Marketing Agency Launches Award Programme Just to Win It Themselves
Auckland-based creative agency Flank & Muddle has announced the launch of its own internal awards programme, The Muddies, designed explicitly to “recognise world-class creativity within a 12-metre radius of the Biscuit Table.”
According to the official press release, the Muddies will include 43 categories, ranging from Best Use of Helvetica in a Strategy Deck to Most Emotionally Resonant Stock Image of a Diverse Friend Group Eating Salad. The eligibility period? “Literally anything we remember doing in the past year,” says Chief Creative Commander, Brett Faulkner, who once designed an entire brand campaign based on his dog’s Instagram aesthetic.
“When we saw we weren’t short-listed for anything at Cannes or Axis this year, we thought, why let others define brilliance?” said Faulkner, while polishing a home-laminated trophy shaped like a QR code. The judging panel will consist entirely of mid-level creatives who “weren’t on the actual projects but are good at nodding seriously in meetings.”
To maintain impartiality, agency leadership has mandated a double-blind judging process, where all entries are anonymised and then strongly hinted about to the judges over Slack. Winners will be announced during the quarterly Friday afternoon drinks, also known as ‘mandatory fun o’clock.’
Faulkner insists this isn’t about ego. “It’s about culture,” he said, while custom-ordering a branded popcorn machine for the awards ceremony. “Our bar is incredibly high. Possibly too high. We had to move it last week. It was blocking the whiteboard where we write our mantras.”
The Muddies are already accepting entries, which need to be submitted via a Google form that breaks halfway through. Entry fee: one unsolicited compliment to the office manager.
According to the official press release, the Muddies will include 43 categories, ranging from Best Use of Helvetica in a Strategy Deck to Most Emotionally Resonant Stock Image of a Diverse Friend Group Eating Salad. The eligibility period? “Literally anything we remember doing in the past year,” says Chief Creative Commander, Brett Faulkner, who once designed an entire brand campaign based on his dog’s Instagram aesthetic.
“When we saw we weren’t short-listed for anything at Cannes or Axis this year, we thought, why let others define brilliance?” said Faulkner, while polishing a home-laminated trophy shaped like a QR code. The judging panel will consist entirely of mid-level creatives who “weren’t on the actual projects but are good at nodding seriously in meetings.”
To maintain impartiality, agency leadership has mandated a double-blind judging process, where all entries are anonymised and then strongly hinted about to the judges over Slack. Winners will be announced during the quarterly Friday afternoon drinks, also known as ‘mandatory fun o’clock.’
Faulkner insists this isn’t about ego. “It’s about culture,” he said, while custom-ordering a branded popcorn machine for the awards ceremony. “Our bar is incredibly high. Possibly too high. We had to move it last week. It was blocking the whiteboard where we write our mantras.”
The Muddies are already accepting entries, which need to be submitted via a Google form that breaks halfway through. Entry fee: one unsolicited compliment to the office manager.