Damned if you don’t: The pressure on creatives to win awards at all costs leads to scam
“I don’t blame these guys for doing it. They sort of have to,” says Robert Gaxiola, one of Singapore’s best-known and highly-awarded creatives.
In this interview with Mumbrella, the co-founder and creative director of ManghamGaxiola McGarryBowen – who concedes he played the awards game earlier in his career – talks about the “massive” pressure on creatives to win metal that leads to work like the refugee-spotting ‘I Sea’ app, who is responsible for scam, and why he thinks that the issue will never be resolved.
What sort of pressure are creative directors under to win awards these days?
It all depends who you are working for. Some agency networks literally put Lion quotas on each office to deliver each year. These networks take it very seriously and they play to win. And if you’re not winning, the ECD is usually the guy who has to answer for it. I used to work for an agency like that. When I joined up, I was told that I was replacing a guy who only won two bronzes in Cannes the year before. Which obviously wasn’t enough.
The pressure is massive, so if you can’t get something good enough for a medal from your regular client briefs you start to look elsewhere and find a few “clients” that might be more open to your ideas. But we all know from the start what we are in for as a CCO or ECD. You don’t get that Raffles Class ticket to Nice for nothing. So you make opportunities by any means necessary because nobody wants to fly home empty handed.
Some healthier agencies are pretty relaxed about it. But from what I hear there is still a massive amount of pressure for the creative bosses and all the creative people. You can’t blame them. In some cases their jobs are literally at stake. A gold Lion is sort of, as my former colleague Mark Fong has always said, an immunity idol for some people. It is also a ticket out of the creative ghetto and on to a better assignment. Your performance counts and the agency invests quite a bit of money into this show, so they expect results.
We used to joke that for an ECD to survive a bad year at Cannes, he needs to hold on until October. If you can do that without being “resigned” then you will still be invited to the agency Christmas party.
Where does the buck stop on scam in your view? Who’s mostly responsible for scam?
Senior management is responsible. I was responsible when I was an ECD. You can’t blame the culture or the talent we had in our department. It was me trying to hit my quota. Truth is, nobody in the network cared as long as you don’t get called out on it by anybody. Ultimately, senior management must shoulder the blame. Some of these agencies hire some serious creative power and they are proven winners.
Making “entries” to compete in Cannes is just one of their responsibilities and a massive amount of work and passion goes into it. We all knew when the deadlines were and we all knew what it took to compete at that high level. It is a blinding race to that final deadline and you must do better than just a shortlist.
Can you give some insight into the thought process that might have gone into creating the ‘I Sea’ app?
It’s a good idea actually, and maybe too good. It got a lot of attention. Using the combined force of people to comb through pages of satellite data looking to help locate people with an app and save them. Who could argue with that! But from what I am reading, the app didn’t work and something went very wrong here. This could be a case of rushing to the finish line before it was ready. Nobody is saying anything yet, so we don’t know all the facts. But I’m sure the agency knew they had a winner on their hands. They had a client, a problem and a creative solution. Yet the topic here is an emotional one given the gravity of the refugee crisis.
How do you think Singapore compares to other markets in Asia in terms of ‘scam culture’ in agencies?
I would say Singapore is well known for our “creative” show entries. We are very competitive and remain one of the most awarded countries in the region. We take it very seriously and we have the talent to deliver it. Our winning entries are not all scam ads, no way. But some of them are, and they’re pretty obvious. I was once part of this too no doubt, so what can I say.
Is there a solution for the scam issue? What will it take for it to go away?
I don’t think it will ever go away. Years ago we used to do it for fun. Sort of like hacking a show to see what we could get away with. We lost more than we won for sure. We got caught too. No big deal really because it got you noticed by more creative agencies. But later it got very serious and we all started keeping score.
At times different international shows would announce black lists, penalties and serious repercussions if you were caught. I don’t think that scared any of us, because if you covered enough bases it was worth the risk. Nobody got hurt and the worst that could happen is you waste your time and money. If you won, you got another great piece for your book and maybe a promotion.
It is an ego driven vice. The big shows know this very well. They claim to demand a clean show, but year after year we still find work that smells a little off and people keep their medals. We also see legitimate work winning and my hats off to them, respect.
In the end it’s up to the industry to end the practice. Not just claim you will then turn a blind eye when a creative team walks into your office with a mind-blowing contender in hand. You just have to make a decision to stop.
Robert Gaxiola has worked at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Bates, Batey Ads, Y&R, FCB and Ogilvy Singapore. He co-founded Mangham Gaxiola with former Ogilvy Singapore chairman Stephen Mangham in 2012, and the business was acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network to launch McGarryBowen in Singapore in July last year. He has won awards at every major show, including One Show, Clio, D&AD, Cannes Lions and Spikes.
This is @SwiftOnSecurity, the person who initially raised concerns about the fake I Sea app.
Grey scammed the client they approached, MOAS, into this. They used a non-profit trying to save lives to legitimize themselves. And it worked. MOAS has now publicly disowned Grey because of this. They reached out to me to make the statement how unhappy they were with Grey.
This is a morally bankrupt industry I’ve had my eyes opened to. I’m just a nobody who plays with computers and makes stupid jokes on Twitter. God help you people.
Regards,
ReplySwiftOnSecurity
Behind the whole scam issue is the erroneous assumption that what wins prizes is what agencies and clients should aspire to. Yes, some great work wins but self-serving cleverness and cheats win too. Best to accept creative awards are a largely worthless currency that only a fool would use when making important decisions. Beware glittering receptions.
ReplyGreat, honest remarks Rob. And while I agree that getting rid of the scam culture is a tough challenge for the industry, it is a vital one that needs to be addressed. My observation would be that it is a key factor in the increasing levels of distrust that marketers have in agencies. We hear marketers clearly caring less and less about creative awards – scam is the primary reason for this. In terms of fixing the problem, there are three parties that can make an impact. Industry associations, agency leadership and industry media. Of these, the industry associations continue to show no leadership and appear to have no opinion. Agency leadership remains for the most part silent. And Mumbrella continues to be the only channel clearly focused on the issue. A sad state of affairs for an industry where the concept of trust is so critical to its success and survival.
ReplyAfter reading this apologist and corrupt opinion piece, I don’t think I want Robert Gaxiola and the likes of him ever speaking on behalf of this industry. Lest an industry outsider like @swiftonsecurity think we all share the same views. We most certainly do not.
The one thing I’ve noticed about people who have scammed the way to the top – until they don’t need to any more, of course – is how quick they are to then criticise it.
But what have these fake stars learned by way of genuine skills on their way to the top? And what will they teach the people who look to them for inspiration? The ‘I was forced to do it’ argument is the last refuge of cowards. Keep pointing fingers up the chain until it becomes Sorrell’s fault…so no one takes responsibility.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners is one of the world’s best agencies….they do some amazing real work. In the past, scammers from Singapore have somehow managed to get a job at places like Goodby, Chiat Day LA and Mother UK. No one in these agencies threatened them with “Do scam, or else…”
It is interesting to see how long these people lasted in those jobs. The answer is between 1 month to a year. (Then they came back and became CCOs in Singapore.)
In a real work environment, scammers get exposed pretty fast.
ReplyThis is how the system works.
Previously ad agencies used to be independent…there were good and bad ones, moral and immoral ones…but they were for the most part independent.
Then big networks started buying ad agencies and bringing them under their umbrella and shared values.
Then larger holding companies started buying these networks…so there are 4 or 5 holding companies that own most of the agencies we have heard of.
Every year at Cannes these fellows have a little competition at Cannes to see who can win the most trophies. Points are given for each win, whether its gold, silver, bronze…theres even a Grand Prix trophy that gets you 50 points or something.
After adding up the points they declare a Network of the Year….and even Holding Company of the Year. So every office in a network has an awards quota to meet….or they fire people.
Thats’ what makes people do the kind of shit you have just witnessed firsthand.
ReplyThere are ECDs in Asia who win with real work. The pressure is on those trying to short cut their way to promotions and pay. Why show sympathy to them when they took the easy way out…
ReplyMy friend and I have spent over 10 years in advertising and won over 100 regional and international awards for real work i.e. digital-led integrated campaigns.
My focus is to do award winning 100% real work while CDs and ECDs tell their creative team to spend 20% of their time on real work and 80% of their time thinking of real scams for the last 15 years in Singapore.
No wonder the best work in Asia these does come from Australia (yes there is scam there too but they do the best activation campaigns), Japan and Thailand.
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