By Candide McDonald

The ad industry has a love-hate relationship with its awards. I’ve won a few in my time. Damn, it feels good. I also learned early in my career that so does the wage increase and hike up the ladder that tends to accompany them. And like or loathe them, companies you own, lead or work for are judged by them. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t have strings of them on your company email signatures and websites.

So what’s to hate?

1. Well, firstly there’s the judging process. Collaborations can lead to wonderful campaigns. On a campaign, everyone is working towards the same goal. But in judging, there’s a lot to be said for everyone having an equal vote. Judging rooms are not perfect. Cresta Awards’ 120 judges are all chosen from the same highest tier creatives as the other top awards, but they all vote independently. No judging room.

• A mind-numbing tangle of categories and sub-categories each with their own eligibility rules. Hundreds of them in some cases. Cresta decided to go for awards worth winning. In Moving Image for example (aka commercials for TV, cinema, social & viral), there are TV or Cinema Commercial up to 30 seconds, TV or Cinema Commercial 31- 60 second, TV or Cinema Commercial over 60 seconds, Viral Video (any length) and Music video. That’s five categories. In Film craft there are 13 subs. They’re not complicated. Even the suits can work out if you’re eligible for Outstanding Direction of a Commercial, Outstanding Special Effects, Use of Humour…

• Cost. Well, yes – when there are hundreds of sub-categories, entry fees add up quickly. Cresta doesn’t have these (see above). It’s also cheaper than many. The costs are designed not to lock out anyone – smaller, shy or budgeting this year. Until May 31, it’s US$390 for a single entry and US$650 for a campaign. And considering Cresta sits high on the world awards ladders, it might even be the best value.

• Bang for your buck. Great, you got a Pencil, Cube or Statue. One of however many thousands that were handed out. Cresta hands out enough awards to reward genuine greatness. Plenty of awards (you really could win one) but enough so that a Cresta Award means something, not so many that you are one of the crowd.

• Five minutes of fame. A Black Pencil will make you famous. There is absolutely no denying that. But kudos also depends on reach. The new owners of Cresta are hell-bent on making your star shine brightly, and not just for the few days of post-awards buzz. APAC media partners are The Stable, Campaign Brief and Branding in Asia. (There are too many to name all the partners worldwide.) Winners at Cresta will also earn points at the World Creative Rankings and new this year, coverage in Lürzer’s Archive and the soon to be re-launched Lürzer’s website.

Full disclosure. I’m helping Cresta this year to get the word out. The Cresta Awards has surged in the northern hemisphere since creatives, Alan Page and Lewis Blackwell, bought it but AUNZ is lagging behind. I’m not being paid to write this article. I’m just writing what I saw when I did my Cresta research.