Ad Agencies and Jimmy’s Lost Cat
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After the ironic Pink Ponies case study by John St., the IPA throws another punch on agency clichés with a promo for their Effectiveness Awards.
Source: IPA.
Awards
One Thousand Casmurros
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Better than a Kindle. A PR GOLD Lion in Cannes by LiveAd São Paulo.
One Thousand Casmurros from Livead on Vimeo.
To pay tribute to one of Brazils most respected writers, Machado de Assis, the largest TV network in Brazil was launching a mini-series based on one of his books, Dom Casmurro.
Through the launch of the mini-series, we needed to build up TV Globos reputation with a new generation, disconnected from the television.
We created a website with the book and divided it into one thousand excerpts. In the website, people could choose and record pieces in real time with their webcam. We enabled a large scale collective reading.
At the same time, we hid one thousand DVDs with unique scenes in public places for people to find them and hide them again once they had seen it.
In less than a month, the reading was completed.
Influential admirers talked about it in public. 33 million viewers watched the series’ first episode. The media called it the best tribute to Machado de Assis of 2008.
Almost 106 million people were exposed to press notes related to the mini-series. The subsequent media exposure was worth the equivalent of 6,7 million dollars in advertising spend.
Osocio.org: Awards don’t feed the Hungry
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With Cannes Lions Advertising Festival starting to roll, maybe the ad people enjoying the sun and booze take a few minutes out of their time to reflect on a better way to spend their talents and convince the organization and rest of the industry on creating advertising that does make a difference, instead of using it as an excuse to get a piece of metal.
Last year, on a short Twitter exchange with Marc from Osocio on the subject of awards and social marketing, i replied:
We’re in the business of changing behaviours, not winning awards.
Fast forward to Cannes 2009, and on a great collaboration with the duo from StealOurIdeas.com, Osocio presents their draft concepts on how your brand should be used for the right reasons,
Every year hundreds of PSAs are done for the wrong reasons.
Help us to create social advertising that actually makes a difference.
The next time you catch a creative doing spoof work just to win awards, forward these concepts so he or she could get a few really noble ideas.
Croquette Awards
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Since Cannes doesn’t matter anymore, we’d better start thinking about a new kind of awards, that are somehow different from the usual creative masturbation, more in tune with the future of advertising.
Lisbon Ad School and Torke are announcing the first Guerrilla Advertising Awards, showcasing works in categories as diverse as ambush marketing, urban intervention, PR Stunt, ambient media or viral and interactive. And just to make sure guerrilla is for everyone, there’s an Old Croquette Awards, for senior creatives.
You can submit your work for FREE, as a team or on behalf of your agency, with winners announced the next July, 24th.
Disclaimer: I’ll be one of the online categories jurors
Best of the Web: One Show + Webby Awards
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In the past few days i’ve been browsing through most of the entries at the One Show and Webby Awards. Maybe one day this blog will have his own “Inspiration Awards” but until then, here’s an extensive selection of my favorite nominations:
Digital Content & New Media
- R/GA’s digital signage project for Club Nokia
- Yep, iPhone was really huge in 2008. Here’s one app for A4 Driving Challenge (appstore link), developed by Factory Labs.
- Another landmark in digital marketing for CP+B, with the Whooper Sacrifice Facebook app.
- I’m a sucker for Branded Applications. Here’s ‘Find It‘ developed by Dare Digital for Sony Ericsson, right on time for the next Summer festivals. So, where’s my tent?
- A website about design being nominated for a Webby Award on best copy/writing is no small achievement. Design Observer has my vote.
- I had to mention an ARG, with a subtle but effective sponsoring by McDonalds of ‘The Lost Ring‘, developed by AKQA.
- The Best Job In The World. This one’s a winner. By CumminsNitro Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.
INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING
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Following my last post where i mentioned your mom as a metaphor for the way Data Portability should be made easy, here’s a series of mom videos that have been making the rounds lately on the latin-american advertising community. Considering the hit that Mad Men was, we do love to look at ourselves, don’t we?
The videos, in spanish, show the mothers of creatives trying to figure out what the fancy advertising jargon really means.
Qué es para 2 madres Crispin Porter
From Briefing to Art Director, it’s a hilarious self critic.
Created to promote the IMAN awards, LaMadreQueTePario.com has also some serious take on our profession, and is based, whatelse, on PowerPoint presentations. Because, if your mother can’t figure it out, it’s impossible she’s proud of you.
Cannes Lions have left this building
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This won’t be the usual retrospective on the most famous advertising festival, only a remark on the fact that this humble site featured (and even premiered) many of them.
Halo 3 and Whopper Freakout won at Integrated .
On Cyber, Uniqlock had a important win, specially for showing that blogs are a a valid online media alternative.
Other works featured here were also winners at Cyber: Absolut Machines, A Blind Call, Who is Fermin and Orange Unlimited, Red Cross Horselstest, Coke Zero, Get Out and Play, First Few Words, Flugtag Flight Lab and Bring The Love Back.
I guess i have an eye for winners. Perhaps it’s time for the folks at Cannes to invite me as a juror?
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I’m happy to announce Sporting’s GameBox campaign as the winner of the cyber/viral category at Méribel Ad Festival.
DraftFCB Portugal also won the Outdoor/Ambient category with the Taxi campaign for Antral.
For the past 6 years the Festival promotes European advertising creativity, closing the creative year with a glimpse on the broad tendencies for the coming year. The “Cristal” main and sole award is judged by a mixed international jury made up of agencies and clients.
What a nice Xmas present 
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P.S.: Speaking on awards, I “almost” won the best advertising and Internet blog in Portugal. As co-worker Marcos said, maybe i should post more nude pictures next year.
Sapo Online Advertising Awards 2007
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Yesterday i was at the 2007 edition of the main online advertising awards ceremony in Portugal, Premios Sapo, presented by an inspired Manuel João Vieira at the legendary Cabaret Maxim.
For a change, web agency Fullsix had some serious competition, perhaps a sign that the online industry is picking up speed, with promising growth rates next year.
Among the entries — let me know if you don’t understand Portuguese, and i’ll try to explain them — the 2007 winners are:
- “Opel Corsa C’mon” by View
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“TMN Sudoeste” by FullSix
- “MTV Card” by Excentric
- “Morangos com Açucar” by SixAndCo
- “The Secret” by WayNext
Among the remaining categories, there was a laughable one for “Best sponsored blog”, with entries that Portuguese blogosphere has never heard of. Or as i use to say: “Brands looking at their own bellies”. The best digital agency award was given to WayNext, that created some solid works this year.
The space was really crowded, but with the lovely company of Silvia and free drinks i’ve even managed to stay until the end. As usual we didn’t submit any work (a company policy regarding national awards), but i’m sure if the Sporting campaign was submitted it would be a clear winner.
Oh, and i finally had the chance to congratulate Celso for their event, SapoCodebits. That’s something definitely more interesting than these Awards.
Update:
On the web awards subject, Zeldman has just nailed it:
The winning sites look fabulous as screen shots in glossy design annuals. When the winners become judges, they reward work like their own. Thus sites that behave like TV and look good between covers continue to be created, and a generation of clients and art directors thinks that stuff is the cream of web design.
El Ojo Interactive
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Big thanks to Ricardo from ptFolio, pointing me out to the Brazilian Interactive winners at El Ojo, announced yesterday.
Among other winners, here are my personal favorites:
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“Driving, by AlmapBBDO for Volkswagen Brasil
A wonderful superstitial powered by Papervision -
Test life, by McCann Erickson for GM
Advergaming -
Atchim Games, by Giovanni DraftFCB Brasil for Bristol-Myers Pharmaceuticals
Advergaming -
“Dengue Fever”, by Escala Brasil for Secretaria Da Saude do Rio Grande do Sul.
Viral (remember the Daniela Cicarelli video?) -
“Montana”, for Chevrolet by Salles Chemistri
Expandable rich media
Almap takes their big share of awards, and even they don’t win them all, you can check the whole list of their interactive work.