Winning creative awards is directly linked to brand value
Brand communication and advertising awards have been around for decades, and have provided analysts with a wealth of information upon which to establish a conclusion: winning awards increases brand value.
According to Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries, Africa and the Middle East’s biggest brand communication awards, creativity in brand communication is the lifeblood of successful brand. And the awards that recognise this let the winning companies know that they are on the right track.
“The global brands that have the greatest value are those that are perceived by the public as doing innovative things, communicating in new ways and constantly reinventing themselves,” he says. “It’s those things that creative awards recognise, so value and winning go hand in hand. An award showcases the standard to which your company is working.”
This thinking, which has been intuitively understood by creativity’s greatest champions for so long, was summed up in a book that looked at two decades of data and compared the success of the business to their levels of creativity. ‘The Case for Creativity’ by James Hurman presents 15 major studies demonstrating three key points: that more creative advertising is more effective advertising, that more creative advertising agencies are more effective agencies, and that more creative businesses are more successful businesses.
“Winning an award is not just about the moment of winning, in the same way as winning a 100-meter race isn’t just about getting the medal,” says Human. “That medal proves that you are the fastest, not by chance, but compared to everyone else at that time. Awards are the same. They prove that the winning brand is the most creative and innovative at that point in time, and that creativity links to brand value and business success.”
The ‘Case for Creativity’ highlights the following statistics:
• That 84% of awarded communication produces a business result, compared to 70% of advertising in general.
• That a 5.7-fold market share increase was enjoyed by creatively awarded communication, compared to an increase of only 0.5 times as a result of general advertising.
• And that the annual stock value of Cannes Advertisers of the Year increased by 41% compared to 0.5% on the S&P 500 Index.
“We’ve known all along that creative companies are the best at what they do and the best to work for, simply because innovation is an integral part of their business, but these statistics show that there is a direct correlation between business success and creative recognition. The brands that have exhibited the greatest value over the two decades are also the brands that won awards. We’ve got real data to back this up,” says Human.
He points out that the same holds true in South Africa that the brands that win the most awards are doing better than their competitors. “Winning creative awards ties back to success in all the goals that a brand is trying to achieve. The Loeries award innovation, and those brands doing the most innovative work in brand communication are the brands with the greatest value.”
For more information on Loeries visit www.loeries.com.