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Tag: Philip Thomas

  • Cannes Lions has announced that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in June as previously planned

    Cannes Lions to be postponed, to October

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cannes Lions has announced that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in June as previously planned. “We are now engaging our contingency plans for the previously published October dates,” adds a communique. The possible dates for October are October 26 to 30.

     

    Said Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions: “The global situation is dynamic and changing rapidly, we felt it was critical to provide visibility on June as soon as possible. We will continue to liaise closely with our customers as we develop our plans.”

     

    Added Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions: “Our community is facing unprecedented challenges and collaboration has never been more important. We are focussed now on planning the festival – and our beating heart, the Lions – to ensure our community is able to recognise the extraordinary work it contributes to business, organisations and society.”

     

     

  • New council will frame the future growth agenda for brands on the global stage

    Cannes Lions and ANA announce launch of CMO Growth Council

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has announced the launch of the CMO Growth Council in partnership with the ANA’s CMO Masters Circle.

     

    The CMO Growth Council will initially comprised 20 CMOs from some of the world’s biggest global brands. Chaired by Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer Procter & Gamble and Chairman of the ANA, the CMO Growth Council will represent the collective agenda and voice of a unified community of marketing’s leaders.

     

    The ultimate aim is to support the international community of CMOs with a first-of-its kind global leadership agenda. The agenda will be advanced with ongoing roundtable discussion, presentations and workshops covering a wide range of common marketing challenges to marketing’s future and drive growth.

     

    Commenting on his role, Marc Pritchard said:“CMOs all over the world are facing similar growth challenges and opportunities. The CMO Growth Council offers an important platform for marketing leaders from around the world to discuss, collaborate and take actions to help drive the entire industry forward. I have high hopes for what we can achieve together.”

     

    Speaking on the formation of the council, Ascential Events CEO and Chairman-Elect of Cannes Lions Philip Thomas, commented: “Cannes Lions champions the clear correlation between creativity and business success, and for nearly two decades the world’s biggest marketers have used the Festival as an opportunity to see what great creative looks like, and learn more about the people behind the greatest work in the world. We are delighted to be partnering with the ANA on this important initiative, and working with the world’s biggest advertisers to unleash the power of creativity to drive growth.”

     

    “Our goal with this partnership is to create a transformative, strategically aligned powerhouse that brings lasting impact to the international marketing scene,” added ANA CEO Bob Liodice. “The common theme for all activities is to drive worldwide business growth – a goal that we’ve been pursuing in the US through the pursuit of the ANA’s CMO Masters Circle and a 12-point agenda for business growth.”

     

     

  • In June 2018, Cannes Lions will honour brothers Piyush & Prasoon Pandey with the Lion of St Mark

    Here’s why we woke up to a very good morning today…

    Photograph Courtesy: Ogilvy India

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s an award that’s perhaps as big as the Nobel Prize. It’s like the Honorary Oscar presented to the great Satyajit Ray fifteen years back. You’ve read it elsewhere already, but in case you haven’t: the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that brothers Piyush and Prasoon Pandey will be honoured with the Lion of St. Mark award at the 2018 Festival.

    So are we making a big deal about it? After all, Brand Equity – the publication which everyone in the A&M ecosystem aspires to be in – relegated to the bottomspread despite being given an exclusive.

    Well, we aren’t here to question editorial discretion, but suffice to say that the names of Lion of St Mark winners in the recent past will tell you how important the honour is:

    2017: David Droga, founder and Creative Chairman, Droga5
    2016: Marcello Serpa, former Partner, AlmapBBDO
    2015: Bob Greenberg, Founder, Chairman and CEO, R/GA
    2014: Joe Pytka, Director, PYTKA
    2013: Lee Clow, Chairman, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Director of Media Arts, TBWA\Worldwide
    2012: Dan Wieden, Co-Founder and Global Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy
    2011: Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director, Founder, BBH

    This is the first time anyone from Asia – yes, no one from China till date – has been accorded this honour. The Pandey brothers of course do not need this recognition to be placed up there in Indian advertising’s Hall of Fame.

    Said Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions in a statement: “The Lion of St. Mark recognises those who have made a significant and outstanding contribution to creativity in our industry. Piyush and Prasoon have undoubtedly made the world pay attention to creativity in India. While they are famous, and rightly so, in their homeland, I’m thrilled that we have this opportunity to celebrate their contributions to our industry on the Cannes Lions stage. The fact we get to honour the achievements of two brothers makes this year’s Lion of St. Mark award particularly special.

    Piyush Pandey paid tribute to India, his clients and colleagues, commenting: “This is a huge, huge honour. I am humbled and immensely grateful to the people of India. It is the richness and diversity of this nation that gave my brother and me the opportunity to learn and to create good work. I am also indebted to my clients, my colleagues and Ogilvy who gave me the support and the freedom to fly. Thank you Cannes Lions for giving every creative professional in my country a reason to believe that if Prasoon and Piyush can do it, so can they.”

    Added Prasoon Pandey: “The Lion of St Mark is an absolutely incredible and stunning honour for two 10-15 year-old kids from Jaipur who were just having a blast playing Emperors and Thugs, Dragons and Demons, dreaming stories and playing them out with some far more imaginative and talented friends. We were so engrossed in that play that we forgot that we were well into our 50s and 60s! This is such a huge and humbling honour for us; I just hope it doesn’t make the kids inside us conscious.”

    Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director Ogilvy South Asia won his first Cannes Lions awards with two Gold Lions for his work on an anti-smoking campaign in 2002, marking the start of a period of global recognition for a man who was already a creative legend in his native India. Piyush’s work is considered instrumental in the popularity of advertising campaigns produced in Hindi during the 1980s and 90s, heralding a shift to more universally accessible creativity in India.

    Prasoon Pandey, younger brother of Piyush is a highly respected director whose name has repeatedly featured in global rankings of top film directors. Prasoon is credited for directing the first Indian campaign to win a Lion, for Ericsson’s ‘One Black Coffee’ in 1996 and is one of the most awarded directors in India.

    Piyush Pandey joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1982, and made his name on work for Fevicol, Luna Moped, Cadbury and Asian Paints. In 1994, he was made National Creative Director for Ogilvy & Mather India. Piyush was the first Jury President from Asia at the 2004 Cannes Lions Festival. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.

    Prasoon Pandey started his career at Lintas Delhi, eventually becoming the creative director for Lowe India. He set up his own production company, Corcoise Films, in 2002.

    Piyush and Prasoon Pandey will be presented with the Lion of St. Mark at the closing awards ceremony of the 2018 Festival. The brothers will also take part in an interview hosted by Philip Thomas, CEO, Ascential Events in the Lumiere Theatre as part of the 2018 content programme.

     

     

  • With many finding it too expensive to attend, the organisers make it more economical. Also rehauled awards

    Coming Soon: Shorter, Cheaper Cannes Lions 2018

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cannes Lions has launched the 2018 Festival of Creativity, with significant changes to the delegate experience and awards structure. The 65th edition of the festival will run for five days, from Monday, June 18 to Friday, June 22. This will mean that people will find it more economical to attend and the awards will be more in tune with the times (and trends). It may be recalled the Publicis Groupe has backed out of participating at Cannes Lions and other awards events given rising costs. Other agencies and individuals have also been finding attending the Cannes Lions very expensive.

     

    As a result of the reorganisation:

    :: The Lions will be organised across nine core tracks to better reflect and support the creative industries

    :: The new tracks will simultaneously provide the foundation for the festival’s content programme – speakers, panel sessions and workshops – to help attendees navigate the festival more easily

    :: The points allocations for the Special Awards (Holding Company of the Year, Agency of the Year, Network of the Year) have been changed to appropriately reward the very best work

    :: 120 Lions sub-categories have been removed

    :: Charity and NGO work will now be presented to the jury separately from brand-led work; the first step to separate charity and brand work

    :: A new entry cap means that each piece of work can only be entered into a maximum of six Lions

    :: Lions Innovation and Lions Entertainment return in their established home in Palais 2, with Lions Innovation extended across the entire week with a full programme of content to reflect the importance of technology as an enabler of creativity

    :: Silver metals will now get 7 points (earlier 5), Gold will get 15 (earlier 7), a Grand Prix 30 (earlier 10) and Grand Prix in Creative Effectiveness or Titanium will get 35 instead of 12 points.

     

    Changes to the Lions:

    :: The Cyber Lions, Integrated Lions and the Promo Lions have been removed (okay, retired)

    :: The Brand Experience & Activation, Creative e-commerce and Social and Influencer Lions will be launched as part of the new architecture

    :: The craft categories within Print, Outdoor and Design will be removed from their respective Lions to be judged by a specialist Industry Craft Jury.

     

    Commenting on the 2018 Festival, Philip Thomas, CEO, Ascential Events said: “This is an especially important launch for us. We have spent a lot of time talking to the relevant people to make sure the festival is not only as aspirational as possible, but to also ensure the sentiment behind the Festival is fundamentally founded on the work and those behind it. We have held lengthy discussions in order to curate an updated Festival that puts the creative content back at the heart of Cannes Lions.”

     

    Also, following on from conversations with the City of Cannes, the first in a series of exclusive benefit packages for Festival attendees has also been unveiled. Alongside capped taxi fares and expanded free Wi-Fi facilities along the Croisette, hotel prices will be frozen for 2018, and fixed-price menus will be on offer exclusively for festival badge holders at more than 50 restaurants. The complete pass is now 900 euros cheaper. And Cannes to Nice taxis will cost 80 euros.

     

    Next year’s festival also marks the introduction of a new initiative aimed at nurturing global young talent across the industry. One Young Lions delegate pass will be given free to every office which entered more than 15 entries at the 2017 Festival, totalling over 650 free places for the Festival in 2018.

     

    Next year’s Festival will also mark the first time that every awards show will be available to view for free on all major platforms. As usual, all winning work will be published on the Cannes Lions site.

     

    Speaking to the impact of the plans for the 2018 Festival, Philip Thomas said: “Change has always been part of Cannes Lions and the innovations we’re introducing for 2018 mark an exciting new phase in the story of the Festival. Some of the effects from these changes will be felt immediately, while others represent the start of a longer transitional journey. But what they all have in common is that they refocus the festival and ensure that Cannes Lions continues to be the leading global event for the world’s creative communications industries for many years to come.”

     

    Passes are already available to purchase through the canneslions.com site.

     

     

  • Smaller juries will improve quality of discussion inside the jury room

    Cannes Lions announces changes to judging in 2017

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cannes Lions has announced changes to its juries. The size of the jury panels present in Cannes will be reduced by 92 members across the board, ensuring the highest standard of meaningful debate can take place.

     

    The first phase of the voting process for the Promo and Activation, Media and Direct Lions will now be completed in the weeks before the Festival by a shortlist jury. The jury members will be selected using the same process and criteria as the awarding juries and held to the same rigorous standards of neutrality and fairness, notes a communiqué. Jury panel sizes will also be reduced across the Film, Radio, Print & Publishing, Outdoor, Digital Craft, Creative Effectiveness and Mobile categories.

     

    “Protecting the integrity of the Lions is down to getting the right people in the judging room,” said Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions. “Some juries have been much larger than others in the past as a result of the number of entries they have to judge – but it is the Titanium jury, of ten extremely well-qualified people, that is the gold-standard. After extensive consultation with previous jurors and the wider industry, we have concluded that we can reduce the number of jury members while still allowing them plenty of time to judge the work.”

     

    2016’s Titanium Jury President, John Hegarty, founder of Bartle BogleHegarty, commented, “I would rather be judged by fewer jurors who are more focused, more responsible and better qualified. Collective responsibility and the quality of discussion are lost if you have too many judges. Size is no guarantee of strength”.

     

    Added Philip Thomas, Chief Executive of Cannes Lions:  “The standard of judging and quality of our juries is one of the major factors that contributes to the longstanding value of Cannes Lions. Upholding the value of the Lion is paramount”.

     

  • A new Lion, extended eligibility and additional help for entrants unveiled

    Enties open for Cannes Lions 2015

    By A Correspondent

     

    Significant changes to categories were revealed when entries to Cannes Lions 2015 opened recently.Chief among them is the launch of a highly anticipated Creative Data Lion, created in response to industry demand and set to establish a benchmark for ground-breaking, data-fuelled creativity.

     

    “We’re committed to being at the forefront of the industry, which means reflecting trends and at times spearheading them,” said CEO of Cannes Lions, Philip Thomas. “The Creative Data Lion is an embodiment of those principles. Insights from data are a powerful driver of creative solutions, so it’s imperative that this be recognised and celebrated at the Festival. But we are the first global creative awards to do so, which means we are also championing the role data can play in creativity.”

     

    Demand for the new Lion began to be voiced in 2012 and its development has since been fired by close consultation with the industry. A committee of data specialists, awarded senior creatives, technologists and the wider marketing community shared their expertise with Cannes Lions, which, said Thomas, had been instrumental in shaping the category.

     

    “Their unique insights and contributions have allowed us to carve out a credible, forward-thinking entry section that meets the needs of a progressive, innovative industry.”

     

    That entry section includes 11 sub-categories encompassing the most creative uses of data and will showcase work where this has been at the core of an idea.

     

    Other changes this year include:

    :: The Innovation Lions have been expanded into 2 sub-categories – Innovation Technology and Creative Innovation – to celebrate brand-aligned ideas and standalone technological solutions

    :: Recognising that the business impact of creativity is long-term and proven over time, Creative Effectiveness Lions eligibility has been increased to shortlisted and award winning work from the last three years

    :: Senior industry experts will assist entrants in developing their submissions through the launch of a Creative Effectiveness Advisory Scheme

    :: Product Design Lions eligibility has been extended to work from the last two years

    :: Shortlisted and winning entries in Lions Health and Lions Innovation categories will count towards the Cannes Lions Special Awards including Agency of the Year, Independent Agency of the Year, Network of the Year, Regional Network of the Year and Holding Company of the Year.

     

  • The include Creative Effectiveness; Design; Film, Print, Outdoor & Radio; Media; and PR juries

    Spikes Asia announces Jury list for several categories

    By A Correspondent

     

    Spikes Asia, the International Festival of Creativity taking place in Singapore from 23-26 September, has announced the jury members that will make up the Creative Effectiveness; Design; Film, Print, Outdoor & Radio; Media; and PR juries.

     

    “We feel very privileged to be able to announce these well-known industry names as being part of our juries for Spikes Asia 2014,” shared Philip Thomas, CEO, Lions Festivals. “They help set the standard for this year’s awards and we will watch with interest as they debate and decide the best of creative communications in the region.”

     

    The jury for Creative effectiveness comprises the foll: Matthew Godfrey, President – Asia, Y&R, Asia Pacific - Jury President; Charles Cadell, President, Asia Pacific, McCann Worldgroup, Asia Pacific; Natalie Pidgeon, Chief Strategy Officer, IPG Media brands, Asia Pacific; Nick Garrett, Managing Director, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand; Paul Roebuck, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore/Malaysia, Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore; Rahul Kansal, Executive President, Bennett Coleman & Co, India; Ross Jackson, Asia Pacific Head Brand, Product, Client Marketing and Cross Border, Visa Worldwide, Asia Pacific; Wong Mei Wai, Head of Marketing, Vietnam Brewery, Vietnam.

     

    The Design Jury comprises Stefan Sagmeister, Designer, Sagmeister & Walsh, Global - Jury President; Dan Ellis, Regional Creative Director, S & SE Asia, Brand Union, Singapore; David Park, Creative Director, Maud, Australia; JJ (Jongjoo) Ha, Executive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea; Jon King, Executive Creative Director, Beacon/Leo Burnett Tokyo, Japan; Lana Roulhac, Design Director, Siegel+Gale, China/UK

     

    Praveen Das, Chief Creative Officer, Happy Creative Services, India;

     

    Pum Lefebure, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Design Army, Thailand/USA.

     

    The Jury for Film, Print, Outdoor and Radio comprises Ted Royer, Chief Creative Officer, Droga5, Global - Jury President; Ajay Thrivikraman, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis, Singapore; Erick De Souza Rosa, Executive Creative Director, Lowe and Partner, Regional

     

    Gavin Siakimotu, Creative Director, Y&R, New Zealand; Kitti Chaiyaporn, Chief Creative Director, Choojai, Thailand; Morihiko Hasebe, Executive Creative Director, Hakuhodo, Japan; Patrick Baron, Executive Creative Director, McCann Melbourne, Australia; Raoul Panes, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Manila, The Philippines; Raymond Chin, Creative Director, Wieden & Kennedy, China; Sami Thessman, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Worldwide, Hong Kong; Sonal Dabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra, India; Zenobia Pithawalla, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, India.

     

    The media Jury consists of Mark Patterson, CEO, Asia Pacific & Chairman, China, Asia Pacific - Jury President; Atiek Sudirman, Managing Director, UM, Indonesia; Jeffrey Seah, Chief Executive Officer, SE Asia, Starcom MediaVest Group, Singapore; Jun-Woo Park, Media Group Director, HSAD, South Korea; Mike Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media, Australia; Roid Sin, Chief Executive Officer, OMD, Hong Kong

     

    Yesudas Sankara Pillai, Managing Director, Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum, India; and Yusuke Suzuki, General Manager, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Japan.

     

    The PR Jury consists of David Brain, Chief Executive Officer, APAC/MENA, Edelman, Asia Pacific - Jury President; Christina Cheang, Chairman, CMG Group, Singapore; Dilip Cherian, Founding Partner & Group Chairman, Perfect Relations, India; Hock Chuan Ong, Partner, Maverick, Indonesia; John Orme, President APAC, Porter Novelli, China; Kat Thomas, Executive Creative Director, One Green Bean, Australia; Koichiro Shima, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Creative Director, Editor in Chief, Hakuhodo Kettle, Japan; Leah Huang, Managing Director, Ogilvy PR Manila, The Philippines.

     

  • Cannes announces jury list for Cyber, Design and Direct Lions categories

    Juries for Cyber, Design and Direct Lions announced by Cannes

    By a correspondent

     

    The organisers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the largest global annual awards celebrating excellence in creative communications, have announced members of an additional three juries set to participate at this year’s event for the Cyber, Design and Direct Lions categories.

     

    Commenting on the jury line-up, Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals said, “The prestige associated with winning a Lion is largely a result of the calibre of the professionals judging the work. It is therefore fitting to have such a formidable group of industry experts, who will no doubt help inspire and advance the global communications industry with the outcome of their deliberations. We very much look forward to welcoming them all to Cannes in June.”

     

    The juries will be chaired by Susan Bonds, Chief Executive Officer, 42 Entertainment, USA (Cyber Lions); Karl Heiselman, Chief Executive Officer, Wolff Olins, USA (Design Lions); and James McGrath, Creative Chairman, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Australia (Direct Lions).

     

    Three Indians have made it to the list including Meera Sharath Chandra, Founder Chief Executive Officer & Chief Creative Officer, Tigress Tigress, India in the Cyber category; Mangesh Rane, Founder Director, Open Strategy & Design, India in the Design category; and Rajat Sethi, Partner, Strategic Caravan International, India in the Direct category.

     

  • The Vyas Gianetti Creative chairwoman and PR CEO have been named in the first set of juries announced

    Preeti Vyas, Paresh Chaudhry on Dubai Lynx jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity, the leading festival and awards for the creative communications industry in the Middle East and North Africa, has released the first 28 names that will make up this year’s juries.  Organised by Lions Festivals, the same people who organize Cannes Lions and Spikes Asia, the Design Jury has named Preeti Vyas, Chairwoman, Vyas Gianetti Creative and the PR jury has Madison PR CEO Paresh Chaudhry as a member. The juries for Direct, Promo & Activation, Interactive and Mobile as well as Branded Content & Entertainment were also announced, but they did not have any representatives from India.

     

    Commenting on the jury, Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals said, “We’re delighted to have this global collection of specialists joining us and we are excited to see the creative benchmarks that are ultimately set as a result of their judging. We look forward to welcoming them all to Dubai in March.”

     

    Entries for Dubai Lynx (to be held from March 9 to 11) are open and submissions can be made through the website until 6 February. Further information on rates along with category information and rules can all be found at http://www.dubailynx.com/awards/how_to_enter.cfm.

     

  • Salar Kamangar will be presented with the Media Person of the Year honour on Wednesday, June 19, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France

    Cannes Lions names YouTube’s Salar Kamangar as media person of the year 2013

    By A Correspondent

     

    Salar Kamangar

    The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world’s largest and most prestigious annual awards and celebration of creative excellence in advertising and communications. Every year, the Festival organizers present The Media Person of the Year Award to a prominent personality who is an influential figure in the development of today’s media landscape, ultimately playing an integral part in shaping the future of the industry.

     

    This year, Cannes Lions is honouring YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar.

     

    Founded in 2005, YouTube was acquired by Google the following year. Since taking on the role in 2009, Mr Kamangar has overseen the expansion of YouTube into a global broadcast platform. Under his leadership, YouTube’s site design and its investments have been reshaped to focus on channels and the emerging content creators behind them. YouTube’s usage has been increasing at tremendous rates, to six billion hours of video watched each month, a 50% increase over the past year. YouTube has also launched TrueView, the advertising format whereby advertisers only pay for ads watched, and has doubled the number of advertisers using it in the last year.

     

    Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, said, “YouTube has become a global phenomenon under Salar’s leadership. The statistics say it all: more than one billion unique users a month watch more than six billion hours of video. In 2011, YouTube had more than one trillion views – a simply staggering statistic. But YouTube is more than a formidable communications tool of everyday life. YouTube has become a key way for people throughout the world to share their cultures and stories, helping us understand and connect with one another. And for businesses, YouTube is enabling the next generation of great channels, similar to how cable systems enabled the emergence of modern TV programming and advertising. In the coming years, YouTube will surely become ever-more important to content-creators and advertisers the world over, and so Cannes Lions is delighted to recognize Salar’s achievements and present him with the Media Person of the Year award.”

     

    Mr Kamangar said, “Content creators and advertisers alike are building successful YouTube channels that tap into a global community of fans, with more than one million of these channels now earning revenue. I’m delighted to accept this award not just on behalf of YouTube, but on behalf of the artists and producers across the world whose creativity has established YouTube as the global destination for video.”

     

    As Google’s ninth employee, Mr Kamangar’s early roles at Google included drafting its first business plan, starting its early legal and finance functions, and helping to found Google’s product team. While leading product management for Google’s advertising and monetisation products, Salar and his engineering partner designed and launched AdWords, helping the program grow into a business generating billions of dollars a year. Salar also led product management teams for Google’s web applications, including Gmail and Docs. Salar earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with honours from Stanford University.

     

    Salar Kamangar will be presented with the Media Person of the Year honour on Wednesday, June 19, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France.

     

    Previous recipients of the Media Person of the Year Award include, Jack Dorsey, Creator, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Twitter; Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook; Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation; Tsuneo Watanabe, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings; Sumner Redstone, Chairman and CEO of Viacom; and Gerald Levin, CEO of AOL Time Warner.

     

  • Not all in the creative frat agree that it's right to nail and name those charged of copy-paste advertising

    Is it right to damn the Copycats?

    By Johnson Napier and Ananya Saha

     

    Intellectual theft in the advertising industry is not a new phenomenon. The Creative Abby this year brought back focus on the topic, but plagiarism had never gone away. However, it has become easier to identify a stolen creative now, than it was earlier. We spoke to a cross-section creative people for a perspective.

     

    Abhijit Awasthi, National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather

    The way we look at plagiarism is that if there is an awards show and if there is a contentious piece of work that is brought to light by somebody, then I wouldn’t want to award that work. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say that so and so ad has been plagiarized or copied – I wouldn’t make that allegation, as I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to whoever has created it. We are in the business because we like coming up with and creating ideas. We live in an age where we are exposed to most ideas especially on the internet, so sometimes something that you like subconsciously in the back of your mind just comes out without you realizing it. So I would treat it as an unfortunate incident and carry on with my work. A lot of such allegations come to the fore when you see print or outdoor advertising where it is the question of some visual or wordplay or illustration technique, which is not really worth mentioning. Like I keep giving examples of chemical processes which are 8- or 10-stage in process, and when it comes to filing a patent one realises that it has already happened before. So you come to terms with it as being unfortunate and you move on.

    The thing is that there are thousands of different creative ideas that are churned out in different parts of the world and it’s impossible to keep track. Also one cannot keep a repository of every ad that is created and keep tabs on it. So there are discussions that are held on the similarity of ideas and also on an idea which has been seen before but which has been polished and presented in a better form. They end being given the benefit of the doubt and appreciated by the jury.

     

    Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, Associate Creative Director, Grey Group India

    It’s a tricky thing, this plagiarism business. Especially when it comes to something creative. Because here’s the thing – say you make a hundred kids sit in a room and arm them with crayons and paper. Then, you tell them to draw (let’s say) a picnic. Or love. You’ll find out of 100 people, at least 30 of them have drawn a similar picture. Is that plagiarism?

     

    Bring it closer home to advertising. The web is filled with instances where something that has won big time this year was done some three years ago. Different agency, same execution. Of course, you could say that the present agency just poured over annuals and blindly copied each ad, and executed it slightly differently. Or, you could say (and incidentally this is what I think) that creative people think alike. They take similar leaps, think of similar insights, draw and write similar things. So most of the time, while the pictures may be the same, it’s the crayons that are different.

    As a mentor to an army of bright kids, I’ve vehemently discouraged them from poring over award annuals. Because here’s what happens – they think of an idea, then they flip through the annuals, only to see their idea in the flesh, beautifully executed. It’s a demoralizing thing. So my advice to them is, forget what’s been done. Think, think and think some more. Scribble out your ideas. It doesn’t matter if it’s been done before. What’s important is that you thought of something that was worthy enough, a few years previously, to win a Pencil. And that’s bloody good, for an intern/ trainee.

    Having said that, I know of people who’ve blindly copied another’s folio to get a job. That’s quite shitty. Of course, the thing with shit is that sooner or later, it’s sniffed out and dealt with.”

     

    Ashish Khazanchi, NCD, Publicis Ambience

    We keep hearing of instances of plagiarism in advertising now and then. In the current scenario it has gone to the extent of being a witch-hunt where people are seeing things that don’t exist. What happens is that there are thousands of creative people from around the world who work on a similar kind of brief and it is possible that the out of the hundred different ads, expressions from a few ads will have some similarities. But there are some ads that are too apparent and imitations of earlier produced works.

     

    In most ads today, the visual referencing could be similar – like television ads could be inspired from some big film, but more often than not people are not so stupid that they will enter an ad in an award which has been copied from elsewhere. There could be some odd cases where ads could be termed as plagiarized ads and the only way they could be booted out is if the jury is selected with a lot of caution. After all jurymen are people who have travelled a lot and have been around to ad festivals and they know a lot of stuff that is happening in the industry. So, the tighter the jury, the better it is for the industry. You have to get people who know the category that they are going to be judging.

    I do not agree that plagiarism does not happen in the West or even South East Asia. It happens there too but the big thing is that the western world is moving more towards the digital world. Which means the work they are treading on is all known. For them, the way a Press or TV ad was done is not as relevant any more. They are looking at integrated communications across mediums, which means more accountability for the work that’s been done. So there is not much scope for plagiarism in new-age mediums.”

     

    Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions Festivals

    “We have clear and unambiguous rules against scam work across all our festivals and it is a matter of record that we can and will remove awards from agencies who have won using scam work.

     

  • The International Festival of Creativity – Cannes Lions – has announced that Mobile will be added as a new awards section, launching at the 2012 Festival. Tom Eslinger, Digital Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, will preside over the Mobile Lions jury in its inaugural year.

    Cannes Lions launch Mobile category; Tom Eslinger appointed first jury chair

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Festival of Creativity – Cannes Lions – has announced that Mobile will be added as a new awards section, launching at the 2012 Festival. Tom Eslinger, Digital Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, will preside over the Mobile Lions jury in its inaugural year.

     

    Mobile Lions will reward the best work which lives on or is activated by a mobile device, app or mobile web. The judging criteria will be based on creativity and the idea, execution (usability, user experience, craft and design), relevance to the mobile platform and results (level of user engagement and any quantifiable outcomes). The categories for the new Mobile Lions will include Creative Use of Technology, Mobile Websites and Web Apps, Mobile Apps, Tablet Apps, Games, Rich Media Mobile Advertising and Integrated Campaigns led by Mobile.

     

    The jury will be made up of experts in mobile from digital agencies and applications development, and will award Lions to the best use of mobile in marketing campaigns with the winners being announced alongside the Press, Cyber and Design Awards Ceremony taking place on Wednesday 20 June in Cannes, France.

     

    Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, commented, “Mobile has been part of the Lions for some years, within other sections such as Cyber and Film, and a large number of winning campaigns in sections like Media, Design, Direct and Outdoor have made significant use of mobile technology. By carving it out of the other sections, we are simply reflecting the importance of mobile in the media mix, and we are delighted that Tom Eslinger has agreed to step up and lead as jury president. The category could not be in better hands in its launch year.”

     

    Joining Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand as a Creative Director in 1998, Mr Eslinger began creating mobile ideas launching projects for Rugby Super 12, the New Zealand All Blacks, Telecom, NZ Dairy Foods and the NZ Retirement Commission. More recently, Mr Eslinger has worked across applications, augmented reality and games for Toyota, 3M, Burton Snowboards, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile and Visa. Now based in London, he works across Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide digital capability and in 2002 was appointed to the Worldwide Creative Board where he leads the creative growth of Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide digital team, adding new teams and capabilities. He is a multiple Cannes Lion winner and has previously served on the Cyber and Titanium and Integrated juries before presiding over the Cyber Lions jury in 2007.

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Mr Eslinger said, “It’s always an honour to be asked to join a jury and awesome to be asked to be president for a new category, especially one I have a deep passion for. I’ve been creating mobile ideas for over a decade and I’m stoked that Cannes Lions has chosen this particularly exciting time to start recognizing the best ideas created for mobile devices, apps, sites and other new and wonderful permutations. I’m keen to get started!”

     

    The new look Cannes Lions 2012 website (www.canneslions.com) has been launched, with up-to-date information on the Festival and awards, interviews with key industry members, video content and much more in the lead up to the Festival.