Organisers of next year's IPA Effectiveness Awards are dropping the
requirement on agencies to compile full case studies as part of an
effort to rebuild declining interest in the competition.
Instead, the newly published guide to entrants says parts of a campaign
will be considered for awards.
The aim is to open up the competition to a broader range of agencies and
recognise the contribution of a variety of specialist shops to a
campaign's success.
The change reflects radical alterations being made to the awards to halt
fading interest in them. Last year, only half of the top 20 agencies
participated in the event.
Now, organisers want to broaden the scope of the competition to include
media, direct marketing and sales promotion specialists.
Their inclusion is intended not only to recognise the IPA's broadening
membership, but the changing realities of communication.
Stephen Woodford, the chairman of the IPA's Value of Advertising
Committee and WCRS, chief executive, said: "The changes acknowledge the
fact that a brilliant piece of media buying can be just as important to
the success of a campaign as a brilliant piece of creative work."
Marco Rimini, the director of strategy and development at J. Walter
Thompson and the convenor of the judges, said: "We're concentrating
particularly on attracting the media agencies because they have the
econometric resource and the data that is key to measuring a campaign's
success."
The closing date for entries is 17 May 2002.
