Contestants in this year's Effie Awards have yet to show an adequate understanding of a performance-oriented marketing campaign, according to the judges.
The advertising industry's very own Oscars, which held their first Hong Kong competition last week, came up with two gold winners - the Sprite and One2Free Mobile Communications Services campaigns - among 28 finalists. Sadly, the judges found no one worthy of the highest accolade, the platinum award.
'There are only a handful of them meeting the requirements,' said Wellcome supermarket marketing director Douglas Brown, one of the judges.
He said the Effie Awards were about more than just creativity.
'In Hong Kong, there are a lot [of ads] focused more on the quality of advertising than on the quality of results. The award's key message to advertisers and clients is that the Effie means financial results. Do we get our market share? Do we improve our sales or our customer loyalty? I think it is going to take time for [advertising agencies] to understand that,' he said.
The awards, whose Hong Kong competition was held in partnership with HK4As, were launched by the New York American Marketing Association in 1968.
The Effie was considered the advertising industry's most prestigious awards but Hong Kong players had yet to appreciate its value, Oracle Market Research managing director Magdalena Wong said.
