LONDON, UK — President of BBDO Worldwide Andrew Robertson and Chief Creative Officer David Lubars have joined with WPP CEO Mark Read and WPP Global Chief Creative Officer Rob Reilly in providing financial support to The Caples Awards 2021.
The Caples Awards is a show run by creative people for creative people. Its aim is to recognise and reward creative ideas that sell because the founders and the juries know how difficult it is to do.
In 2020, in response to the Covid-19 crisis, the custodians of The Caples, Patrick Collister and Duncan Gray, took the decision to make The Caples free to enter.
In 2021 they have decided to keep The Caples free because this creates a level playing field on which small agencies, even freelancers, can compete with the networks.
In addition, it gives The Caples creative integrity. Run by creative people for creative people. While the show was not created in 1978 to make money, rather to celebrate great ideas, The Caples needs some money to function.
In what looks already to be a record year for both the number and quality of entries from agencies around the world, there are costs incurred in processing the thousands of elements and preparing them for the jury.
Patrick Collister says, “In a year of disruption we are delighted that both WPP and BBDO are encouraging us to be disruptors too. We believe the old model of the awards show is not just expensive but inequitable and, in times of economic uncertainty, unjustifiable. At a time when creativity is said to be in crisis, it is heartening that the creative community is coming together to champion the transformative power of ideas.”
For WPP, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Laurent Ezekiel said, “It is our pleasure to support this initiative given our laser focus on creativity.”
