MANILA – Well it’s all over for AdStars for another year. Two “Grand Prix of the Year” awards were handed out – the second time in its eight-year history – and BBDO Worldwide had a stellar performance.
But equally as interesting is the rigorous judging behind it all. Patrick Tom, founder & Head of Creative of Liberum13, sat down with adobo to share his experience judging not just one but four categories at Adstars (Diverse Insights, Outdoor, PSA and Place Brand). We worked in team of six, which included Jose Miguel Sokolof (Mullen Lowe Group), Pablo Buffagni (BBQ Agency), Richard Copping (Saatchi & Saatchi), Seung-Kyu Yan (Innocean Worldwide) and Yuka Tsukada (Dentsu Inc.).
What was the quality of outdoor?
The quality was very good. Year after year outdoor creative is evolving to become more innovative, more engaging and more multi-dimensional. Technology in digital and mobile are largely responsible for this change. One example is, Nike’s ‘House of Mamba’. The ‘House of Mamba’ is a full-scale intuitive basketball court that uses digital technology to test a player’s skills through a series of training drills being illuminated on the floor.
Brilliantly executed, it was the first ever interactive court of its kind in China, and the first in the world. Long gone are the traditional outdoor ideas with a single key visual and headline. Creatives, brands and consumers are expecting a lot more from outdoor than ever before, making it one of the most exciting categories to judge.
Truth is, throughout the entire judging process we did not look at one single board, but instead we evaluated case films – for every outdoor entry. Now that’s evolution in outdoor.
How does one judge PSA?
Judging creative for PSA’s is one of the most difficult categories to evaluate. Each PSA can represent something very different to everyone, whether through hands-on experience or simply a lack of interest. To add to that, we’ve all been over exposed to so many PSAs throughout our lives, whether in our home or adopted countries, that they’re all too familiar and commonplace.
We were looking for an idea that could show us a new perspective on the same old theme, and something that connected us in a way we never expected. One great example, ‘Mistakes’ for the New Zealand Transport Agency. We’ve all seen road safety campaigns that remind us to slow down, but this campaign reframed the topic to remind us that other drivers can make mistakes too, giving us an entirely new way to look at speeding that’s never been done before. It was perfectly executed, fresh, emotional, relevant and worthy of the grand prix award it received.
How do you define the place brand category and diverse insights?
All of the jury members were a bit confused with this category as a whole. It’s hard to define simply because an insight alone is nothing without a brilliant creative idea and solution to bring it to life. But for the spirit of the competition, we agreed we should evaluate the entries in the category based on the idea, along with the insight that guided the work. Honestly, we’re still scratching our heads on this one.
