The brand Coca-Cola was born in 1887, and it's done a stunning job of maintaining fidelity to its good, clean Happy! worldview -- even as the world changes dramatically around it. Check out this piece from 1889:
Worth noting: technology -- and all its advancements -- is your tool. Staying relevant doesn't mean peddling who you are in exchange for every Hype Choo-Choo that comes rambling 'round the hill.
Last night was the Cannes Lions awards event for Design, Press and Cyber efforts. As always, for the full list of winners, go hithery-dithery. But here are the Grand Prix winners for each category:
For DESIGN: "Paper Battlefield" for Nike Hong Kong by McCann Worldgroup/Causeway Bay.
For PRESS: "We Are Animals," that creepy bejeaned-human-meets-carnal-instinct campaign by FRED & FARID/Paris for Wrangler.
For CYBER: "Best Job in the World" -- which is seriously cleaning up this year -- by Cumminsnitro/Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.
"Eco:Drive" by AKQA/London for Fiat also scored a Cyber Grand Prix, as did "Why So Serious?" for Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight. The latter campaign is a typical piece of elaborate genius by the folks at 42 Entertainment/Pasadena, whose every project is not so much advertising as it is grand oeuvre.
This isn't hapless gushing; see what the agency did for Nine Inch Nails and Halo 2. It tanks a coupla hours digging through all this material, but you'll be glad you did. 42 will inspire you in ways you didn't know you could be.
But the real story of the week is Cumminsnitro, the "little agency that could" operating out of Brisbane. "Best Job in the World" also won Grands Prix for Direct and PR.
The notion of turning one lucky winner into the king of a chain of islands was a simple idea that stems from the fantastic and also contributes to an eco-friendly cause.
What sensitive outcast kid hasn't fantasized about being pulled out of school by two black-suited mystery men that reveal he's royalty? Better still, this wasn't just a decadent tiara giveaway; "Best Job" ties a lofty title, Caretaker of the Barrier Reefs, to lofty responsibility. Little wonder the effort sparked a global feel-good current whose impact was infinitely bigger than its seeds.
Last night was the ceremony for Radio, Media and Outdoor -- not very exciting stuff, but you get a chance to review highly localized work you wouldn't otherwise be exposed to. Always good to remember what ad life is like outside internets.
Here are the Grand Prix winners for each category. Hopefully by now I don't need to tell you where to go to see the full list of oversized bookend recipients.
For RADIO: Net#Work BBDO/Johannesburg wins Grands Prix for "Dancer," "Dog" and "Ferret" -- three radio pieces for Virgin Atlantic Airlines, South Africa. Wanna hear? Listeny-listen.
For MEDIA: JWT Japan/Tokyo scores for "Kit Kat Mail 2009" on behalf of Nestle's Kit-Kat.
For OUTDOOR: TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg wins Grands Prix for "Fight the Regime," "Cheaper than Money," "Trillion Dollar Billboard," "Z$250,000,000" and "Wallpaper" -- on behalf of The Zimbabwean. The campaign's objective was, in great part, to demonstrate the ridiculous rate of inflation affecting Zimbabwean currency as a result of the current regime.
This year was the first year Cannes recognized PR's role in getting a brand message across, so PR people just about creamed themselves getting here. Even Hill & Knowlton couldn't help but say something smug about it before passing the mic to Biz Stone this afternoon.
Yeah, you guys are in the door, woo woo.
We're not gonna sit out and type the full list of trophy bait; that's what the Cannes Lions awards subsite is for. But here are the Grand Prix winners in all three categories, and a few nice PR Lion winners, too.
For PROMO: "Yubari" for Yubari Resort (Japan), by Beacon Communications/Tokyo.
I didn't really understand the beauty of this campaign until it was explained to me in full. Apparently Yubari used to be a miner town, and when the mines closed and all the miners left, the city was hurting for cash.
Beacon was enlisted to address the problem. In its research of Yubari it discovered something compelling: that its inhabitants do not divorce. Ever. For whatever reason, probably having to do with that it was damn-near deserted, marriages there maintain a 100% success rate.
Silver bullet in tow, Beacon immediately positioned Yubari as the place to insure your happily ever after. The campaign was ridiculously successful in the first year, with newlyweds angling from far and wide to visit. And that's how a small minor town became Japan's City of Love.
For DIRECT and PR: "Best Job in the World" for Tourism Queensland (Australia), by Cumminsnitro. Well-deserved -- this was truly ambitious work from an agency that was hardly on the radar before this year.
So there you have it. Now see below for some nice PR Lion notables.
"Love Distance" for Sagami Rubber by GT/Tokyo got a PR Lion:
As did "One Thousand Casmurros" by Livead/Sao Paulo for TV Globo because it was just beautifully conceptualized and executed:
And the "World's First Ephemeral Museum" by Leo Burnett Lisboa/Arc Worldwide for Diageo Portugal:
Highlights: meeting very cool people that I didn't want to spill drinks on and laugh at, seeing Della Femina and Collins at close range (although I think I put Collins off when I told him he had "neat glasses"), and seeing my favourite ads (IN GIGANTOR-VISION!) win well-deserved awards.
I didn't get that whole Halo 3 "Best in Show" thing, but apparently my 19-year-old sister Meia loves them. Her gushing went something like this: "They were amazing! They made the struggle" (struggle?!) "seem so real. Oh and all my friends bought the game."
Like they weren't gonna buy it anyway.
I did, however, think Projector's UNIQLOCK campaign totally deserved "Best in Show" for the Interactive ceremony. It blew me away. Then I spent, like, 15 minutes trying to show Benj why I thought it was so cool and he just wasn't sold.
His reaction: "Is that the time in Tokyo? Oh. All right, I've seen enough."
The One Show ceremony took place last night and I Twittered like a woman on a suicide mission (or at least a "lose-all-my-followers" mission).
Highlights of the show: the ads were incredible! The King made a speech! Sometimes Tom Papa was funny!
The event kicked off with the first-ever One Show People's Choice award. If you loved BBDO's "Muffin Top" spot for Lifesavers, rest assured the rest of the world did too.
One Club president Mary Warlick approached the podium to honor the contributions of Hal Riney and Phil Dusenberry. Their tribute videos were reflections of my childhood: these men were behind so many of the ads I grew up with. It's a strange feeling to miss people you've never met.
Whopper Freakout was also recognized, scoring gold for the Integrated Branding category. In total, BK got two Gold Pencils, one Silver and "Client of the Year." The King came up to absorb the accolades and broadcast his victory speech, an unexpected surprise that got me all excited and out-of-sorts.
See specifics for what Voyeur and Whopper Freakout won at MarketingVOX.
Silver winners were almost too awesome to stand: "Dangerous Liaisons" for Levi's (BBH), Skittles' "Touch" (TBWA\CHIAT\DAY), and that hilarious CareerBuilder self-help spot. I was like, What could top those?!
I don't have an easy answer for that. Because can you honestly say you're wild about "Believe"?
Let's hope so, because that same Microsoft Xbox Halo 3 campaign walked away with "Best in Show." And, well, I walked away with a bad case of WTF?!?!-face (which looks something like this).
Read about the judges and other Pencil recipients at the One Show website.
Ning, the platform we used to build AdGabber, has this new Events feature that lets you post happenings and solicit RSVPs.
I spent most of the morning posting the major One Show stuff I'll be attending next week. Take a look.
Hopefully I did it all properly, but to the untrained eye it looks like spam central. Also, I made no differentiation between cocktails, ceremonies and after parties. Just kind of mashed it all together so an obscure event like "One Show Interactive" appears to last from 6pm to the wee hours.
Will probably fix it sometime before next week, but right now the prospect terrifies me. Steve is planning to put a link to it on Adrants so others can either Plan Accordingly, or just Observe the Lame.
