A Quick Guide To Purpose-Focused Awards

Illustration by Will Maynard

Brand purpose is becoming increasingly important as consumers focus more attention on issues like climate change and racial and social justice. Because these issues are top-of-mind, people want to feel good about the companies they support and are likelier to stick with one if they respect its mission. A recent Porter Novelli Purpose Perception Study found that 76% of surveyed consumers were more likely to trust a purpose-led company and 72% were more likely to be loyal to it.

Of course, this means that purpose is trickling into the way these brands and companies market themselves. This also means that brand impact is showing up in the marketing and advertising awards world, too: Think the newly minted Anthem Awards or the Cannes Glass Lion award, launched in 2015. “As marketers, we have a rare opportunity to be able to have a voice in this world that can communicate for good,” says Madonna Badger, CCO and Founder of Badger Agency. “And the award shows are definitely seeing that and rewarding that.”

Badger, who launched the #WomenNotObjects campaign to stop the objectification of women in ads (a move Cannes permanently adopted), served as Cannes Glass Lion jury president in 2018. That year, the Grand Prix award was given to #BloodNormal, Libresse’s campaign to end period shame.

As a former juror, Badger emphasizes that judges look for quantifiable impact when considering campaigns for purpose-focused awards. A good idea isn’t enough — your work has to showcase results in the form of real, widespread change, she says: “You've got to have a long-term plan that can hopefully change policy.”

This is where themes like rainbow washing or greenwashing come into play. A brand should adopt causes that are authentic to its mission and expertise in order to be an effective changemaker (and, yes, win awards), says D&AD Awards Director Donal Keenan. “It is a shame to notice that many brands that get involved with a cause are using the initiative as a PR stunt – consequently resulting in justified backlashes,” he says. “When brands align themselves to a cause, this has to be done right and, in most cases, it does need to be a longer-term narrative adopted by the brand.”

Purpose has become so important within society that it’s almost assumed that successful brands incorporate some element of it. And while award shows often have separate categories for creative awards and purpose awards, Badger points out that almost all the great, highly awarded creative campaigns carry an element of purpose. “Great creative has an impact, and great, impactful ads are creative,” she says. “It's getting to the point where you can't dissect one or the other.”

As the industry enters awards season, here are five award shows with purpose-focused categories:

One Show Awards

Hosted by the One Club for Creativity, this international show annually issues awards in design, digital marketing and advertising. In addition to standard categories like Health & Wellness and Radio & Audio, it also has several purpose-focused categories:

Cannes Lions

Since 1954, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has celebrated excellent creative work from around the globe. There are nine tracks within the awards programs, including categories like Strategy and Entertainment. The Good category, however, houses Cannes’ purpose awards:

The D&AD Awards

The Design & Art Direction group has been around since 1962, and the non-profit serves to foster, recognize and award excellent creative work within advertising and design. Its annual awards show has six main categories such as Design and Craft, and its two purpose awards live within the Impact category:

The Effie Awards

Effie Worldwide promotes effective marketing via its Effie Academy, Case Studies Database, Global Effie Index and the Effie Awards. The latter annually recognizes outstanding marketing both globally, regionally (via tracks like its Asia-Pacific and Latin America focus) and nationally. Within its U.S. competition, the Effies collaborate with the World Economic Forum on its Positive Change category, which contains two subcategories:

The Anthem Awards

This show launched last year and announced its inaugural group of winners in February. Hosted by the same crew behind The Webbys, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the Anthem Awards celebrates mission- and purpose-focused work. Submissions can be entered within seven categories:

Looking for more purpose-focused awards? Here are some others to consider:

THE MARTIN AGENCY

About The Martin Agency

We are a full-service creative agency with a proven ability in leveraging audience and cultural intelligence to build distinctive brands globally. We’re committed to fighting invisibility with ideas that permeate culture, work that drives results for our clients, and a culture our employees are proud of. From creating the beloved GEICO Gecko, to modernizing UPS, a 115-year-old brand, by making them relevant to a new generation of culture-shifters and entrepreneurs, to lighting the internet on fire with Solo Stove’s “Snoop Goes Smokeless” campaign, we’ve been behind some of the most significant brand transformations in history. We're creating steady buzz for brands like Papa Johns, OREO, CarMax, UPS and TIAA, to name a few. And as Ad Age’s Agency of the Year (2023), 2x Fast Company Most Innovative Companies (2023 and 2024) and back-to-back Adweek Agency of the Year (2020 and 2021), our momentum is only building. For more information, visit www.martinagency.com.

Media Contacts:
The Martin Agency | Katherine Sheehan | katherine.sheehan@martinagency.com

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