A tide that lifts all boats

The challenge should rightly intimidate any IPA awards entrant — whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a first-timer — but it should also spark ambition and strengthen your resolve. As I often say, “If they were easy to win, there’d be no point in entering them.”

The process is as gruelling as it is rewarding, with every detail of a campaign scrutinised under a microscope. But it’s this extraordinary burden of proof that gives the IPA Effectiveness Awards their real power.

Writing effectiveness papers can have a lasting impact

Winning is, of course, a fantastic achievement, but the value of an IPA award goes beyond just the trophy (the 2024 Award winners will be revealed on October 7). Effectiveness papers are designed to report on impact, growth, and behaviour change, but the act of writing them creates these very outcomes too. The intense self-examination required to write a compelling effectiveness paper can have a lasting impact on how an agency approaches its work. It forces teams to hold their work accountable, to interrogate every decision with huge scrutiny, and to present their findings in a way that leaves no room for doubt. This process sharpens critical thinking and elevates everyday rigour, leading to better work all around.

I’m lucky enough to oversee the creative effectiveness of an agency full of incredibly talented people, and I’ve seen first-hand how writing an effectiveness paper transforms those who take on the challenge. This transformation isn’t just temporary; it sticks. The lessons learned and the skills developed during the process of writing an IPA paper become ingrained in how teams approach their work, leading to long-term improvements in creativity, strategy, and execution.

Clients will notice the difference

And this shift doesn’t just stay within the agency—it changes client relationships too. When an agency is used to the level of scrutiny and rigour required for an IPA paper, it cuts down on subjectivity and boosts the value the agency shows daily. Clients notice the difference. They can sense the confidence that comes from knowing their agency is committed to creating real payback from their investment. In turn, this leads to better relationships, more creatively powerful work and, ultimately, better results for the client.

A case in point

Our journey with Hargreaves Lansdown for its "Switch Your Money On" campaign began three years before we eventually won an IPA award for this work in 2022. From the very first planning meeting, client and agency aligned on a roadmap rooted in the elements needed for an effectiveness paper to succeed. We committed to clear business, marketing, and communication objectives, set precise effectiveness measures, adhered to marketing science principles, conducted iterative creative testing, integrated media planning, and established a measurement framework with clear accountability. We even had a signed pledge from both agency and client to prioritise effectiveness principles.

That approach had a profound impact on the agency team, the clients, and, most importantly, business growth — a 41% increase in net new clients, with Hargreaves Lansdown recognising the campaign as a monumental shift, not just in business results, but in how it approached marketing as a whole.

A way to raise standards and create growth

So, the IPA Effectiveness Awards are much more than just a way to measure success—they’re a catalyst for creating growth. They raise the bar not only for the campaigns that win but for every campaign that even tries to win. They push the agency to aim higher, think smarter, and deliver work that truly makes impact. That’s why the IPA Effectiveness Awards are so valuable to our industry. They’re the tide that raises all boats for individuals, as an agency, and for our clients. They lift the standards of effectiveness for everyone involved by driving value into the business of creativity and the work we do every day.

While the journey to winning an IPA Effectiveness Award might be likened to summiting Everest, the rewards are well worth the effort. Not only does it bring prestige and recognition, but it also drives lasting improvements in how we work, the relationships we build, and the results we achieve.

And that’s a prize worth striving for.

Ringo Moss is Chief Strategy Officer at McCann Central.

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and were submitted in accordance with the IPA terms and conditions regarding the uploading and contribution of content to the IPA newsletters, IPA website, or other IPA media, and should not be interpreted as representing the opinion of the IPA.