Behind the scenes: what judges really look for in creative work
Now Go Create's Claire Bridges talks with a few of our prestigious judges for the Creative Moment Awards 2025 to determine what they hope to find in a winning entry.
With awards season in full swing, the volume is rising on questions like: what makes a creative idea award-winning? How do judges decide what is truly exceptional when the stakes and the standards are so high?
As a judge for the Creative Moment Awards this year, and many other competitions over the past decade, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on what it really takes to stand out and how hard it can be to judge creativity objectively.
So, I spoke to three brilliant fellow judges, Kim Allain (associate creative director, Golin), Greg Double (creative director, Burson), and Gemma Moroney (co-founder and behaviour designer, Shook) to explore how they evaluate work and what they look for when casting their votes. I also spoke to Arif Haq, who created the award-winning Creative Ladder for Heineken, about whether it’s possible to codify creativity.
This article shares a peek behind the scenes, featuring insights from our conversations. If you’re entering work into this year’s awards or want to sharpen your ability to create and assess impactful ideas, I hope it resonates.
You can listen to the full episode of the Now Go Create podcast here, wherever you get your pods.
“I look at the authenticity of it… I really want to dig into the why.”
Kim Allain, associate creative director, Golin
Kim’s ethos values the truth at the heart of the work and she’s not afraid to double down on entries that feel fake in any aspect.
“I look at the authenticity of it. My thing is like, how do we dig underneath that and see what impact it had, to see that it was relevant to the audience it was speaking to, to see if the creative actually had kind of bigger standing in the world rather than just something that was done for an award entry… I look at the strategy because as much as I’m a creative, I have a why. And I really want to dig into the why have we done this?”
A lot is written and discussed about embedding an idea in culture, and I love this because it reminds us that it’s important that brands have permission to play in the spaces they enter. Who did it reach? What did the work achieve? And why did it matter now? All great questions to consider.
“You’ve got to make the judges fall in love with the idea.”
Gemma Moroney, co-founder and behaviour designer, SHOOK
“When you’re judging 30 entries and half are genuinely good, the ones that win are the ones you fall in love with. The ones that stick with you long after the judging is over.”
This quote really landed with me. Gemma was talking about the emotional resonance of great creative ideas. That moment when you read a line, see a visual, clock the insight and the results and your gut says yes, as well as your head.
But it’s all about balance as Greg points out, you want the intellectual, logical confirmation too: “I love the idea of less guessing, more knowing. I’m pitching less on ‘this is a vibe’ and more on ‘this will shift something meaningfully.’”
Don’t let Gemma’s soft side fool you though. As a planner she contributed to AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework, to help PR pros to plan and evaluate effectively (you can find it here).
“If it can be nailed in a line, it’s a good idea.”
Greg Double, creative director, Burson
Greg shared his shorthand for judging ideas: “If it can be nailed in a line, it’s a good idea.”
He expanded on that with a nod to headline writing and clarity:
“That comes down to - I grew up in trad PR and that meant a headline. But my argument would always be: the headline is not… don’t think headline in The Sun or The Times, it’s think headline as your key bit of copy that explains the idea.”
That’s a test I use too. If you can’t explain your campaign’s core thought in a clear, compelling sentence, it’s probably not sharp enough yet. The best ideas don’t need layers of explanation. They hit.”
“We clap for ourselves in awards, but did it penetrate outside our circle?”
This is something Kim Allain asks herself, reminding us that awards shouldn’t be echo chambers:
“We clap for ourselves in awards, but did it penetrate outside our circle? That’s the real test of impact.”
It’s so easy to get caught in the bubble of industry recognition. But did real people care? Did your audience see the work, engage with it, talk about it, share it, change behaviour because of it? That’s a much higher bar.
A judge’s confession: Sometimes discomfort is a good thing
There are times when I’ve reviewed work that jarred or made me feel uneasy. But over time, I’ve learned that discomfort can be a signal – it’s sometimes but not always - a red flag.
The best creative ideas often challenge our assumptions. They show us something we hadn’t seen. If you feel a little off balance when reviewing your own idea, or someone else’s don’t immediately back away. Ask yourself why. Maybe it’s because you’re on to something.
A study from Cornell University backs this up. Researchers found that people associated words like “vomit,” “poison,” and “agony” with creative ideas. Extreme? Yes, but also revealing. Creative ideas are, by definition, novel and novelty makes people uncomfortable. The study found that people tend to favour practical ideas over creative ones, simply because creativity brings uncertainty. And that uncertainty triggers resistance.
So, if your work feels like it’s pushing boundaries, and you’re not sure whether it will be embraced that might be the best sign yet that you’re doing something worth pursuing.
As you prepare to submit work to the Creative Moment Awards (deadline 20th June), ask yourself:
Is the idea clear, compelling and easy to grasp?
Is it based in a cast-iron insight?
To quote Gemma “does it make you feel excited and a little bit nervous?"
Do the collars and cuffs of the objectives and the results match?
Is it authentic?
Will it stick in the minds of judges once they close their laptops?
If yes, then back yourself. You might just have something we’ll fall in love with.
Listen to the full Now Go Create podcast episode out on 4th June ‘Imagination and maths’, how to judge creative ideas, including practical frameworks, wherever you get your pods, including Apple.
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