The Zephyr Awards finally reward advertising for its persuasive power rather than simply its looks or cleverness. Judging is based on the advertisements’ ability to convince people to change their behavior.
(PRWEB) December 14, 2005 -- Entries are now being accepted for the Zephyr Awards, a new creative competition out of Stumptown, a city known for major players like Nike, Wieden+Kennedy, Columbia Sportswear, and Borders, Perrin and Norrander.
The Zephyr Awards finally reward advertising for its persuasive power rather than simply its looks or cleverness. Judging is based on the advertisements’ ability to convince people to change their behavior – rather than relying on broadly-and loosely-defined criteria like creativity and visual appeal. This unique focus has resulted in a different approach to selecting judges. In addition to industry professionals, judges will include a high school student, college student, homemaker and blue collar worker.
Many ads are cute or funny, but the consumer can’t remember the sponsors. Judging for the Zephyr Awards is based on criteria related to changing knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, all of which are necessary for behavior change to take place. The judges evaluate entries by answering one underlying question, “Would this ad change my opinion about the product or move me to action?”
“Most advertising competitions look at what advertising professionals enjoy about their business, instead of what achieves a client’s objectives in the marketplace,” said John Michelet, president of Ad-Power, Inc., and founder of the Zephyr Awards. “The Zephyr Awards are outward-focused, looking at the factors that motivate prospective customers to purchase a product or service.” The most important question an agency should ask is “How will this ad perform for our client?”
“Most advertising awards focus on clever writing, visual impact and humor.” Michelet noted. “While there’s nothing wrong with advertising that’s entertaining or unusual, those are not the reasons advertisers invest money in advertising. They advertise because they want to change the minds of target customers, and get them to make a purchase.”
The Zephyr Awards are focused on rewarding advertising that achieves these objectives. Advertisers spend billions every year, usually with no idea if their investment paid off. The Zephyr Awards hold advertising professionals accountable for serving the interests of their clients.
The competition is open to individuals, agencies, corporate in-house operations and college students nationwide. Honors will be given for individual ads and campaigns in all forms of media. Deadline for entries is February 17, 2006. Entry packets are available at zephyrawards.com.
About Ad-Power, Inc.
Ad-Power, Inc. is a consulting and training firm that helps advertising agencies and corporate advertising managers increase the effectiveness of their advertising by implementing standards and processes demonstrated to improve the persuasive power of advertising. Biography of John Michelet available.
About Portland Oregon.
Portland Development Commission sponsored a study of Portland’s creative services industry and found that firms in the advertising field are growing twice as fast as the regional economy as a whole. With it’s diversity and convenience, Portland is exactly the kind of place where creative genius likes to hide out. Firms here have become a sizable and sophisticated design culture. From this culture come the Zephyr Awards.
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