Judges
Why are the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards important?
Peter Williams, Chairman of the Judges 2009
I was delighted to be given both the honour and the opportunity to chair this year’s awards. In a world where ubiquitous products and services often prevail, good design can be used to provide innovation and differentiation. Right now, with financial constraints affecting virtually every individual and organisation, the significance of what the design industry produces has never been more important.
The submissions reflected not only the strength of the design industry – never before have we had so many winners – but also its extraordinary diversity. A testament to the creativity and hard work of so many people in numerous organisations.
Nadhim Zahawi, CEO, YouGov Plc
The UK design industry has been one of our key strengths and exports. I believe that good design is absolutely key to a successful brand. The entries this year on the whole were extremely strong and some innovative entries kept us busy debating the winners. It is a great thing, given the current economic climate, that people are still pushing the boundaries in design.
Charmaine Lovatt, Head of Brand Management, Department of Work and Pensions
Good design management is the use of design thinking at the heart of both strategic and tactical decision making - its the magic created when form and function come together to transform a product or service. The submissions were ambitious but lacking in evidence that clearly justifies the design spend. To achieve a design effectiveness award it needs to be considered at the start of a project to ensure the right measures are in place to quantify the results. Ideally a DBA award should be added to the project objectives! This is the perfect opportunity to bring design and business together to achieve great results and provide case studies that demonstrate the potential for design investment.
Philippa Butters, Head of Corporate Communications, Yell
The Design Effectiveness Awards to me are the perfect celebration of beauty meets brains. As a client I am extremely supportive of measuring the impact of a piece of communication and the DBA have been instrumental in driving the importance of measuring design effectiveness in the industry. In the current climate, measuring a return on investment has never been more important, so it’s great to see so many success stories. Long may it continue!
Serena Donne, Head of Brand and Creative Resources, Cancer Research UK
These awards continue to showcase, and keep focus on, the importance of how strategic design thinking is effectively used to get clear messages across in an increasingly noisy and media fragmented world. This is equally balanced by a healthy regard for how much it cost and ultimately was it worth it? It has been inspirational to be part of the judging panel.
Paul Sternlieb, Marketing Director, Heinz
The entries were all so varied and creative in their approach, and I was impressed by the strong results so many organisations had achieved. This clearly points to the impact that properly executed design work can have. Many of the winning entries also did a great job at showing how cross-functional and holistic their projects were, and how powerful the work can be when embraced broadly across the organisation.
DBA Judges 2009
The Judging Panel
Peter Williams
Chairman of the Judges
Charmaine Lovatt
Head of Brand Management, Department of Work and Pensions
Philippa Butters
Head of Corporate Communications, Yell
John Ashton
Head of ecommerce, Screwfix
Pippa Beswick
Supply Manager, NPI Europe Unilever
Serena Donne
Head of Brand and Creative Resources, Cancer Research UK
Douglas Lamont
Managing Director, Innocent
Carlo Belli
Design Strategist, WilliamsF1
Martine Ainsworth-Wells
Marketing Director, Visit London
Gabrielle Teague
Deputy Director of Communication, Healthcare for London (NHS)
Bernadette Kennedy
Shell Lubricants Global Marketing, Shell
Paul Sternlieb
Marketing Director, Heinz
Mark Critchley
UK Marketing Director, SSL International
Nadhim Zahawi
CEO, YouGov Plc
Michael Bates
Head of Marketing, Morrisons
Conrad Evans
Head of Internal Communications, BP
Andrew McCallum
Communications Director, Gatwick Airport
Chris Townsend
Commercial Director, 2012 Olympics
David Mercer
Head of Design, BT
Mike Tildesley
Marketing Director, RBS Insurance
