This was a testing year for advertising awards but being forced out of one’s comfort zone is not always a bad thing. The Gerety Awards forces advertising awards out of the comfort zone by its very existence. Like it or not, Gerety judges the world’s advertising from a unique perspective and discounting the fact that the judges are all industry professionals (which is the same for all awards programs), its perspective mirrors that of the dominant proportion of buyers in the real world – women.
This year, Gerety’s judges faced the same online judging challenges as others. For its Australian judges, our slow download speeds added a special torment but all acknowledged that viewing the work on the same small screens as its audiences was an asset despite missing out on the learning and vigorous debate that a judging room tends to foster. Politeness tends to take the lead in online judging, they agreed.
Yesterday, four of Gerety’s judges got together with me [:ed] on Zoom to share some insights from inside this year’s judging. They were
- Bec Brideson: founder & chief executive officer, Venus Comms
- Victoria Conners: executive producer, The Producers
- Sarah Vincenzini: associate creative director, Marmalade
- Sarah McGregor: creative director, Cummins & Partners
Here is what they revealed:
- What were you looking for in the work that was submitted?
https://youtu.be/cDkM_uxyWRI
2. Judging was done in 10 different “judging rooms” in ten different countries. Were there any surprises for you when you saw the final shortlist? Was it more difficult to be impartial this year? Do the known awards faves have an impact?
https://youtu.be/Oy4ZPIUWrg4
3. What is the role of the Gerety Awards?
https://youtu.be/ira1bsk38Ug
