I found out yesterday that Zopa won a Webby award. Which made me happy.
I’m not normally all that excited about awards. Having been on the judging side a couple of times you start to see how ‘the system’ works. And to be honest I think that a lot of the work Poke do isn’t really ‘award fodder’. The Webby’s are slightly different. The judges come from a wider base, the entry process doesn’t allow you to submit a jazzy film to explain why you should win. It’s basically just the URL to the site. The judges then have to figure out if, and why, it’s good.
I know that the Zopa win isn’t just down to Poke. It won because it’s an interesting idea (that hopefully we helped to express in an appropriate way).
In many respects it was a dream job for us. We got to work with a brand that had an awesome tone of voice and heaps of personality, as well as it being a proposition that’s totally right for now. And that’s not to mention the team we got to work with…
I’m not saying that working with a startup is easier. It has its own set of challenges: everyone is very close to the brand and has a strong opinion on everything and they work in startup time (i.e. it needs to happen now). But the energy and enthusiasm that an entrepreneurial team generates is really motivating.
Without wanting to miss anyone at Zopa out. Sarah, Justin, Dave, Tom, James, Tim and the sadly missed Richard we thank you all for everything.
Congratulations.