Four Laws of Brand-Building in the Digital Age (Part 3 of 4)

Law 3: From Case Study, To Business Case

The advertising industry is obsessed with awards. Back when TV commercials and print advertising were still big (and effective), judging ads for an award show was not that complicated. You could just watch a 30-second spot or see an ad on a page, then you would give it a score. With the rise of digital, however, ads became more than just TV commercials and print ads. It’s become a complicated web of media tactics. That consequently made the process of judging ads at award shows quite cumbersome.

Enter “case study films” at award shows.

These one-to-two-minute films showcase the work in a simple and possibly attractive way to seduce and convince the judges at these award shows. Case study films, in essence, became “ads for ads.”

Beyond award shows and in various business situations, case studies are a useful way of introducing successful business examples. However, it also needs to be acknowledged that these case studies — particularly case study films — have a tendency to show off the actual case in a better light. In the advertising industry, the need for these case study films has increased so much that there are now companies specializing in making them. Some larger advertising agencies and networks even have multi-million dollar budgets to enter their work into award shows.