Hundreds of ad agency creatives gathered at the Hackle Brook Conference Centre in Johannesburg on 20 August to hear about the latest global trends in advertising from the four international judges of the 2010 Loerie Awards.
Advertising Jury chairman Pablo del Campo of Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires (ranked as one of the top five agencies in the world), spoke about how the Argentinian advertising industry had evolved over the last 20 years into being recognised by the world’s biggest brands.
“Advertising says things about a country and Argentina is a country that changes all the time. So as creatives we have to adapt and think laterally to keep up because the rules change every day as the country’s context is constantly in flux. Being recognised at Cannes Lions in 1992 really put the Argentinian industry on the map,’ said Del Campo.
Design Jury chairman Greg Quinton of The Partners, London (named the most creative company in Britain in Design Week’s 2009 survey) complimented the Loeries committee on its “perfect’ judging system. “Everything has worked like clockwork, right down to the last minute. The local judges that I’m working with are charming, talented and passionate and the entries that I have seen have been so worthwhile.’
Quinton talked about how his company was part design company and part branding company. “Our ambition has always been to challenge ourselves to be the world’s most creative agency. I don’t think we’ll ever get there but at least we have the ambition. We love ideas and we love clients who are brave.’
Experiential Jury chairman Colin Nimick, executive creative director of OgilvyOne, London, stressed that in the direct marketing arena, creatives need to know who they are talking to in each brand communication. “Every client has different ideas about what their brand is so I’ve found that brands are not sufficiently defined. In any ad you need to give people a story that they will respond to. What you’re looking for is an emotional response and you need to know upfront what emotion you want to evoke.’
Dubai-based Jury representative Shahir Zag, chief creative officer at Y&R Middle East & North Africa (MENA), noted that in terms of advertising, Dubai was one big opportunity. “It’s a blank canvas because it’s very young and we don’t have a long history of advertising. You can’t put your finger on what the Middle East is because if you turn left something happens and then you turn right and something completely different to that happens. But our ad industry is now beginning to show form.’
Zag said he’d been a fan of South African advertising for a long time. “You have such a solid base of talent here whereas in Dubai we have only about 50 creatives, some of whom are South African. However, I did expect the standard of Loerie entries to be higher. But then you seem to have made a lot of Fifa World Cup commercials.’
Read the in-depth report of the Loeries Judging Seminar in the October issue of Screen Africa.
