Big Chip Awards Guest Blog from Stan Communications

Alex Wood, Account Manager, Stan Communications
The suspense hanging over Manchester this week is tangible. The Big Chip
Awards are causing more chewed fingernails than ever before, but it’s not just
Manchester agencies sat on the Big Chip website hitting refresh. There are a
growing number of agencies outside the hubs of Manchester (and Liverpool)
hoping for a nomination.
For those businesses sat outside the sprawling cities, the Big Chip Awards are
perhaps even more exciting. Merely to be nominated for an award puts the
agency on the map – quite literally, with Big Chip’s map of entries. From this we
can see that agencies as far north as Carlisle have put themselves forward for
awards. Without too much topographical research, it seems that the Big Chip
Awards have the largest catchment area of any such award organisation in this
category in the UK.
One phenomenon which The Big Chip Awards seem to be striking out against is
that of post code facism: clients turning their nose up at agencies that are outside
the big cities. It is clear from last year’s awards alone that some of the most
prolific talent in the North West resides beyond the confines of Manchester and
Liverpool’s city limits. The sheer geographical diversity of agencies in the North
West is staggering, and really highlights the notion that location is irrelevant to
creativity.
The number of entries this year has knocked the Big Chip team flat over, so much
so that the nominations shortlist was postponed by over a week. Far from a
criticism, this just goes to show how the Big Chip Awards have become the
benchmark for digital standards in the North West and beyond, with so many new
businesses and freelancers competing shoulder to shoulder with long-established
corporations for recognition of their work. The digital market develops so
dynamically that every year provides completely new standards of excellence, and
the winning entries are scrutinized closely by aspiring future entrants.
Thus, Manchester Digital drives forward the already elevated quality of digital
work in the North West. In doing so, they draw attention to the talent of the
region from further afield and, as the broadcast world is looking to Media City for
the future of media, so the gaze of the digital world is drawn to the North West,
and to this year’s nominees for the Big Chip Awards.
The excitement is electric.