The Gerety Awards is an interesting concept – advertising judged entirely by women. It was launched at a time when women were just beginning to find their voice in the industry and use it to fight for equality – or at least for a chance to show what they’ve got without prejudice. It was also based on the truth that women make the majority of purchase decisions, including those of cars, homes and travel. According to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer survey 2022, they are also more willing to try new products and services.
Maria Devereux was a Grand Jury judge in this year’s Gerety Awards. She gave The Stable a behind the scenes view of judging:
Gerety Awards is still a bit of a mystery to many people but if there’s one thing that sums up what makes this show so unique, it’s this: The Gerety selects the best in advertising (not just advertising made for women) based on what inspires and resonates with an all-female jury.
The Stable: Please give me an overview of the quality of the work you judged
Maria Devereux: The work was world class. That was the highlight of the work I judged – not one great idea but the huge amount of great ideas.
TS: What struck you most about the work? Were you able to identify any trends?
MD: There was definitely a lot of work that could be described as ‘purpose driven’ so anything that gave me ‘tonal whiplash’© Bianca Guimares@ Mischief was hard to ignore. If it was weird or funny, I couldn’t help but enjoy it.
TS: Three campaigns that stood out for you and why?
MD: The best work rises to the top quite quickly, usually because it’s simple and memorable. So, if I can explain my favourite ideas to you in a sentence and you instantly want to know more, they’re probably pretty damn good.
Breakaway for Decathlon made sport accessible by creating the first ecycling team for prisoners.
[Agency: BBDO Belgium: ed]
Unfiltered History Tour for Vice created a secret augmented reality tour of the British Museum which rewrote the history behind their stolen artifacts.
[Agency: Dentsu Webchutney: ed]
The Liquid Billboard for adidas created the world’s first swimmable billboard and turned every woman in Dubai into an ambassador for its inclusive swimwear collection.
[Agency: Havas Middle east: ed]
TS: What do women bring to a judging room? Why do Gerety’s all-female juries matter?
MD: Male gaze or female lens. No matter how you put it, we all see the world differently. Judging Gerety was an incredible opportunity to hear new and interesting perspectives on work that many of us had judged on other global award juries. Was the creative conversation for an all-female creative jury any different? No. Was the conversation more open and honest? Most definitely. Whether it was a personal reaction to a piece of work based on a unique cultural perspective or a personal reaction to a piece of work based on a gut response that made that person insanely angry, I have never learned as much from a jury discussion as I did judging Gerety.
TS: What would you like to see more of in judging rooms? Less of?
MD: I’m sure we’re going to continue to see more diversity on award juries which is going to bring a wide range of unique and important perspectives to the table. If a jury is all looking at the work through the exact same lens, are we really going to understand the creative and cultural impact of that work? And are we really going to celebrate and award the best work?
