Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Tonight, Capstrat clients were up for awards at the Triangle Addy Awards and the national PRWeek Awards. I, along with a gang of co-workers went to the Addys at the new Durham Performing Arts Center while Ken represented us in New York at Tavern on the Green with several hundred random PR people. Who do you think got the better assignment?

Here are my personal highs and lows from tonight's industry awards doubleheader.

The high's

First highlight was seeing long-time colleague and veteran copywriter Mindy Lance attend her first Addy Awards ceremony. She's won many awards over her career and this year she took home the gold for a Siemens Medical promotion.

Then there was the irony of winning a Best of Show Addy, innovative media for our Duke Energy carbon offset guerilla marketing campaign that some would call public relations. This was especially sweet after the event's opening video poked fun at Capstrat questioning whether it's really an ad agency. It looks like defying traditional agency labels gets results and wins awards.

I loved seeing all of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered. television spots win. Was it just me or was their a hush over the audience when the Reena testimonial aired?

And, I had to laugh when Lindsey Bennett and Anna Adlard, co-workers and Addy committee members rushed us into the auditorium, saying the event had a "hard stop." Lindsey and Anna would be the folks starting the orchestra music when presenters go on too long at the Academy Awards.

The low's

It was impossible to escape the economic challenges facing our industry, particularly seeing several good folks from RBW who are "in transition" following the agency declaring bankruptcy. I appreciate their spirit in celebrating their work that won.

Then, there was the mild disappointment when the Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered. campaign lost out for PRWeek's best public sector campaign to a campaign for the FDIC. The truth is it's an honor for TRU to be one of the top five campaigns in the country. If I've learned anything about awards it's that the judges often favor current topics. I guess convincing 34,000 Tobacco Road teens not to smoke doesn't compare these days with deposit insurance. But hey, I'm not bitter.

So those are my highs and lows. Now for the credits. A big thanks to all the folks at Capstrat who helped with the Ad Club and Addy Awards this year -- Lindsey Bennett, Elizabeth Hipps, Anna Adlard and Melissa Ilardi. And, I would be remiss if I did not give props to former Capstrat colleague Billy Warden who emceed the Addys. It's a tough job and he did it well.

As I drove home I found myself reflecting on how Capstrat fared. The Addys are pretty meaningless since results are not considered in the judging, but I can't help but compare us to other agencies.

Here's where I net out. There were agencies with more highly-produced work and agencies that scored a lot of wins in a single category or for one campaign. But what struck me about Capstrat is that no agency matches our range of work. We won for a public service television campaign, B2B sales promotion, consumer guerilla marketing, interactive Web promotion, an air quality static cling and a public health presentation.

I often say that Capstrat is "best all around" and I think these awards proved me right.

Note: Karen wasn't counting, so she didn't realize that Capstrat took home nine awards in the 2008 Addy Awards, more than any other agency.

It's awards season once again. Agency people all dressed up or studiously dressed down gathering for insufferably long events filled with polite chatter, bad food, cheap drinks and tired jokes.

But this year is guaranteed to be different. In ways both obvious and not so much. Half-filled ballrooms and a subdued atmosphere. Awkward questions about the state of business and uncertain answers. Winning campaigns from clients that stopped spending. Thoughts of laid off colleagues who did the good work but aren't around to share in the recognition. And, the unsettling speculation about who accepts awards for agencies no longer in business.

In this year of economic turmoil, the obvious may overshadow the fundamental changes in the industry. While there'll be some new categories for social media and viral campaigns, this year's awards programs will still overwhelmingly focus on traditional media. And that's a problem for an industry that is struggling to demonstrate value.

It's hard to get excited about old-school public relations campaigns when major market dailies are shutting down. How relevant is a highly-produced television commercial with no measurable results? What's the point of a beautiful Web site at the expense of user experience?

No doubt there'll be plenty of folks at these awards shows tweeting, texting and blogging. I just hope they look up from their iPhone long enough to see the end of an era.

Editor's note: Capstrat is a finalist for PRWeek's Public Sector Campaign of the Year and has multiple contenders for tonight's Addy Awards.