Making an impact

From our perspective there are a number of questions we ask ourselves as judges, but also recommend brands ask themselves before embarking on these projects/ campaigns to avoid falling into the trap of creating something that could be classed as virtue-signalling or purpose-washing.

Is the idea/ campaign relevant to the brand?

Does the idea/campaign support your brand values and brand vision? If not, ask yourself why. There’s a seemingly never-ending supply of brilliant, creative ideas in the world, there will be one that’s the perfect fit for your brand. You don’t need to jump on the nearest bandwagon to raise awareness, by doing that you may end up with the wrong kind of attention.

Is it built to last?

One of the biggest criticisms of work entered into creative awards is that the entries were built for awards, not for real impact. Emotionally powerful campaigns that highlight social or environmental issues certainly woo the judges and the public, but will the impact of the campaign last beyond the awards season. Once the trophies have started to gather dust, will the issue fade into the background?

Is it scalable?

Some awards entries present staggering impact results as part of their submission, but the context for those results is important to consider.

What might be perceived as an innovative solution to a societal or environmental issue may be quite limited in terms of the reach, actual implementation or scalability. The impact the idea achieves in the real world, may be smaller than the campaign’s messaging suggests. If your idea creates an 89% increase in wellbeing for 30 people and will not improve the lives of anyone beyond that or even for those 30 people beyond the awards season, is it a truly impactful piece of work?

Is there real commitment?

Some campaigns are conceived as one-off/ tactical stunts that may be extremely good at gaining attention for the brand, but have no long-term plan behind them. These opportunistic ideas often jump on a trend or social cause, such as sponsoring a community initiative or producing a product for a marginalised group that’s supported by an expensive and shiny media campaign, but then quietly let their support fade away as attention for the campaign itself fades.

As brands and agencies clamour to create the most unique, compelling and impactful ideas each year in a desperate bid to be crowned as the ‘most creative’ sometimes they can lose sight of what the real issues are and the role of brands in addressing them.

For example, Coca-Cola faced significant backlash this year following their Grand Prix (Cannes Lions) wins for the ‘Recycle Me’ campaign in which they highlighted the importance of recycling their aluminium cans. Critics and activists were quick to accuse the brand of greenwashing given that Coca-Cola is one of the companies responsible for the majority of branded plastic waste globally.

With focus shifting to the coming 2025 awards season, when we take our seats at the judging tables, we hope a big increase in brands making true commitments, based on lasting impact that use creativity as a tool to help make the world a better place for future generations. That would certainly get our vote.

If you’d like to chat about how we could help make your brand find its purpose and be more impactful, drop us a line at info@nalla.co.uk.