DUBLIN – After Cawley Nea’s recent rebranding to TBWA\Dublin, the Ireland-based agency has announced another bold move–the agency will not be joining any of the local creative award shows. It will be concentrating its efforts on winning globally-recognized award shows including Cannes Lions, D&AD, and Clio.
“We want to be a world-class creative agency that just so happens to be based in Dublin. It makes sense that in order to achieve this we aim for only world-class creative awards. We want to change the height of the bar and not settle for anything less, and from what I’ve already experienced in TBWA\Dublin we certainly have the talent in every department to aim for it,” explained John Kane, the newly hired executive creative director after the agency introduced themselves as the ‘Refounders’.
“We’re not saying local creative awards aren’t relevant, what we are saying is that at this moment in time they are not appropriate to us and our ambitions for TBWA\Dublin,” he added. “I’ve been away for fifteen years and coming back into the business here you realise there’s a certain comfort level with the standard of work that’s not really healthy. When agencies are walking away with over twenty local awards in one night you really have to question the value of that to the industry and, more importantly, our clients.”
But the agency is not completely closing its doors. “For now, we are taking a break from entering local creative awards to concentrate on our higher ambitions, but we will still be very much part of the Irish industry. We still believe passionately in the work the industry bodies around Ireland do. By working with our industry colleagues we can hopefully help inspire the next generation to drive the Irish advertising industry forward,” shared Deirdre Waldron, CEO of TBWA\Dublin.
