Loeries 2010 judging procedure

21 Jul 2010

The Loerie Awards will this year publish tables of the top brands, top agencies, and top production companies, listing the top agencies in advertising, communication design, experiential marketing and digital media. The Loeries has invited over 150 specialists, including three world creative leaders, to review over 3000 pieces of work.

Custom software has been designed and built to manage the entries and judging process. The entire process is independently audited with R350,000 being spent to publish 1,000 copies of the results. A ranking system will also be introduced this year.

Panels endorsed by industry bodies

All the judging panels are endorsed by the relevant industry bodies, which include the Creative Circle, Commercial Producers Association, Brand Design Council, Association for Communication and Advertising, the Digital Media & Marketing Association, and the South African Institute of the interior design professions.

To be selected as a judge on the Loeries panel an individual needs to be a recognised leader in their field. As is the accepted practice at major global awards such as the D&AD awards, judges are primarily from a creative background; it is important that our judges have won awards themselves, or have a senior and respected position in the industry that qualifies them to judge the entries.

Jury chairmen

This year the Advertising jury chairman is Pablo del Campo, CEO of Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires. Argentina has been ranked third globally, for the fourth consecutive year, in the 2009 Gunn Report, and Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi is listed as one of the top-five creative agencies in the world.

The Communication Design jury chairman is Greg Quinton, creative partner of The Partners in London and chair of Education at the D&AD. The Partners was named the most creative company in Britain in Design Week's 2009 survey and has topped the 'All Awards' chart for 11 years in its 20 year history.

The Experiential chairman is Colin Nimick, executive creative director of OgilvyOne, London. Nimick's "Smoke is Poison" campaign for Cancer Research received the acclaimed title of DM Campaign of the Decade by Campaign Magazine, and Nimick was titled No.2 DM creative director.

Judging process

The role of the jury is to reward excellence and to inspire greater things; the aim of the judging process is to seek out work and ideas that are exceptional, out of the ordinary. All work is judged according to six criteria:

An innovative concept, bringing new and fresh thinking
Excellent execution
Relevance to the brand
Relevance to the target audience
Relevance to the chosen medium
A client, independent from the agency

Work that does not meet the last criterion 'a client independent from the agency', ie. self-promotional work, will only be eligible up to a Silver Loerie. As The Loerie Awards represents Creative Excellence, it is crucial that criterion number one is met, ie. the work is fresh and innovative. If an entry meets all the other criteria, but is conceptually not new and innovative, then it will not be considered for a Loerie award.

All the results are audited by an independent auditing firm and the ballot sheets are stored for the full year after the results have been announced. All categories (Advertising, Communication Design, Experiential, Integrated Campaign and Student Entries) are judged in the same manner.

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