Nobody Said That Winning Was Easy…
When we sit down to write presentation decks, deciding if we should describe STENCIL as a creative agency that is ‘defiantly – almost-wilfully –un-award-winning’ is the starting point for every client pitch we put together.
It’s clearly a joke. We don’t include the line, ever. And that’s because it’s actually a bit mean. Definitely a dig at the whole idea of awards, in what is the almost-wholly subjective world we as a business operate within. It’s really our own sniffiness projected on other businesses, unlike ours, that are actually deemed good enough to win prizes. Impartially. If we’re honest it’s not something we like about ourselves. Competitiveness overstepping the mark into mean-spiritedness.
Winning a ‘magazine Oscar’ at the BSME Awards on a Tuesday night in November won’t ever be a gamechanger for STENCIL. Because the agency is built on firmer, less abstract ground. Its purpose isn’t to win awards, it’s to offer accelerated and meaningful opportunity to young creative types. And as many of them as we can fit in our little boat. As often as we can toss them a life vest.
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Winning an award – received on behalf of the team by creative director, Sam Bowles – for a project that every single one of the business’ jobs touches on – felt particularly gratifying. To, then the next morning, see our success’s ripples draw so many positive comments from so many people around our business was the icing on the cake. It’s not why we do what we do. But it still feels a whole heap better than the alternative. And what we do is clearly not unnoticed. That’s nice to think about.
Anyway, congratulations to all of the nominees on what felt an amazing night at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn. Special thanks also to supermodel Naomi Campbell for the namecheck.
*she didn’t namecheck us on the night. Or any night. But she was in attendance.
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The British Society of Magazine Editors Judging Committee said:
