Brand Team of the Year is an interesting category to score. Judges are exposed to a number of brilliant brands and their creative strategies, and like in the case of EVEN Creative Founder Dan Wilkinson, there will always be something amazing to learn from those submissions.
Dan's biggest and most important advice, however, goes beyond the merits of any single given project: be human. Be yourself. Don't do a copy and paste job with your entry, strive to showcase your personality and put some quality time into the copy you're sending with your submission. It makes all the difference.
For this Judge Spotlight, we are catching up with Dan to discuss the top tips to a winning entry – and what it means to take part in the Annual awards.
Annual 2021 is accepting standard submissions until 27th May. Enter now to grab your slice of creative immortality!
What feels unique about judging in The Annual?
The range of people involved in judging - talented folks from all levels and from across the full spectrum of agencies, brands and organisations. Also the opportunity to share thoughts and insight with fellow judges through the judging portal.
How did it feel like to be a judge for the Creativepool Annual Awards?
A real honour - I had it in my LinkedIn title for a while - and a privilege to be judging such great work.
Will you be joining the panels again in the future?
Absolutely. If you’ll have me again!
Can you tell us more about your 2020 category and what impressed you the most about the submissions you scored?
Amazing brands doing brilliant work. The consistent excellence of work was the thing that wowed me most.
What did you love about the Creativepool community and the entrants you scored?
A bit like the judges, I love the breadth of talent involved. A number of brands I really wasn’t paying much attention to are now firmly on my radar as a result.
What advice would you share with agencies and individuals looking to grab a prize?
Don’t just do a copy and paste job with your entry. Take the time to write something special that really captures what you or your work is all about and why you feel you/it should be considered for the prize. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, too.
How do you feel Covid has impacted the creative landscape in 2020?
There’s no doubt it’s had a massive impact on everyone from large businesses and agencies to independents like myself. Just putting food on the table became everyone’s mission. In lots ways I think that will have helped to focus a lot of minds and streamline the way things are done. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we can’t afford to be complacent and that’s surely a good thing for creativity going forwards.
What are your hopes for 2021 and beyond?
To see green shoots (which there suddenly seem to be a lot of) turn into mighty trees.
What is your most exciting project in the next year?
I have a few really interesting things lined up but one is set to have a huge impact on the sustainable delivery and logistics space which is definitely something to be excited about.
