Close-Up: IPA Awards - IPA winners show multimedia approach pays.

Many of this year's effectiveness entries - from a record 53 agencies - talk about future brand value.

If Cannes is adland's playground for the celebration of creative work, the IPA Effectiveness Awards is the industry's attempt to highlight its accountability. At least, that was the intention when the scheme started 25 years ago.

This year, the ceremony, held at the London Hilton on Monday, received entries from a record 53 agencies, a result of the IPA opening the awards to non-member and non-advertising agencies.

It was clearly a positive change to the rules: two-thirds of the finalists had used through-the-line campaigns. The rise of integrated communications also reflects the reality of the communications market.

Multichannel marketing has been growing over the past decade, gathering pace in the past three years as a side-effect of the downturn, as clients squeeze more value out of their budgets.

But did this year's results provide any evidence that the ad industry is closer to convincing the City and clients that it is a serious business?

This year, the IPA had its first female convenor of the judges, Alison Hoad, a planning partner at Campbell Doyle Dye and a former Procter & Gamble marketer. She says: 'This year's case studies talk a lot about future brand value - communication as an investment, not just a cost.