It might be decades since you left school but regardless of age, September brings with it the familiar back-to-school feeling. A seasonal moment to reflect, it’s a time to take stock and get inspired for the remainder of the year. The Gerety Awards jury members often cite the judging process as a moment of pause and fuel for creativity. Taking a look at the great work that exists and thinking about the people the work is made for. A process which helps to push the boundaries of creative excellence.

The Gerety Awards continue to redefine the standard to which advertising is held. Named after Frances Gerety, the female copywriter who coined the phrase ‘A diamond is forever’, the awards mark the first time that juries have been brought together to select the best in advertising,  all advertising, not just advertising made for women, through the female lens.

Gerety Awards jury members, Karolina Galacz, Executive Creative Director at VML Hungary and Dagmara Witek-Kuśmider, Chief Creative Director at Publicis Worldwide Poland, sat down with Nicola Kemp, Editorial Director at Creativebrief to discuss what makes great work, how to encourage clients to be brave and the importance of connecting with culture.

Creating culture first work

This year’s award-winning work saw a growing number of brands recognising the power of reflecting and representing culture.

“Advertising and culture have a long-term relationship. On one hand, advertising has always drawn inspiration from culture, playing with it, reinterpreting it. And on the other, advertising fuels culture,” explains Dagmara Witek-Kuśmider, Chief Creative Director at Publicis Worldwide Poland. She notes that the Gerety Award winning campaigns reflected this symbiosis.

Oreo’s Cheat Cookies campaign taps into gaming culture by redesigning cookies as gaming controls and creating cheat codes in games. The campaign connected with the gaming community by helping gamers and pulling on well-established gamer culture. While another Grand Prix winner, My Japan Railway encourages travellers to use rail travel by incentivising them with collectable stamps of buildings and landmarks. The stamps motivate consumers to travel by encouraging a connection with Japanese culture. These two campaigns act as examples of seamless cultural integration, yet demonstrate there is no singular way for brands to play in culture.

My Japan Railway was a favourite amongst the judges as it underlines the power of design and simplicity. Successfully proving that culture can be universal. “It evokes memories of childhood and nostalgia but also could engage people in a new way,” explained Karolina Galacz, Executive Creative Director at VML Hungary. She continues: “It finds magic in something as mundane as the daily commute.”

The power of creative storytelling

Another stand-out campaign amongst the judges was WhatsApps’ We Are Ayenda which makes use of long-form content to tell the gripping story of how the Afghan Youth Women’s National Football Team escaped from Afghanistan. “Once you start watching you don’t want to stop,” says Galacz. The campaign, which is anything other than skippable, is unique in that it sees a tech-forward brand utilising the power of long-form content in documentary filmmaking.

“The film is effectively a product demo, showcasing the features within Whatsapp that were literally a matter of life or death in this true story” adds Galacz. Finding unique stories that bring to life a brand or product that also aligns with business objectives creates the most impactful narratives.

Witek-Kuśmider shares that craft-based work is trending. “We see more and more beautiful campaigns that go back to the routes of advertising, hire artists and cherish the culture and the craft,” she says.

Despite conversations that position purpose at odds with profit, Witek-Kuśmider believes that purpose-driven advertising is thriving. The work in the Gerety Awards continues to see brands stand for something and engage in important matters. Campaigns engage communities and creators. “The research shows that it's still important to people that brands stand for something,” adds Witek-Kuśmider.

Power of perspective

“Gerety is not only bringing in the female perspective but those of people from different cultural origins,” says Witek-Kuśmider, sharing the importance of the power of perspective and the unique opportunity the Gerety Awards has to encourage people to see things differently. 

She continues: “It really enriches the valuation process and chooses the campaigns that are truly impactful, seeing more context and perspective from others.”

Pointing to the campaign from Equal Pay Day, It’s handy to have a dick Galacz shares that the female lens is important in shifting the mindset and challenging bias in sectors that have been long dominated by men. “Whether you have a dick or a vagina you can create the work, and you are a consumer,” Galacz adds.

The campaign is also an example of how purposeful work can also be humorous. At a time when consumers and industry folk alike are crying out for more joy, the pair share that humour is making a comeback, but there is more to do

“A lot of us are encouraging our clients to be a little bit more brave and embrace humour,” shares Galacz. Yet, growing fear amongst brands of getting things wrong can lead to cautious decision-making. Relationship building therefore is a key factor in creating great work.

“If you have in your client a real partner, talk, discuss and make sure it's not a one way relationship,” says Witek-Kuśmider. She continues: “That's how you convince your clients to do braver work, do something that is outstanding and have fun.”

The greater risk is always creating more bland and forgettable work. As Galacz explains: “The Work that we awarded were risks well taken’. While it’s important to take risks, the ones that pay off are taken in an educated manner. “There’s no creativity without taking a risk so there needs to be trust,” she says.

Creating the conditions for creativity to thrive

“Staying inspired as a creative is essential,” says Witek-Kuśmider. She continues: “It’s the fuel that drives innovation that keeps ideas fresh” Finding ways to stay inspired to create fresh work such as taking part in judging the Gerety awards is important to puncture the day to day and prevent yourself from falling into old patterns.

In a fast paced industry where culture is constantly changing Witek-Kuśmider shares that it is essential to stay connected to new things, ideas and experiences. She finds inspiration from a wide range of sources but cites ‘talking to real people’ and her teenage sons as the most important source of inspiration. She reminded the audience that it is important to remember that the content brands and agencies create is for real people.

Galacz shares that we are at a unique point in time in the workplace when Gen Z are entering and bringing with them fresh ideas. She encourages finding moments of connection and learning from one another. “It all comes down to culture for agencies. If you have a culture where you make space for accidental moments for people to learn from each other and connect -  that’s growth and how we inspire each other,” she adds.

Encouraging moments of connection in the workplace and in places within culture, the pair embrace a mindset of continual learning. They shared the importance of learning from others no matter their profession or industry. Remembering to keep looking outward, taking better risks and building strong relationships are the actions that can create the kind of boundary pushing work cleaning up at The Gerety Awards.