We are an award-winning creative agency. But do industry awards even matter?
Around the Beutler Ink virtual offices, we were really excited this fall to win four Davey Awards. Then a few weeks later, we learned we had also won two MarCom Awards as well. But what, exactly, is the value of these awards? Or any awards? What exactly does it mean to win an industry award? Does it matter, and if so, to whom?
Let’s be clear about something for a minute: We really wrote this blog to brag about winning those two MarCom awards this year. We’re proud of our accomplishment, and we want everyone to know about it. Our agency takes pride in our work, always striving to exceed our clients’ expectations. So having that work recognized as exceptional is, in a word, validating.
Now, you may be asking, “Hey loudmouth, I thought this was going to be about the value of industry awards.”
One, that’s not a question, and two, this blog is also about why industry awards matter. Let’s peel this onion and find out why.
What are industry awards?
First off, just what do we mean when we say “industry awards”? Why don’t we just say “awards”?
Basically, industry awards are recognition for excellence within a specific field of work. This is distinct from, say, an award like the Congressional Medal of Honor, or an honorary degree, or the Blue Ribbon in a talent show.
Industry awards range from incredibly niche to incredibly broad, but one thing they all have in common is that they’re judged by an impartial third party with some measure of relevant expertise.
Industry awards exist to highlight exemplary work within a given industry, not just to honor the winners but to showcase to that industry’s audience what great work looks like.
Examples of industry awards
In our line of work, the industry awards we aim for are typically those for communication, marketing, design, etc. But there are as many industry awards as there are industries. The Davey Awards, for instance, honor the best marketing, branding, design, and media work from small agencies worldwide.
The Oscars is an industry award you may have heard of, recognizing…checks notes… movies, apparently? Huh. Never would have guessed. Despite the pomp and circumstance and primetime TV slot, the Academy Awards are nevertheless industry awards.
The same goes for the Boutique Hotel Awards, which is pretty much just what it sounds like; the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards many of our hospitality clients consistently rate well in; the WebAwards for best new websites; and even the America’s Best Dentist award.
Why do industry awards matter?
So, back to our original question: Do industry awards matter? And if so, why and to whom?
As the team at MindTools puts it, awards “can boost your organization's reputation…[and] give your people a morale boost by highlighting their achievements.”
Any time your work is called out for its high quality is going to feel good; having it done by an impartial third party lends additional credibility, and when that judgment comes from an expert in your field, it carries a lot of weight.
That credibility will resonate with your audience. Maybe most people don’t really care if you won the Bearing Specialists Association Excellence Award. But you’re not interested in most people. You’re interested in the people who might want to buy Cooper split spherical roller bearings. Those are the people who will be impressed by your industry award.
Likewise, winning two MarCom awards probably doesn’t mean a lot to your average Cooper split spherical roller consumer. But for the organizations that hire Beutler Ink to help tell their stories through social media and design, these awards are a testament to and confirmation of the quality of our work.
Think about it this way: If your mom compliments your haircut, that’s nice. But if a stranger, who works as a stylist, acknowledges the craft and quality of your haircut, you are going to feel that you got a great ROI from your barber.
So, back to bragging: Here are the two awards we won!
MarCom Platinum Award:
Cheeca Lodge and Spa
We took home a Platinum MarCom award for “Social Ad Campaign” for our work with Cheeca Lodge and Spa, a long-beloved luxury resort in Islamorada, Florida, with a rich history dating back to the 1940s.
We started their Instagram account from scratch and built a following via close collaboration with hotel property and ownership management, combining user-generated content with professional assets and responsive community management. We leveraged discounts and contests to encourage hashtag adoption, and even developed “selfie stops” for the hotel, with metal signage and a physical map to encourage guests to explore the property and tag their photos.
Cheeca Lodge & Spa now has over 65,000 followers, standing out as one of the Florida Keys’ top-performing Instagram accounts. Our posts organically reach hundreds of thousands of people every month while maintaining a minimum 5% engagement rate, nearly double the industry standard.
MarCom Gold Award:
Here’s To 2021
We also won a Gold MarCom award, for “Print Media”, for our project “Here’s To 2021”. This was the latest installment of our annual illustration of the biggest stories of the year. Every December Beutler Ink recaps the past year’s news and entertainment with a single Where's Waldo-style illustration. Each edition features a different artist and theme—from Wes Anderson-style diorama to Blade Runner-esque dystopia to Garden of Earthly Delights—but they all reflect hours and hours of obsessive pop culture sleuthing. For 2021, we landed on framing the depiction with an Olympic stadium; the cardboard “fans” in the audience are a grim reminder of COVID’s ongoing impact without dominating the illustration.
It's too early to say whether its follow-up, “Here’s To 2022”, will meet with similar acclaim. But it was already featured in Adweek upon its release this month, so that's not too shabby!
Conclusion
Okay, enough bragging. You get the point—industry awards do matter. They:
Give impartial third-party validation of your work or product
Let your audience know you understand how to leverage great work for a publicity win
Offer recognition to your team for doing great work
Consider awards like reviews or social proof; they prove that you are outstanding in your field. That’s how we look at it, and that’s why we’re so proud of our wins.
And to be frank, we’d like to bring more trophies home, even better if we can do so on behalf of you and your organization. Beutler Ink is a strategic creative agency specializing in social media, design, brand strategy, and Wikipedia. Reach out and let’s see what we can win together!
