Awards are free pitching in disguise, says Renee. Panels of future clients see your best work, top talent takes notice, and your agency’s name travels further than any media budget. Treat awards like a client: plan, resource, and measure.
It's a question that echoes through creative agencies every awards season: if awards don't directly generate revenue, why do we invest so much time, energy, and resources chasing them? The late It’s a question that echoes through creative studios every awards season: if awards don’t directly bring in revenue, why do we pour so much time, energy and precious sleep into chasing them? The late nights, the weekend work, the general exhaustion that comes with prepping entries — it can feel like a lot when you’re already stretched thinner than a cat’s patience during bath time. Yet year after year, agencies throw their hat in the ring for another cycle of awards.
Renee Hyde knows this tension well. She’s responsible for client and agency leadership at Howatson+Company, and she’s steered big, integrated clients both here and overseas. She’s seen the work, the wins and the weariness. But she also knows there’s more to awards than shiny trophies gathering dust on a shelf.
Renee doesn’t see awards as vanity projects. She sees them for what they can be when done right: smart investments in your business’s future.
"For us it's the best new business tool we have as an agency," she explains. The value isn’t just in the winning — it’s in the exposure that comes from showing up and being seen.
"For the local award shows Mumbrella B&T News, you get to present essentially to clients if you're shortlisted to eight clients on every panel. It's essentially a day of free pitching," Renee says. Suddenly, that expensive entry fee looks a lot more like a day of new business meetings — except someone else organised them for you.
The results speak for themselves. "Often after an award day of judging the phone will ring, you know, for the next month or so."
Awards also help attract the kind of creative minds you want in your corner. It’s not about bragging rights — it’s about showing people your studio backs creativity and recognises brilliant work.
"It's also the best way to employ top tier particularly creative and design talent," Renee points out. In an industry where great talent has plenty of options, that matters.
"For them to be hired in other places beyond here – not that I ever want that to happen – it's really important to attract brilliant talent to demonstrate that we believe in creativity as well," she adds. Awards aren’t just for clients, they’re for your people too.
These days, it’s not a given that your work will get seen by the industry at large. Traditional coverage has thinned out, and the media landscape is so fragmented that good work can slip under the radar.
"There's such a fragmentation of media that sometimes agency work isn't seen unless in award shows and therefore it kind of is surfaced to the industry and to clients," Renee explains. Sometimes awards are the only spotlight left.
And the game keeps changing. New categories pop up as the industry evolves.
"There are all sorts of awards. We're now entering AI awards as well which is just one more segment of awards that we've added to the list," Renee says. It’s proof that awards can adapt to celebrate new ideas and innovation, not just the usual suspects.
Of course, none of this matters if awards drain your people dry. The trick is to treat the awards process with the same care you’d give to any paying client.
"I would encourage you to be better processing how you manage your awards," Renee advises. At her agency, there’s one person whose job includes managing awards — so it’s not a mad scramble at the last minute.
"We have a single person that is responsible as part of their job description to manage the award process," she explains.
Good process means fewer all-nighters and less stress. It means planning ahead, budgeting time, and bringing in the right help when you need it.
"We invest in freelance edit resource specifically around that time so that we can have our best editors working on case study videos. We see it as a client."
They even have it all mapped out: "We know what's happening every year. We have a spreadsheet booking the resource exactly as you would designers, writers, business managers, lining up the clients as well."
When you handle awards like this — with care and clear boundaries — they earn their keep.
"It has a revenue impact from a new business perspective. So if we'd put that much energy and effort into a pitch, this is just as good," Renee says.
Of course, the real magic is in finding the balance. Awards can absolutely be worth the effort, but only if they don’t chew up your team’s wellbeing along the way. They should be part of your growth plan, not an afterthought that steals every spare minute.
Awards alone don’t pay the bills. But when you see them as a smart part of your bigger strategy — for growth, for talent, for credibility — they can help keep those bills paid in the long run. Just don’t forget to look after your people in the process. They’re the ones who make the work worth celebrating in the first place.
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Renee is responsible for client and agency leadership at Howatson+Company. She specialises in running large, integrated clients both locally (Allianz, Samsung, CBA) and globally (Marriott International, IBM, Microsoft, Google) having worked in leading agencies in Australia and New York like M&C Saatchi, CHE Proximity and Anomaly. Renee has a unique skill set having worked in various capacities including consulting, media, customer experience and communications. She has birthed, built and grown brands and is at her best with complex challenges to solve. Renee is also a mentor at the Trenches, a qualified Mental Health first aider and has been recognised by Campaign Asia as a Woman to Watch and by B&T on their Women in Media Power List. As a mother of two young girls, Renee is a passionate advocate for diversity of all forms and is constantly tired.
For the past 13 years, Sharon has worked as a Psychologist, aiming to authentically connect with people to help them feel safe and heard. She believes, if we can gain insight into why we might think, feel and behave a certain way, we can make more sense of our current lives and then, with a growth mindset of self-compassion instead of a fixed mindset of shame, we can consciously implement positive change. Sharon has a holistic approach, she is informed by Existentialism, Neuroscience, Polyvagal Theory and Attachment Science. Sharon believes if we can accept that the behaviours we developed as children were necessary for our survival and if we can understand that all the emotions we feel provide insight into our deepest values, we can live purposeful and meaningful lives. Sharon is currently working on an online program called Taking Up Space. The program empowers women who tend to default to people pleasing behaviours. The program focuses on building insight into ones behaviours, developing emotional competence (learning how to regulate and learn from all emotions we feel) as well as building courage to integrate these insights into our everyday lives so that we can live more authentically. Sharon is also a contributor to Newspaper articles (Sydney Morning Herald), Radio (ABC) and TV (Sky News, Channel 7 Sunrise), and is the Psychologist for eHarmony Australia.
Andy Wright is happiest in a well‑worn baseball cap. As founder of Never Not Creative, he rallies a worldwide community determined to make the creative industry kinder and fairer. He also steers Streamtime as CEO and co‑chairs Mentally Healthy. Different titles, same purpose: brilliant work should never cost anyone their wellbeing. Never Not Creative was born when Andy decided it was time to stand up and make the industry a better place. What started as one person calling for change has grown into a movement that shares research, sparks honest conversations, and builds practical tools that help teams thrive. Andy’s rule of thumb: protect the humans and the great work will follow. Picture a studio cat giving you a gentle nudge to stretch, breathe, and log off before the midnight oil even thinks about burning. Off the clock, Andy is dad to three energetic kids, husband to one exceptionally patient partner, and a loyal Everton supporter (character building, he insists). Whether he is championing healthier workplaces or cheering the Toffees through a tense ninety minutes, Andy believes creative success should leave everyone standing a little taller, not lying flat from exhaustion.
