All The Excitement About The Adelaide Advertising Awards!

Matt Griffin, founder and chief executive at Deepend Group, is helping shake up the Australian creative industry’s award system and driving change to instil a more transparent, dynamic and merit-based approach when it comes to recognising excellence. Here, he gives us the low-down on the award season.

With the 2015 advertising award season about to launch, led by the AADC (Adelaide Advertising and Design Club) next month, there is an undeniable buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air.

Matt Griffin

This year will mark a dramatic change for the AADC as the judging process has been reconfigured to deliver a fairer, merit-based approach to recognising excellence, and aligned with the guidelines used by AWARD.

What makes this shift interesting is not that the AADC is taking a lead from its national contemporary, but that another industry group is migrating its system to an ‘award by merit’ approach over a ‘first past the post’ one.

Late last year, the discussion around AIMIA’s move to this merit system hit industry news and as part of the conversation, I outlined that this judging process actively aims to support a culture of performance.

Improving on the past is a necessity of progression and innovation. Awards should be given to those truly deserving of their accolades, as opposed to simply being the best on that day out of the selection that chose to turn up.

Australia has long supported the creative industries of our nation and the shift towards a more dynamic and appropriate system is another clear sign that our governing bodies recognise that when it comes to creative pursuits, near enough is not the same as good enough.

In the spirit of celebrating the best work, here are some of my top picks for local SA campaigns with impact.

A favourite campaign of mine from the region was the Accelerate music initiative created by Mitsubishi Motors Australia and Jamshop, helping to discover and promote independent Australian artists.
Another recent highlight was the simple yet effective execution of the HeySport Footy team management app by Svelte which enabled grass roots sporting clubs to connect and build player involvement.
And of course, who can forget the South Australian Tourism Commission’s ad featuring the emotive Eddy Vedder folk ballad, Rise? Transporting us all the way to Kangaroo Island, it was a true winner – thanks KWP!

South Australia is well-recognised as an artistic hub, continually producing innovative work, and it’s clear that the State’s creative future is bright. Bring on the awards!

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