Damian Devaney: ‘Access to the Effies is an opportunity for Irish creative agencies’

The Effies are known by advertisers and creative agencies the world over as the gold standard in marketing effectiveness awards. For more than 50 years they have rewarded the cream of creative campaigns, recognising any and all forms of marketing that contribute to a brand’s success.

This year IAPI, the representative body for Irish advertising, introduced Effie Awards Ireland and appointed industry guru Damian Devaney as jury chair for its inaugural year.

For Devaney, a marketing transformation specialist, the fact that the Effies exist to recognise the transformative impact of marketing made it a perfect fit. “It is the world’s most renowned effectiveness awards system,” he says, “and, at 50 years old, a tried and trusted methodology.”

To give some indication of the standard involved, with the Effies if no entry is regarded as being of sufficient merit, no award is given. Imagine that at the Oscars. As its name suggests, the Effies are about one thing only – effectiveness.

“There is no place to hide with the Effies and you can’t come up with a good campaign through luck,” says Devaney. “The juries want to see the strategy behind it and they want to see the outcomes. It’s about delivering results. I wanted to be part of that.”

Delivering results is what Devaney has done throughout a marketing career that began, perhaps surprisingly, at a disco.

While a student of European Studies at the University of Limerick, he co-founded a club night. It wasn’t so much a lightbulb moment as a pulsating strobe. “I straightaway loved that mix of commercial and creativity,” he recalls.

He got his start at Rathborne Candles in Dublin, the world’s oldest candle manufacturer, before moving to loo roll maker Georgia Pacific. “The hard yards,” he laughs. That company, which produces commodities such as plastic bags and tissues, taught him the fundamentals of shopper behaviour.

World-class work 

Keen to move to a sector where “brands were king”, Devaney next went to Gilbeys of Ireland, where he worked on pioneering global brand Baileys. “That was my big break,” he says. From there he became Guinness marketing manager for Diageo, where he was part of a team that successfully called time on a two-decade slide in sales.

He was helped by initiatives such as Guinness’s famous James’s Gate Christmas TV advert, which he led. “We broke nearly every rule in the book with that. There’s no product in it, because it’s one minute past 12 on Christmas Eve. We shot it in a timeless fashion and, though people love the snow, the score is the hero.”

Diageo developed a world-class marketing methodology during Devaney’s time there. It was a formative experience for him and for so many Diageo alumni, many of whom have gone on to head up Ireland’s top creative agencies. “Diageo was at the forefront of training marketers in Ireland,” he says.

From there Devaney moved to Coca-Cola, whose portfolio he restored to growth within 18 months.

Effecting business transformation through the marketing department means training up teams to seek out and understand new consumer insights. Unearthing purchasing motivations, or hesitancies, can be the key that unlocks transformation across an entire organisation.

“You effect change through a brand first, then through a portfolio, then through the company and, ultimately, the international organisation,” he says.

While marketing director at O2, Devaney’s team unlocked just such an insight, one that explained what was inhibiting mobile prepay customers from moving to contracts – fear. That helped to drive new product development, which ultimately enabled O2 to become Ireland’s leading post-pay seller for the first time.

The Smurfit culture is phenomenal; it's the most high-performance organisation I've seen

“Marketing is not selling,” Devaney says. “It is the creation of demand for sales today, and sustainably builds equity for demand tomorrow.”

Because of their market knowledge, marketing departments are an engine for both sales growth and organisational transformation. They know not only who buys from  you but who buys from your competitors – and, crucially, why.

This depth of knowledge was again in evidence during Devaney’s time as Group VP marketing and communications at Smurfit Kappa, the work of which he is most proud. In his time with the box maker he led a transformation initiative that spanned 34 countries and helped the group to unlock hitherto untapped value.

“The Smurfit culture is phenomenal; it’s the most high-performance organisation I’ve seen. They knew they were regarded as a commodity but that in reality, in terms of innovation, sustainability and the circular economy, they should be up at the top of the value chains.”

By rolling out the Open the Future and Better Planet Packaging initiatives, Smurfit provided customers with sustainable alternatives to plastics and helped them meet their own corporate and social responsibility targets.

By opening an innovation centre at Schiphol Airport, customers could fly in to see immediately (through the use of eye tracking technology and volunteer consumers) the impact of packaging solution A over packaging solution B.

Given that 72 per cent of product purchasing decisions are made at the point of purchase, getting the right packaging is key. Smurfit helped its clients to de-risk their new packaging design decisions.

Throughout his career, Devaney has always found time for passion projects, such as helping transform Connacht Rugby, working with a team of volunteers equally committed to boosting its fortunes. By the time they  finished the team was back on top, winning the Pro 14 in 2016.

Today he is senior partner with TBV Global, an international brand transformation specialist. He is also the founder of DSquared, a consultancy that works with business leaders who want to transform how their companies are marketed.

We ended up with three Irish agencies. Not because they were Irish – in a public company that just won't wash – but because they were the best

The launch of the Effie Awards here provides Irish creatives with an appropriate platform from which to showcase their work internationally, Devaney says. “Access to the Effies is an opportunity for Irish creative agencies to be part of a recognised system that builds reputations globally.”

From the calibre of the creative teams that have delivered for him time and again throughout his stellar career, Devaney knows that Irish agencies are well placed to win golds.

Take his experience at Smurfit Kappa.

“The scale of that work was huge,” he says. “Thirty-four countries were all going on the same journey, so we needed to find the most brilliant creative advertising, design and digital agencies in the world to work with. We ended up with three Irish agencies. Not because they were Irish – in a public company that just won’t wash – but because they were the best.”

Register now for the Effie Awards Ireland GOLD Showcase, a free live broadcast event taking place on November 19th,  at iapi.ie/events/effie-awards-ireland-gold-showcase.

Ireland: Where Creative is Native

This IAPI initiative promotes Ireland as a Centre of Excellence for the commercial creativity industry.

Ireland is a country where being creative is second nature; world-renowned for its writers, artists, poets, musicians and all-round change-makers. These talents spill into the commercial creative world of advertising, design and communications.

IAPI believe that the time has never been more opportune for the sector to grow its international reach. For brand owners looking to launch into the European market, Ireland is now a viable and agile alternative, aside from being the only English-speaking country left in the EU.

No longer do brand marketers seek creative expertise abroad –  they know they can work with the global best right here in Ireland. Domestic and International brands such as An Post, AIB, Vodafone, SuperValu, Allianz, Nissan, Lidl, Jameson, Diageo and Toyota  are creating world-beating communications using Irish creative and media agencies.

Discover IAPI’s Creative is Native initiative at www.creativeisnative.com