NYFA: Leveraging on Nigerian Juries
The New York Festivals Awards is arguably the oldest, most prestigious and most sought-after awards in the world of advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications. Indeed it can be compared to the Academy Awards also known as the Oscars for the film industry and the Grammy Awards for the music industry.
Starting just about the same time with the Oscar and Grammy, 1957 to be precise, the New York Festivals Advertising Awards has grown from ‘a New York affair’ into ‘a global advertising shrine’ from which every agency and practitioner seek blessing and recognition. With entries and awards going to agencies from all continents and over 300 countries across the globe.
Dedicated to honouring The World’s Best Advertising and Marketing, the NYFA provides a level playing field for agencies to contest by putting in their entry (ies). The Awards all offer the same level of integrity across board such that the awards became the most coveted in the industry.
“There are no geographical boundaries for talent and innovation so we have no boundaries in our entry process. We are truly international in scope. Our entrants come from hundreds of agencies, networks, and production companies around the globe and embody the widest spectrum of innovative and creative content.
“Many awards competitions are national or regional or are by invitation-only or have other restrictions limiting eligibility. Our rules make it clear: one world, one show.
“Our agenda is simple – to celebrate the achievements of the many talented men and women who make up the worldwide creative community. It’s all about your work.”
There are 21 competitions for this year’s Advertising Awards covering the full spectrum of today’s advertising communications. These include: Activation/Engagement, Audio, Avant-Garde/Innovation, Branded Entertainment, Creative Marketing Effectiveness, Design, Digital, Direct & Collateral, Film & Film Craft, Integrated Media Campaign, Media, Mobile, Outdoor/Out of Home, Package & Product Design, Print, Public & Media Relations, Public Service Announcements, Sports and Student.
Other awards by the NYF are AME Awards which honours the World’s Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness. This award started in 1994. Entries for the AME Award must demonstrate ground-breaking solutions to challenging marketing problems and exhibit specific marketing goals and objectives accomplished through creative execution and strategic planning.
Midas Awards honours the World’s Best Financial Advertising from all over the world. The competition provides a true worldview of advertising and corporate communications in the international financial community.
Global Awards are the world’s premier healthcare & wellness advertising awards. The competition is for healthcare corporations, hospitals, advertising agencies, production companies and design studios that produce communications for medical, pharmaceutical, healthcare and wellness products and services.
In addition, 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
The NYFA has more representation of cultures than any other international competition. Its global nature; diversity of content and cultural milieu of entries makes judgement very tasking.
The award organisers found the apt solution by sourcing the most talented minds in the industry around the world and putting in place a two-tier jury system.
“In order to honour the World’s Best Advertising, we require the World’s Best Judges. To find the most talented individuals in the industry from around the world to serve on the Grand Jury, we developed a peer recommendation program and invite judges from previous years to tell us who they believe should be invited to join the following year’s panel. Jury members are also chosen from amongst last year’s award-winners and recommendations from industry creative leaders. Our esteemed Grand Jury review the entries based on 3 criteria: Idea, Execution and Brand Relevance. There are two rounds of judging to determine the Shortlist which will then move on to the Executive Jury”, says the Executive Director of NYFA, Michael Demetriades.
The Grand Jury is New York Festival’s front line in selecting the World’s Best Advertising. These award-winning creatives evaluate NYF’s entries from over 100 countries worldwide and determine which creative campaign will move on to the medal round. NYF’s 2018 Grand Jury of over 300 creatives are one of the most diverse juries on the planet, with advertising creatives from over 50 countries around the globe, this jury is a powerhouse of innovation and creativity.
The shortlisted entries by the grand jury will then move on to the Executive Jury. “This elite panel, featuring some of the world’s most prominent creative leaders, comes together in one room to participate in live judging sessions across all mediums to select the World’s Best Advertising. Taking place over 4-5 days in New York City, the center of advertising, the Executive Jury is an annual meeting of the minds with the most accomplished and awarded lead creatives from around the globe.
The Shortlist is reviewed and evaluated in passionate, opinionated discussions rooted in the creative process. The NYF Executive Jury does not have a Chairperson. Each member is one amongst equals and each person acts independent of the others, without any persuasions or biases. The results from these sessions determine which work will be honoured with the Best of Show, Grand, First, Second and Third place prizes” says the organisers.
Six decades after the institution of the awards however, no Nigerian agency has entered for the competition. The Nigerian industry practitioners’ participation has mainly been limited to attendance. Nigeria’s profile in the global Integrated Marketing Communications industry got a fillip when in 2017, the Chief Executive Officer/Chief Creativity Officer of X3M, Steve Babaeko, was invited to joined the elite group of the Grand Jury for the awards. This year, he has been joined by three other industry players namely Ndukwe Onuoha of 7Interactive, Maurice Ugwonoh of Noah’s Ark Communications and Uzoma Okoye of Etu Odi Communications on the grand Jury. Thus the Nigerian integrated Marketing Communications industry is the most represented industry from the African continent.
Speaking with MarketingEdge on the implication of being called to the Grand Jury table, Steve Babaeko said, “This year should be exciting. I am looking forward to seeing how far tech is helping creative push the envelope. I am hoping to see how social issues confronting our planet are addressed in the entries from various countries. Every opportunity to judge is also a great opportunity to learn and also challenge our team to push the depth of our work.”
For Maurice Ugwonoh, “Accepting the offer to become a Judge in any creative festival is like being summoned for Jury duty. And it doesn’t get any bigger than being called to Judge at the 2018 NYF. For me, this is a privilege. While creating amazing work may be its own reward, it is an astonishing experience to have the honor of evaluating the global creative community’s finest works. I don’t walk in thinking … “hey, look at me…I’m a judge at the NYF”. It’s all about the works first, second and all the way. I understand that each work is a masterpiece in its own right, however the level of idea, craft relevance, impact and judging criteria helps separate the best.
“As a judge, I see my role as a way of giving back to the global industry and bringing all my years of experience to bear in recognizing exceptional work and giving it the chance to be seen by the world as a piece of inspiration. And how do I find time for this? Well…honestly, I don’t find time, I make time. Once I accept to be a Judge at any festival, I make the deliberate effort to carve out time in my busy schedule to accommodate such obligation. This may require that I put in extra time after work, sacrifice weekends or simply take a short leave of absence to attend to the role. It depends on the scale of the festival really.”
Ndukwe Onuoha, just like the poet he is looks forward to experiencing the simplicity of the power of insight as he joins peers to assess this year’s entries. “I’m always interested in seeing the power of an insight to make an idea so simple and easy to understand that even across different cultures, it still resonates with the Target Audience”.
As we count down to May 17 when the award gala will be held in New York and as Nigerians gain more insights into what the judges look out for in giving the awards as well as global trends and directions in the industry, it is hoped that in no distant future, Nigerian agencies will not only be in position to enter for the awards but to emerge as winners. In the words of Babaeko, “Every opportunity to judge is also a great opportunity to learn and also challenge our team to push the depth of our work.”
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