Effies being the world's pre-eminent awards program and being the only truly international awards program franchised and held in Sri Lanka.

The Effies is well known around the world and is in more than 40 countries which include the Global Effies, Asia Pacific Effies, Euro Effies and others. Winners of the Sri Lankan Effies will gain an opportunity to participate in the Global Effies which recognizes the most effective campaigns worldwide.

The bottom line is that the Effies measures the delivery of stipulated objectives of organisations and their brands.

Q: What is your main aim in organising the Effies and why is it so important for Sri Lanka?

A: Accountability is the key word. Our aim is to build more accountability in Marketing and Branding, Advertising and Media community. One of the greatest criticisms being faced by marketeers is that they are sometimes not responsible and held accountable for the results derived from their strategies and activity.

Therefore, the Effies aim not only to help add more accountability in to communications but also reward and recognize the best Marketing, Advertising and Media professionals who ran effective campaigns during the stipulated period.

I'm sure this would be a boost to the industry and will encourage communicators to seek to deliver results through their Marketing communications efforts in the future, and help improve the level of skill among Sri Lankan marketeers which would no doubt add value to our business community and country while helping to uplift the level of competitiveness in the market which is essential to drive the country forward as it enters a new era, with peace and emerging global business opportunities.

Q: What factors do the judging panel consider in the awarding process?

A: The judging process consists of five key aspects. Primarily, the strategic communications challenge is looked at which takes into consideration the market scenario, the competitive framework and the key challenges which should be met by the campaign.

The relevant stipulated objectives to overcome the challenge, including quantifiable, behavioural and attitudinal/perceptual shifts and the amount of resources utilized.

Secondly, an exploration of the 'big idea' behind the campaign, and how it was derived, be it market insights, consumer insights or otherwise.

The third aspect is - the strategy behind the campaign, and how was this rolled out through operational, creative and media strategies.

Fourthly, how were these strategies were put into operation or implemented and brought to life.

Finally the results of the campaign - How the campaign met the stipulated objectives, as examples: increase in sales, improvement of image, improvement of profitability, reinforcement of core values of the brand, improvement of perception and change in attitudinal dimensions (alter behavioural aspects and motivate staff).

Q: Are all the judges from the advertising fraternity or is it from a wider spectrum?

A: No. Actually due to the nature of the awards being more holistic the judging panel consists of the best talent in the market, representing different spheres of the overall marketing fraternity. The composition of the judging panel includes four Brand Marketeers/Business heads, four Advertising Agency representatives including Agency Heads, one Media representative, One Research representative and one Academic.

Q: How involved is Effies Worldwide and the American Marketing Association in the Sri Lankan Effies?

A: As the American Marketing Association owns the Franchise for Effies, Both SLIM and my team in the organizing committee are directly responsible to and liaise with the New York based American Marketing Association (AMA) with regard to most aspects of the organizing of the awards.

It has been a fabulous learning experience for our team due to the guidance of the AMA.

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing achieved a tremendous feat by obtaining the franchise for the Effies to be held in Sri Lanka. Even other advertising power house countries such as India still have not been able to gain the franchise.

Q: How will the Effies improve the marketing fraternity?

A: By recognizing the best talent in Sri Lanka. Our recognition is not limited to the advertising agencies alone.

We award and recognize the Brand Marketeers or clients as well as the media agency contributors. Even media stations are eligible to participate.

Thereby, we believe we would be able to motivate all stakeholders of the overall marketing fraternity and help to dramatically improve the standards of marketing communications professionals in the country.

We would also be able to get our marketeers global exposure through some of the other programs the Effies division in Sri Lanka intends to run after the awards show, which include knowledge sharing forums, accessibility to international case studies and success stories.

Q: How successful was last year's awards and what were the key learnings?

A: Considering that last year was the inaugural awards show it was a tremendous success, and exceeded everyone's expectations. However, the number of entries was restricted.

This year we see renewed interest in the fraternity which promises to deliver a much higher level of entries as well as attenders for the awards show.

We are planning to double the level of entries this year which, although optimistic due to the prevailing economic conditions in Sri Lanka, as the organizing committee we are extremely confident about.

The experiences from last year assisted us to improve some of our processes, including the addition of a pre-screening panel comprising some leading marketeers of the country.

This is to assist the entry process and will reduce the number of disqualifications due to entry errors. Last year the disqualification rate was almost 40 percent. This year we have aimed to minimize this.

Q: How can you enter the awards and what is the deadline, and which campaigns are eligible to enter and what are the categories?

A: It's very simple anyone can visit our website www.effies.lk and download our entry kit and they will also gain all the information from the site, including how to enter the awards, submission deadlines guidance. The deadline for entries is at 3 p.m. today.

Any form of marketing communication is eligible for an Effie, as long as results are proven, including Print, TV, Radio, Outdoor, Online, Guerrilla, Digital, Package Design, Events, Street Teams, PR, Paid or Unpaid Media, which were run between April 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009. This year there are 25 categories up for grabs.

Q: When do you hope to hold the event?

A: The Effies Gala will be a strictly black tie event on December 3, at the Waters Edge. This year the Awards Night promises to be a grand evening with an awards show full of entertainment and excitement.