Blogs - posted by Martin

Tonights award ceremony at the 1st Campaign Media Planning Awards showcased only one bronze in the category 'online' and the jury decided that silver and gold were not worth to award to any of the shortlisted entries. This is the second time since the establishment of the Campaign awards (organized by ITP Consumer Publishing Ltd.) that online as an industry gets completely undermined by a jury. Looking at the 6 shortlisted entries, I am asking myself how a jury can disregard 5 out of the 6 campaign and only award one bronze. The one entry that won was a nomination by Starcom MediaVest for the Hummer H3 launch which I admit was surely a great campaign creatively. However, I am questioning the capability of the jury to objectively judge on the entries and wonder if not creative was taken into consideration more than the actual media planning & strategy capabilities:

• The campaign was showing a video of Hummer H3 and in a creative Eyeblaster the Hummer H3 'jumped' out of the TV spot and drove over the page which surely looked great creatively, although that idea was done by Jeep and Volvo through Eyeblaster before
• Hummer H3 was an integrated campaign and not a stand alone digital initiative
• If I am not mistaken, the actual media execution was a simple insertion of Eyeblasters accross two portals e.g. MSN and Yahoo only.
• No measurements of results, click-through rate, conversation or brand impact (Dynamic Logics) provided

Other nominations from eWorks (Publicis Group) and Flip Media clearly showcased elements that were part of the rules and objectives of the award: "Our aim is simple: To celebrate the most creative media ideas, innovations, and organisations across the region. Entrants will need to show that the idea met a clearly defined brief and helped to deliver improved business performance for the client regardless of budget. Credit will be given for originality of thought. The emphasis should be on the thinking behind the idea, its execution, and how it stands out from the rest. " says Tim Addington, Campaign Middle East Editor.

• British Airways campaigns clearly outlined measurable results e.g. 25% volume sales increase
• Emaar Properties campaign for Burj Dubai complex were presented with complete campaign analysis, optimization results and conversation that led to 134 apartments being sold in a unique solo-online campaign where all ATL/BTL was stopped due to the success of this campaign
• Thuraya campaign accross 15 global portals produced measurables results of 46% of all exposed users to get involved in post-click activities on the satellite phone manufacturer's website

I would like to openly question the capabilities of the judges on the online nominations and fail to understand how online as a whole industry has been again ignored by the media representatives on the judging panel. The discussion is not about why only Starcom has won and eWorks and Flip Media didn't bag an award tonight, it's about the fact that in my personal view the judge clearly did not know how to evaluate the entries and how to make a distinct decision between creative and digital media planning excercises. A couple more thoughts:

• I personally felt embarrassed when for the second time at a Campaign awards ceremony someone judged about a specific industry without properly understanding it. The whole team of Maktoob.com, AME Info, Zawya.com, Flip Media and eWorks/Publicis left the room after the announcement, and I feel sorry for the hard working digital media planners, strategists, and buyers that got to understand that creative (based on a TVC spot converted into a Flash movie) overrules their strategic thinking.
• I am asking myself if Maktoob.com, sponsor of the awards for the second time, will get re-imbursed by 2/3rd of their 15,000 US$ sponsorship fee.
• I wished that ITP Consumer Publishing Ltd. as the organizer and one of the leading digital publishers could have enforced a different result e.g. 3 winners from the jury. I am also curious if the format of the award submission in fact encouraged the jury to focus more on creative execution than on the actual media planning and strategic idea: As a member of the first jury, I personally (amongst others) noticed and mentioned to other jury members that discussion points during the evaluation should be unbiased and independent from our creative experience of the work and should only focus on the media planning capabilities etc. as outlined in the award's rules.
• I congratulate OMD Digital and other agencies for not even submitting their entries and feel strongly about encouraging every digital agency in the Middle East to not even bother submitting anything for the upcoming creative and media awards in order to avoid a duplication of what we all experienced today.

I would like to see the names, titles and companies of the final judges that decided to vote against a complete industry that has taken over spent in offline categories such as print, radio and outdoor in other parts of the world. I am inviting all of you readers to comment on this blog and other related websites. Is there anyone that can explain to the members of the Middle Eastern digital community that attended the ceremony tonight how such a decision was made - which I personally feel is an insult to the online industry in our region.