by Every Ad Agency (@EveryAdAgency) It’s an unnecessary harsh word in our industry and, at Every Ad Agency, we prefer not to use the term (we’d much rather refer to it as “out-of-scope opportunities”). But, for the purposes of this very useful article on how to win awards this way, we will refer to it as scam.
It takes a finely tuned, meticulous process but we believe we’ve cracked the code to winning big with scam:
1. Client approval
The first port of call is to show clients the work.
Now, they might say something such as “This isn’t even our CI” or “We would never flight this” but nobody likes a quitter. Whether they say yes or not is irrelevant — as long as they briefly saw it for a split second after a presentation that included ‘real’ work.
If all else fails, a low-res version of the work can always be emailed to a junior assistant brand manager for approval one day before the entry deadline.
2. Flighting
Flighting the work is very important as no awards show will ever accept something that didn’t run:
Make friends with community newspapers. This is a guaranteed way of running an ad. Size doesn’t matter. It’s perfectly fine to run a full colour DPS as a black and white classified in the South Coast Fever. Entry rules state that work must be seen by a “substantial audience” and, as of 2015, there are 27 869 people residing in Margate. You won’t get more substantial than that.
Radio entries may simply be flighted in-store at the local pharmacy to make sure it reaches broadcast.
3. Entry prep
The penultimate step is preparing entries.
- Do NOT enter the original version. Rookie mistake.
- Remove all client URLs, call to action, or taglines. Make the logo as small as possible. Judges want art, not an ad.
4. Contingency plans
Finally, be ready for the aftermath. There are two plans of action to have in place:
- If you win, make sure the ad all of a sudden gets flighted everywhere. Send out press releases to Bizcommunity, MarkLives, The Media Online, The RedZone and Media Update — all with client quotes on how the brief came to be — and get Adlip and 10and5 to do a feature with the creative team.
- If you get caught, blame the junior team.
Share your successful scamming tips with us on Twitter (@EveryAdAgency) and let’s make sure more agencies see metal this year.
We are Every Ad Agency (@EveryAdAgency). You’ve either worked for us, with us or against us. What’s more, we make every advertising and marketing cliché work. Headquartered in Johannesburg; branches everywhere.
All these satirical “Bad ADvice” columns, which are exclusive to MarkLives, are written by the Chief Operating Creative Director in Charge of Ideas (COCDCI).
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every Monday and Thursday. Sign up here!