Get inspired. Advice from the Jury Chairs.
Need some guidance & inspiration in crafting your entry? We've asked our Jury Chairs to give you some advice, so you can focus on what matters most.
How do you define effective marketing?
Magdalena: For me effective marketing is the one that changes reality for the better. It is a marketing that deeply understands the audience and its tensions and can really deliver solution to people’s problem. Effective marketing is very humble – which is often translated as “consumer-centricity” – because it is focused on benefits based on audience’s point of view and interests as well as is delivered in a place and time appropriate for this very audience.
Carmen: For me effective marketing seizes successfully an opportunity or solves efficiently a problem of the Brand.
What marketing trend(s) are you excited about right now?
Magdalena: There are plenty of them, but on top of my list today there are sustainability topics. Since years I am observing how they grow in importance for consumers (especially youngsters) and I am very happy to see how more and more companies embrace them as an integral part of their marketing strategies. I am aware that it is not an obvious choice for all, as this is a long-term commitment that does not translate immediately into sales results, but I consider it as a “must-have” angle for those who think seriously about building brands that matter.
Carmen: I am a fan of social and consumer trends. We try to recommend strategies that are based on what will help the brand achieve its goals, with total freedom and without being conditioned by following a certain trend in the "advertising world".
What are you looking for in this year’s Effie Europe edition?
Magdalena: I believe in the power of the story as the heart of every effective campaign. So, I will be looking for meaningful, insightful stories that had a potential to influence people’s beliefs and behaviours.
Carmen: Originality, Results, Brands that go against the current. That they are free in the way they develop their marketing. Brands that are very much in sync with what is happening in society.
What should entrants avoid when writing their papers?
Magdalena: I think that entrants should avoid quoting too many data that do not build the “one picture” but blur it – judges can get lost and actually miss what makes your work unique. It’s important to focus on what really matters and supports the thesis. As a judge, I particularly pay attention to strategic and consumer insights’ parts – very often they are too general or superficial while these are exactly moments when you can prove how well-thought your campaign was.
Carmen: The most important, not to bore the judge.
Clichés and Effie's jargon.
Useless KPIs and overload of irrelevant data.
Not being credible or exaggerated results.
Give the data that shows clearly why the case is worth of winning.
Over selling.
What is the best advice you can give to the entrants?
Magdalena: Be single-minded in your storytelling – choiceful and disciplined in your papers. I am sure that there are many factors that contributed to your campaign’s success but focus on the one that made the difference, proved to be a game changer, and build the story around it.
Carmen: Make it different.
Honesty and synthesis.
Make it easy for the judge.
Choose a good good case, not just the normal one and try to make it good. Please be super selective.
