Six steps to winning a Loerie

To make one's lives easier, a list of key points from a recent DMMA seminar has been compiled on how to prepare a Loeries entry that stands out and demonstrates how the work fulfils the three key judging criteria.

Graham Warsop, executive chairperson, Jupiter Drawing Room; Tony Koenderman, associate editor, Finweek; Rob McLennan, executive creative director, King James2; Frank Luckin, executive creative director, Ogilvy Johannesburg; Festus Masekwameng, executive creative director, Mojo MotherRussia; Conn Bertish, executive creative director, Quirk Cape Town; and Andrew Human, CEO, Loeries, all offered tips at the “How to win a trophy” workshop held by the DMMA on Thursday, 25 April.

1. Start with a great idea.

No matter how well your entry is presented, if the idea isn’t strong, the judges will see through it.

2. Keep it simple.

Focus on the core message – what was great, why it’s relevant and how you did it.

3. Don’t create work with the sole purpose of winning an award.

It needs to be relevant and have purpose. The judges will see through an Integrated Campaign for Joe’s Chip Shop.

4. Study the categories and know where to enter.

Familiarise yourself with previous winners by studying the Loeries Archive and visiting the Travelling Exhibition. Understand the rules and where separate elements of your campaign can be entered.

5. A bad presentation could lose you an award.

The Loeries judges are looking at a lot of work. If your presentation makes it difficult for them to see why your campaign is innovative, well-executed and relevant, it won’t win.

6. Make your stats relevant.

Many presentations offer laundry lists of Facebook likes and increased sales as evidence that the campaign was relevant to the brand and the market. But statistics need a context to make sense. Pin them to something the judges can relate to. Again, don’t ask the judges to work hard to figure out what makes your campaign worthy of winning.

Your entry needs to demonstrate that the work is worthy of a Loerie. Produce outstanding work, and present it well, and you’ll add more birds to your trophy cabinet.

All entry information, categories, guidelines and preparation instructions are available at www.loeries.com. Late entries will be subject to a 10% penalty fee.