Every year when it rolls around to April, everyone seems to be asking themselves, are award shows really important?

The Cannes deadlines approach and a huge chunk of money goes with it, along with the submissions for the One Show, Effies, Andys, Emmys, D&ADs, and countless others. Compiling case study videos and drafting write-ups takes time, strategizing on which categories might produce the best dividends takes will power, and the whole thing requires buckets and buckets of coffee consumed in near toxic amounts.

There is an abundance of point of views regarding the importance of award shows, and it’s worth exploring further. On the one hand, award shows bring about a healthy amount of competition in our industry, pushing us to strive for greater creative excellence and showcasing the incredible work of our peers. Sometimes the only time we get to see phenomenal innovations in our industry is through award recognition, and that helps us all grow as creators, giving proper due to the pioneers among us.

But on the other hand, do award shows take away from our creative offerings? The amount of time and creative resources exhausted on preparing to showcase work that’s already been completed for a client is immense. That doesn’t even factor in the politics which seems to have everyone complaining about not receiving proper acknowledgement of their work.

Perhaps they have a point; if we place too much value in the earning of awards, maybe we are missing the purpose and the inherent competition in the game. Maybe placing value in the opinions of a few top agencies and individuals doesn’t speak to creativity at large. There are certain festivals and award shows seeking to debunk that paradigm. Take for instance the Berlin Music Video Awards (for which we are nominated this year for Martin de Thurah’s “Do It Again” for Robyn and Royksopp). Instead of establishing an elite panel of judges, they’ve opened it up to the audience to vote for the top picks in each category.

All pandering aside to award shows in which we are nominated, bringing that egalitarianism into the awards process is a nice solve for keeping the shows relevant, while allowing the best creative projects to dominate. We at The Lift have been to our fair share of award shows, lost honors, won honors, sponsored shows and beyond, and we’d like to think that there’s still something special about gathering together with our peers and honoring the best in our industry. While we don’t think that this should be the sole (or even the main) consideration for new business concerns, we all benefit from the best cream rising to the top. Why not honor it on a few select days, with some beautiful awards and a whole lot of champagne?

In the meantime, watch Martin de Thurah’s Robyn x Royksopp video above, nominated for a Berlin Music Video Award.