Doug DavidoffSpike Jones has an interesting post about awards season. I respect that as a creative, Spike willingly admits that awards don’t account for much.
I feel the need to take his comments a bit further. The problem with creative awards in the business world is that the awards (at least the ones that I am aware of) have nothing to do with the purpose of the work. There is an assumption that great creative leads to great results. It would be nice if that were true. It would also be nice if I didn’t have to lock my car in a parking garage.
Incentives drive behavior. If you incentivize creatives with awards, they will naturally work to win them. As Spike says in his post, “it’s nice to win – I won't lie.”
As an executive in charge of growth a fast-growth business, you cannot afford to delegate your strategic approach to people incentivized by anything other than your interests. (Side note, I don’t know the work Brains on Fire does personally, and I don't mean to say that they don’t have their client’s best interests in mind).
I am a big fan of good creative work and of good design. Creatives, well managed, are a tremendous advantage to a business – just make sure you are managing them, not the other way around.