Great ad . . . but does it actually work?

"Puppy Love", an advertisement for Budweiser that is either adorable or schmaltzy depending on your tolerance levels, came out on top in Sunday night's Super Bowl festival of commercials, but an ad that is very popular on YouTube is not the same thing as an effective one. Will this heartstrings-tugging spike in brand awareness actually help Anheuser-Busch shift beer?

In the Irish industry, advertisers and agencies that can prove a link between their recent creative work and business success are invited to apply for the ADFX awards given by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) .

IAPI, which called for entries for the 2014 ceremony this week, describes it as "the toughest awards in Irish advertising" because they celebrate those who, in the words of Orlaith Blaney, the president of IAPI, can "truly demonstrate bottom-line effectiveness".

If you can’t prove your ad resulted in increased sales or changed consumer behaviour in some way, then it’s unlikely to get any gongs.

The deadline for entries is April 25th and the shortlist for the September ceremony will be announced in June. The awards take place only every two years to give advertisers and agencies “the strongest opportunity to properly gather strong data and evidence” that their advertisement has worked.