Judging of awards upsets agencies

By IRENE CHAPPLE

The Direct Marketing Association's glamour awards event is under scrutiny after members complained about the judging process.

Seven agencies complained after last year's RSVP awards - part of the Direct Marketing Awards - and spokesman Richard Bleasdale says WRC decided not renew its membership in protest.

The association has appointed an independent industry panel to audit the judging process.

It is expected to report back by next month.

Complaints were raised over a lack of transparency in the awards, how judges weighted their points system and a potential lack of impartiality.

The RSVP judging is measured on strategy, creativity, results and difficulty, with a heavy emphasis on results.

There are usually about 10 judges, split between industry players and clients, and they are instructed to make their own judgments without conferring with colleagues. Totals are then tallied to get a winner.

Bleasdale says some of the winners came as a surprise last year, and that encouraged the agencies to question the process.

Frank van der Velden, chief executive of Brave New World and an association board member, said the agencies wanted to try to understand the key factors in deciding how awards were won.

The appointment of an independent panel meant the issue was being dealt with, he said.

The members of the panel are Tom Agee, a marketing academic; Andrew Segar, former chief executive of Marketing Technologies; Giles Potter, of Great Outcomes; and Victoria Forrest, of NZ Post.

Auditors Gilligan Sheppard will audit the judging process.

Association chief executive Keith Norris said he had pinpointed some areas that might be changed, such as having independent judges rather than agency-affiliated judges.

But the process had been in place for 13 years, he said, and international judges had called it extremely rigorous.