When Awards Become Everyone’s Job, They Become No One’s Job
One of the most common things I've seen inside agencies has nothing to do with creativity.
It has to do with ownership.
Everyone agrees awards matter.
They build reputation.
They attract talent.
They motivate teams.
Clients love them.
Leadership loves them.
Everyone wants them.
But when it comes to actually making them happen...
They're nobody's job.
Awards Don't Fail Because People Don't Care
In my experience, awards rarely fail because people don't believe in them.
They fail because everyone is already busy.
The strategist is thinking about the next pitch.
The account team is managing client requests.
The planners have another presentation tomorrow.
The creative team has already moved on to the next campaign.
The campaign that could have won an award quietly disappears.
Not because it wasn't good.
Because nobody had the time to stop and look at it.
The Work Starts Long Before the Entry
People often think awards begin when the entry form opens.
They don't.
They begin when someone notices a piece of work that deserves another conversation.
When somebody asks for the results before they're forgotten.
When the right people are brought into the room.
When scattered pieces of information become a story.
That's the invisible part of awards.
It's also the most important part, the part nobody owns.
That's What I Learned
During my years leading awards at Havas Media Network, I realized something.
Writing the submission was rarely the hardest part.
Finding the story was.
Especially in media.
Many of the strongest campaigns weren't built around one big creative idea.
They were media strategies.
Data.
Audience planning.
Complex ecosystems.
The work was excellent; it got awesome results.
The story just wasn't obvious.
Finding it became part of the job.
The Best Agencies Build Systems
The agencies that consistently win awards don't rely on enthusiasm.
They rely on process.
Someone is responsible for spotting great work.
Someone follows up with teams.
Someone gathers the evidence.
Someone connects the dots.
Without that, awards become something everyone supports...
But nobody owns.
The Work Behind the Work
That's the part I enjoy most.
Building the systems that help agencies consistently identify, shape, and celebrate their best work.
Because awards don't happen by accident.
Someone has to take care of the work behind the work.
