So why did we choose to shift to radio this month, when we know the spots will be heard in Marin, Sonoma and other areas where we can’t possibly expect listeners to make the trip to San Jose? Well, it’s frequently a close race between cable and radio, for the simple reason that radio is so inexpensive. With radio, we may be reaching people all over the Bay Area, but we’ll be reaching the same number of San Jose consumers (if not more), as we would with a cable buy.

Of course, the switch to radio at this stage begs the question of why we launched on cable. And the answer is: visual impact and brand awareness. The cable spots allowed us to connect with our consumers in a more visual, visceral way – they provided an interaction that goes further than a radio spot can, in terms of message retention. But now that some brand awareness has been built, we’re able to leverage that awareness and gain the cost efficiencies afforded by radio, by running continuity-minded spots that feature the same tone and voice as the cable spots. Take a listen:

We recently completed the second television spot in our campaign for Capitol Volkswagen/Hyundai/Suzuki. Now, while it moves in a new direction graphically, it maintains the overall aesthetic of the first spot. And in fact our reason for recommending this direction (which we call “White World”) to the client was that it allows us to maintain a consistent look and feel as we go, while playing with visual elements of a fundamentally different nature.

We believe it’s this “changeable same-ness” that allows a campaign to develop instant recognizability, while at the same time staying fresh over months and even years.

In Bruce Mau’s “Incomplete Manifesto for Growth” the Canadian design legend plainly states “Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you.” And for a long time we felt the same way. After all, our clients are more focused on real world results. Does the work sell more products, drive more traffic, build greater brand recognition? These are the metrics by which we are really judged – not the number of gleaming gongs displayed in our office.

This may sound like a sour grapes condemnation by folks who’ve been edged out in scores of creative competitions. But that’s just not the case. We’ve won dozens of creative awards in our past lives. Take this Lombardi Sports spot for example – written and produced by Iron CD John Walsh, back when he was freelancing for Hub Strategy.

It won the whole ball of wax in the National Admark awards – and while it was certainly good for Lombardi’s business, helping to establish them as THE Bay Area sports retailer, that would have been the case whether or not it had been entered in the Addy’s. That said, when talking about awards, it’s important to distinguish what kinds of awards you’re talking about. In our opinion, creative awards like the Addy’s are nice, but mean little. On the other hand, American Marketing Association awards (alright, we just won one) mean a lot – because they are judged based on results.

So we’re not saying we shouldn’t be ego-maniacal award-mongers. We should just make sure the awards we’re winning are the right awards.