We had a good night at the Emirates Stadium last week. At the inaugural Drum Design Awards we came away with a total of 4 awards. Something that we’re very happy about, of course. What makes us absolutely delighted is the fact that the awards are in 3 different categories. And we mean really different categories.

First up, two gongs in experiential design for the Johnnie Walker House in Beijing and Umbro St James’s Park (in Burton upon Trent).

Next, copywriting for design, for Johnnie Walker Director’s Blend

And finally, for the real time interactive experience that is doodlr, a product of our in-house LOVE Labs initiative.

There’s a lot of navel gazing about whether you should or shouldn’t enter awards. Do they make a difference to your business? Do prospective clients care whether you’re award winners or not? Is it just vanity on the part of agencies, exploited to the full by the organisers of such events? Our answer to all of the above is ‘we don’t know’. But what we do know is that they are a great way of reminding a ridiculously talented and hard working team that all the hard work is worth it. And, in the case of last week’s haul, a great platform for us to demonstrate what we mean when we say that we find out what’s most interesting about your brand and then find the most interesting ways to communicate it. Some people don’t like the fact they can’t pigeonhole us – are we a design agency? A digital agency? An ad agency? Packaging designers? Well, yes, we do win awards for all of those disciplines, but what we’re really about is developing ideas that help brands connect with their audiences in the most creative, engaging and memorable ways possible. And then executing them with wit, craft and passion, whatever the medium.