Following consultation with Effie Worldwide, the IAPI Board have made the difficult, yet necessary decision to postpone the inaugural Effie Awards Ireland until 2021.
Effie Awards are going ahead in countries where entries are already being processed but most of the regional Effies scheduled for Q3/Q4 this year are in doubt. No gala events are being held and the judging and awards are all happening online.
“For the Irish industry IAPI feel it the best approach, given the current, difficult circumstances and the associated pressures on the marketing community. Moving to 2021 will give us the opportunity to showcase our marketing effectiveness strength and capability, when we need it most.” says Shenda Loughnane, President IAPI and Group Managing Director, Dentsu Aegis.
For the purposes of clarity please note that IAPI:
- will be extending the time period for entries to cover the past 3 years.
- will do their utmost to schedule the awards so that the 2021 winners can take part in the Best of the Best in the same year.
- will add a Covid 19 category so they can contain these entries separately.
“While we’re very disappointed that we can’t run this vital marketing effectiveness programme for you this year, we will be continuing with other, important initiatives to keep our industry active and engaged. Cannes Young Lions is being judged at the moment even though they won’t get to go until next year and we plan to continue with Cannes Grey Lions in the Autumn”, says Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI. “Furthermore, the IAPI Board are working hard to come up with other exciting initiatives to showcase our industry through other means so watch this space…”
Effie Awards Ireland was due to hold its’ inaugural year in 2020 with a Gala Awards scheduled for Sept this year. The first deadline for entries was to be due at the end of May.
Effie Ireland sponsors; RTE Media Sales, Twitter, Wide Eye Media, An Post Commerce and Pluto will continue to support the programme for 2021.
