The London International Awards has released details of their young creatives competition for this year. The entry deadline is June 30th, 2006.
There is a young creatives competition as well as Student categories. US$10,000 will go to the individual or creative team that wins, plus the winner will receive a trip to London to attend the 2006 Annual Awards Presentation scheduled for November 2006. The trip will include airfare and hotel accommodations. The jury panel will be comprised of renowned advertising professionals, elected officials and political commentators from across the globe. Entrants are asked to create an Interactive, Print/Press, Radio or TV advertisement or website. Target audience teens to 30 year olds.
See www.liaawards.com for all the details.

MTC Auckland's Jamie Hitchcock and Josh Lancaster have taken out the (NZ) Look Billboard Awards for their poster for Cuisine, and win a trip to Cannes for their trouble.

AFA Youngbloods wants to find out what’s inside the minds of the under-30s working in the advertising industry.
AFA Youngbloods, a division of the Advertising Federation of Australia, is conducting a survey to better understand the attitudes and aspirations of its members.
The survey results will be used to lift the profile of the Youngbloods on a national level, attract sponsors and increase attendance at Youngbloods events.
The aim of AFA Youngbloods is to provide opportunities for young people to learn from business leaders, network with their peers and have a say on industry issues and future direction.
It is represented in all states by a core committee of young people working in the industry.

DETAILS
The AFA Youngbloods will be launching a nationwide online survey to their database of members.
The Survey will be launched 30 March, 2006.
Those who complete the survey will go into the draw to win an iPod Nano.
The winner will be drawn 20 April, 2006.
The database consists of over 1,115 names, of those under the age of 30, working in the advertising and media profession.
Survey aims to gather data on those working as professionals in the advertising and media industries.
The AFA – Youngbloods state chairpersons, have worked together to write a series of 32 multiple choice research questions that they hope will provide them with a closer understanding of the under 30s segment of the profession.

A) Ambitions, aspirations and the professional status of Youngbloods members.

B) Attitudes and opinions about the Advertising profession by Youngbloods members.

C) Attitudes and opions about management structures and styles in agencies.

D) Professional development aspirations.

For full access to the complete survey:
Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=925101716411
The results will be used to lift the profile of the Youngbloods on a national level, attract sponsors and increase attendance at Youngbloods events.
The results of the survey will also be released to the media and industry stakeholders for reference.
The survey will close on 19 April, 2006.
The survey will also be available to complete on the AFA website:
www.afa.org.au

For any further questions about the survey, please contact AFA Youngbloods Victorian chairperson, Tess Blair: 03 8416 6729.

Publicis Mojo, Auckland's Nick Worthington was selected the NZ judge for the Clios this year but unfortunately, due to work commitments was unable to attend. So he's passed the mantle on to MTC Auckland chief Jeremy Taine, who's off Stateside tomorrow to Palm Springs for a week of full-on judging - joining Australia's Emma Hill, CD of Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne.
A double honour for MTC as the agency's strategist, Michael Prentice will be the Media Lions judge for Cannes this year.

The Adelaide Advertising and Design Club celebrates its 29th year with record entries into the AADC Awards.
Held this Monday night (April 3rd) the Club have also confirmed 450 guests will be attending the award show ceremony and dinner at the Adelaide Oval.
The judging panel was headed by Chairman of Judges, Jack Room from Badjar, Melbourne.
All judges are from interstate, making the AADC Awards one of the fairest judging systems in Australia. And where possible the AADC fly them over for the 3 days judging this weekend prior to awards.
Secrecy has always been paramount in the AADC awards ceremony, despite the award annual being printed and ready for distribution on the night.
The newly constructed AADC website at aadc.com.au will feature the awards annual in pdf format from Tuesday.

Chairman of Judges
Jack Room

Advertising Panel
Paul Bruce
Alex Derwin
Peter Murphy
Steve Gill
Robbie Brammell
Emma Hill (pictured)
Steve Crawford
Matt Garbutt
Simon Langley
Sean Lavery

Design Panel
Michalea Webb
Amanda Roach
Andrew Ashton

TV Craft Panel
Jamie Doolan
Mick Connelly
Joylyn Watkins

Photography Panel
Eryk Fitkau
Mary Cook
Rob Anderson

Audio Panel
Philip Webster
Allie Knox
Ernie Rose

IT Panel
Sean Ganann
Kieran Ots
Mark Addy

The Kodak Gongs have extended their deadline two weeks, and is now 4pm, April 11, 2006.
The extension is a result of the recent announcement of The Gongs inclusion in CB Asia’s Creative Rankings and the resultant level of interest in entering in this year
from a dramatically increased number of agencies and production companies throughout Asia.
The 2006 Kodak Gongs Award Program recognizes excellence in the ideas and craft of commercial moving images in Asia Pacific.
Also this year The Kodak Gongs have introduced four new award categories to increase the award chances of entries that are based upon local cultures and plays on local language or visuals.
They are:
Best of North Asia
Best of North East Asia
Best of South East Asia
Best of Pacific
Aimed to cover entry from all facets of Production, Production Design, Animation and
Post Production, Advertising Agencies, New Media, and Online Developers within the
Asia- Pacific region, The Gongs will recognise excellence in the craft and ideas of the commercial moving image.
The Kodak Gongs Call for Entry is now open and closes on April 11, 2006. Entries can
be submitted online: www.thegongs.org
The Kodak Gongs are judged in two rounds by panels of experts from the Asia Pacific
Region and the rest of the world. The round one judging panel includes the following:
Round 1 Australia & New Zealand judge’s will be available on The Kodak Gongs
website, with Asian Representatives to follow shortly.
CALL FOR ENTRIES CLOSE 4PM APRIL 11, 2006
Visit www.the gongs.org

CB hears former Leo Burnett Sydney CD, Micah Walker, who has been at Fallon in London for the past year, together with Juan Cabral, have been promoted to the positions of creative directors. The move sees Fallon's creative heads, Richard Flintham and Andy McLeod, assume the titles of joint executive creative directors.
Cabral, 28, wrote and art directed the Sony 'Balls' spot for Sony Bravia, which won the platinum award at the Creative Circle Awards, as well as Best of Show at the YoungGuns Awards. It is a strong contender for the Grand Prix at Cannes in June.

Looks like Sir Richard Branson had a good time during his recent visit to Australia.

The Campaign Palace, Sydney has put to air its first commercial for 3, the account won from The Moult Agency late last year. The spot was created by Yanni Pounartzis and Dean Hunt, and directed by Rey Carlson from Revolver.

The PADC is the biggest, most active, advertising and design club in Australia. If you want to be a part of the action, come along to hear how they can make your membership work. It’s free booze and toasted sandwiches, but more importantly they want to tell you what they have planned for the next twelve months.
It is being held at The University Club of Western Australia in Meeting Room 3 (First Floor), Hackett Drive in Crawley next Wednesday 5 April. It starts at 6.00pm and should finish around 7.30pm. The cost is free so there is no excuse not to turn up.
To RSVP contact lizbb@padc.com.au or phone 1300 764 555

Producer Kate Menzies has joined top production company Film Construction. Formerly at @radical.media where she headed the sales and marketing team in Sydney, Menzies then had great success at Prodigy Films producing for local directors in Australia and overseas. She will be teamed with in-demand director Matt Palmer.
Contact kate@filmconstruction.com

Lowe Hunt’s global recognition for its creative work for Australian Wool Innovations, A League and Lynx Jet has guaranteed its place in the Lowe network, as the international group plans a very positive restructure for the future.
Ben Colman, Lowe Hunt’s Group Managing Director, says “There is enormous interest amongst local clients and the Lowe Network around our concept of ‘Brand Explosions" - the unique process behind the Lynx Jet and A League campaigns.
“This new initiative announced yesterday by Lowe Worldwide further strengthens Lowe’s focus on creating a tight network of outstanding creative offices of which Lowe Hunt Sydney is a key part to service local clients and multinational brands.
Colman said that Lowe Worldwide CEO, Stephen Gatfield, has confirmed that Lowe Oceania would remain intact. Lowe Oceania includes Lowe Hunt, Lowe New Zealand and a shareholding in Cummins & Partners, Melbourne.
Adds Colman: “Everyone at Lowe Hunt is very excited about the future and right now we have some of the most exciting briefs going through the agency that we have ever worked on.
“I’m particularly enthused by the success we are enjoying with our Interactive Department. Our new Head of Interactive, Mark Ashley-Wilson, is doing a brilliant job and is aggressively growing his department as Interactive is a key component of our agency’s growth strategy".

The search is on for New Zealand’s leading young creatives…
If you think you’ve got what it takes, log on to www.stuff.co.nz on Friday 7 April for the brief.
This is your chance for you and a team-mate to be named Fairfax Media Young Creative of the Year, and win a trip for to the Cannes Lions 53rd International Advertising Festival in June 2006.
Once there, you will have the chance to showcase your talent to the world as New Zealand’s representative in the international ‘Young Creative’ competition. You will be up against the best young creatives in the world, competing against teams from over 30 countries for a sought after Cannes Lion – the highest accolade for any creative person anywhere in the world.
The NZ Challenge
Entry is in teams comprising of one art director/graphic designer and one copywriter. You will have exactly two weeks to combine creativity and leadership skills to develop a print ad.
Judging will take place on the week commencing 24th April 2006 and a function to announce the winning pair will be held on the 27th April 2006.
The winning pair will then travel to Cannes in June, courtesy of Fairfax Media to compete for top international honours.
Eligibility
You must be born after 24 June 1977.
You must be currently employed by a New Zealand agency.
You must hold a current New Zealand passport.
Diary These Dates
7 April 2006: Competition opens, brief available from www.stuff.co.nz
21 April 2006: Competition closes
24 & 26 April 2006:n Judging
27 April 2006: Function to announce winner
18 – 24 June: Cannes International Advertising Festival, France

The entry deadline for the 53rd Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival has been extended. Entry companies can submit work in all categories – Film, Press, Outdoor, Lions Direct, Media Lions, Cyber Lions, Radio Lyons, Titanium Lions and the new category, Promo Lions
Entry forms can be completed online at www.canneslions.com

Deadlines
Press & Outdoor Entries: 7 April 2006
Film Entries: 7 April 2006
Radio Lions Entries: 7 April 2006
Lions Direct Entries: 7 April 2006
Promo Lions Entries: 7 April 2006
Media Lions Entries: 7 April 2006
Cyber Lions Entries: 7 April 2006
Titanium Entries: 7 April 2006

Delegate registrations are already open. To attend the Festival, please go to www.canneslions.com

CB hears Angus Hennah, senior writer at Clemenger BBDO, Wellington has been lured to the CD gig at JWT Auckland. Hennah, 36, was responsible for a lot of Clems' awarded work, and this will be his first CD gig.

Ken Kaess, the President and CEO of DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc, known for expanding his legendary and award-winning advertising agency into digital and other marketing service sectors, died on March 27 in Westport, CT. He was 51.
The cause was cancer.
Under Mr. Kaess’ leadership, DDB, originally founded as Doyle Dane Bernbach in 1949, became a leader in the new creative revolution, expanding beyond traditional advertising to interactive, direct marketing and retail marketing communications.
“He was the driver behind DDB’s success these last five years and, of course, I will miss him in that role," said John Wren, CEO of Omnicom Group Inc., DDB’s parent company. “But I also will miss his friendship and positive spirit."
Active within the industry and the community, Mr. Kaess was committed to bringing greater diversity to the advertising business. He founded the Bill Bernbach Minority Scholarship Fund in 1998 to assist in the development of minority talent in the creative field. He was honored for his commitment to diversity by the New York Urban League which bestowed upon him the Frederick Douglass Award in May 2004. Also a member of the boards of the Ad Council and the American Education Foundation, Mr. Kaess was presented The Hope Award in 2000 by D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).
In 2002 Mr. Kaess was named Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and became the first chairman to serve two consecutive terms. He also was a two-term chairman and founder of Advertising Week, an industry festival that began in New York in 2004.
"Anheuser-Busch extends its deepest condolences and we express our heartfelt sadness to the family, friends and employees of DBB on their tragic loss of Ken Kaess. Ken was a close personal friend, colleague and partner. Ken's humor, humanity and leadership will be missed by the many people he touched," said August A. Busch IV, President of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
A global network of Omnicom, DDB has long been recognized for creating and producing effective, well-known and award-winning campaigns for clients. Named Global Agency of the Year by both Advertising Age and Adweek magazines in 2003 and again in 2004 by Adweek, DDB and Mr. Kaess have been widely recognized for innovative, creative business solutions for clients’ brands and businesses.
DDB’s creative DNA was prized by Mr. Kaess who actively sought to attract and retain top creative talent from around the world. He was known for his strongly held belief that “People are our asset."
In January of this year, AdWeek magazine named Tribal DDB Worldwide Interactive Agency of the Year and its individual offices were recognized in local markets around the world from North America to Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
“Ken was an inspiration to all of us and he will be sorely missed," Keith Reinhard, Chairman of DDB Worldwide, said. “Ken was at the top of his game, and in so many ways, he represented the future, not only of our company but of the industry itself. And as many people have said, it’s amazing how someone so nice could get so far, so fast."
Mr. Kaess was born on July 30, 1954, in Waterbury, CT, and grew up in Watertown, CT. A graduate of the McTernan School, Suffield Academy and Vassar College where he received a B.S. in psychology, Mr. Kaess also was an accomplished pianist who after graduating from college toyed with the idea of becoming a professional rock musician. “When there was no call from an agent, I moved to New York City," Mr. Kaess once said in an interview with his school magazine.
In New York, he landed his first job at Doyle Dane Bernbach in 1976 as an account executive working on the Mobil account. He went on to become a Vice President at Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylor and then Vice President of Children’s Programming at New World Entertainment where he was responsible for the Emmy award winning “Muppet Babies." In 1990 he returned to DDB as President of DDB Entertainment in Los Angeles and in 1992 became President of DDB Los Angeles. In 1994 he became President of the agency’s flagship New York office and was promoted to President of DDB US in 1997. In 1998 he was named President of DDB North America and in 1999 he was appointed President of DDB Worldwide and Chairman of its Worldwide Operating Committee. In January 2001 he assumed the additional position of CEO of DDB Worldwide.
Mr. Kaess is survived by his former wife, Heidi Kaess and their two children, Courtney and Christopher; his father, Dr. Kenneth Richard Kaess, Sr. of Redding, CT; a sister, Karen Clark of Greenwich, CT; and brother Karl Kaess of Wilton, CT.
Contributions can be made to:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10021.
Builders Beyond Borders
8 Willard Road, Norwalk, CT, 06851.

A Memorial Service will be held in Manhattan at a date to be announced.
Contact: Pat Sloan 212-415-2109

London – The Organisers of the 53rd Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival announced today the members of the 2006 Outdoor and Promo Lions jury.
Fernando Vega Olmos, President of VegaOlmosPonce, Argentina and Unilever Worldwide Creative Director will head the first dedicated Outdoor jury. The judging will commence in Cannes on 16 June with the winners being announced on 20 June. Launched this year, the new Promo Lions competition will be chaired by Lor Gold, Executive Vice President & Chief Creative Officer of Draft Chicago, USA. Voting will start in Cannes on 14 June and the winners will be honoured on the evening of 19 June.
“We are extremely excited about these two innovations for this year’s event," said Terry Savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival, “this will be the first time we have a dedicated jury for Outdoor, so we are thrilled to have such an international, talented and award winning group to honour great work in this category. The new Promo Lions jury face a challenging time as there will be a lot of interest to see what innovative and creative work is being produced in this field that will be inspirational to the industry."
Australia is represented on the Promo Jury by Glen Condie, Director, Maverick Marketing & Communications, Sydney. And indirectly on the Outdoor jury by Aussie expat, Dave Alberts, now chairman and ECD of Grey Worldwide, London, representing the UK.

OUTDOOR JURY
Argentina, Fernando Vega Olmos, President, VegaOlmosPonce (Jury President)
Brazil, Keka Morelle, Art Director, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi
Chile, Joaquín Bascuñán, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Chile
Finland, Ilkka Kärkkäinen, Creative Director/Senior Partner, Dynamo Advertising
France, Benoit Devarrieux, Co-Chairman, devarrieuxvillaret
Germany, Kai Röffen, Executive Creative Director & Managing Director, TBWA Düsseldorf
India, Bhupal Ramnathkar, Executive Creative Director, Bates Enterprise
Italy, Lele Panzeri, Partner & Creative Director, La Scuola di Emanuele Pirella
Singapore, Linda Locke, Regional Executive Creative Director, Asia Pacific, Leo Burnett
South Africa, Wingwing Mdlulwa, Executive Creative Director, Twist Advertising & Marketing
Spain, Fabio Mazia, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Lado C
United Kingdom, David Alberts, Chairman & Executive Creative Director, Grey London
USA, David Baldwin, Executive Creative Director, McKinney+Silver

PROMO LIONS JURY
USA, Lor Gold, Executive VP/Chief Creative Officer, Draft Chicago (Jury President)
Argentina, Juan Pablo Manazza, General Creative Director, Wunderman Buenos Aires
Australia, Glen Condie, Director, Maverick Marketing & Communications
Brazil, Geraldo Rondon da Rocha Azevedo, President - Latin America, The Marketing Store
Canada, Rob Segal, President & Chief Creative Officer, Segal Communications
China, Owen Jia, CEO & CCO, ExisChina Advertising & Communications
Finland, Timothy Petersen, Creative Director, hasan & partners
France, Válerie Levy-Harrar, Chief Creative Officer, Euro RSCG 4D
Germany, Christoph Nitz, Creative Director, VOK DAMS GRUPPE
India, Pankaj Wadhwa, Managing Director, Kidstuff Promos & Events
Italy, Massimo Decursu, Strategic Planning & Creative Director, Promotions Italia
Japan, Keisaku Kunita, Executive Customer Marketing Director, Hakuhodo
Singapore, Sau Hoong Lim, CEO/Executive Creative Director, 10AM Communications
Spain, Alberto Canal Vega, President, Targeting Link Thinkers
The Netherlands, Emmy van Gool, Creative Director, QuA Associates
Turkey, Cem Topçuoğlu, President & CEO, TBWA\Istanbul Group
United Kingdom, Rob MacDonald, Creative Director, Euro RSCG KLP
United Kingdom, Phil Pawsey, Joint Creative Director, Dynamo Marketing Communications
USA, Greg Sullentrup, Snr. Vice President/Executive Creative Director, Momentum

The winner of the 2006 Siren Awards for creative excellence in radio advertising will be announced at a gala breakfast in Sydney in May featuring renowned Australian comedy director, Ted Emery (right) and Nova’s Bianca Dye as host.
Emery will present the winner of the 2006 Siren Awards at the breakfast and also be guest speaker at the Sirens Masterclass, a creative seminar focusing on Australian comedy, and called “So Who the Bloody Hell Are We?", which will follow the breakfast.
Arguably one of Australia’s greatest comedy directors, Ted Emery has an extensive history in the Australian film and television industry. Best-known for his work on the smash hit, Kath & Kim, Emery has also directed comedy programs D-Generation, Acropolis Now, Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Tonight Live, Eric Bana Special, Jimeoin and The Micallef Programme. He also directed The Craic and his TV credits include popular music series Countdown, documentaries and news and current affairs for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Emery will talk about the secret to Kath and Kim’s success and any lessons that can be learnt for advertising.
The Masterclass will also feature Senior Lecturer in Cinema Studies at La Trobe University, Dr Felicity Collins. Dr Collins has won a two-year Australian Research Council Discovery Grant looking at how comedy can be understood in terms of nationhood and identity and will talk about radio’s role in the formative years.
International creative expert and creator of the award-winning Australian radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia will also talk at the Masterclass. Last week, Van Dijk’s agency, Eardrum, won five awards at the UK 2006 Aerial Awards for radio advertising including the Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Best Directing category. Commercial Radio Australia has contracted Mr van Dijk, who moved to Australia from the UK earlier this year, as consultant Creative Director with a general brief to promote radio as an advertising medium.
“This is not one of those Australia Day navel gazing exercises. The Siren Masterclass will provide practical insights to what makes Australians laugh and why. With so much advertising attempting to engage through comedy, creatives of all levels could do with improving their skills in this area," said Mr van Dijk.
Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the annual Sirens breakfast and Masterclass provided a great opportunity to recognize the excellence in Australian radio advertising and also look at ways to further improve it.
“This year’s focus on comedy will help all those writing for radio to understand better about writing and performing Australian comedy for Australians," Ms Warner said.
The winner of the 2006 Siren Awards will be chosen from the winners and highly commended from the five rounds of the Awards and will be judged by the Siren Creative Council - comprising leading creative directors from national advertising agencies. The 2006 winner will be automatically entered into the inaugural Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and will also win two tickets to attend the festival.
“This provides a fantastic opportunity for excellent Australian radio creative to be judged along with the world’s best at one of the most prestigious events held for creatives and will provide a great benchmark for the industry," Ms Warner said.
Last year’s inaugural Gold Siren Award winner was the Victoria Bitter campaign. The commercial, written by Josh Stephens and Ben Coulson from George Patterson Partners Melbourne, with creative director, James McGrath, uses comedy and the well-known VB theme song to sell beer.
Both the Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will be held at Taronga Zoo in Sydney on May 11. The breakfast will run from 8am to 9:30am and the Masterclass will follow the breakfast and includes lunch. Tickets are on sale now at $550 for the breakfast and Masterclass combined and $60 for breakfast only. For more information contact phone 02 9281 6577 or to download your ticket booking form visit the dedicated website www.sirenawards.com.au.

CANNES - Kodak will, once again, support and promote young creative talent in commercial film production through its sponsorship of the Young Director Award established by the Commercial Film Producers of Europe.
Now in its 8th consecutive year, winners of the Young Director Award will be presented on June 21st during the Cannes Lions 53rd Advertising Festival taking place from June 18th – 24th 2006.
With the primary purpose of the Young Director Award being to support and promote young creative talent in commercial film production from anywhere in the world, the young directors will have the chance to get noticed and network with around 8,000 key industry players from across 40 countries all congregating at the festival to view the best in international advertising and creativity.
“We are encouraged by the growing recognition of this event which is evidenced by the increasing number of entries submitted," says Melanie Jones, Segment Manager, Television Commercial Production, Kodak Entertainment Imaging. “Commercials push the boundaries of visual storytelling and Kodak’s sponsorship of this initiative forms part of our worldwide program to support and recognise talented filmmakers at an early stage of their careers. We welcome this opportunity to focus on the new creative talents of the international advertising industry."
Deadline for entries is April 20th 2006 and commercials may be entered in one of five categories; test commercials and broadcast, the recently added student category and two new categories, viral commercials and branded short films. Submissions must be one of the first four commercials ever made by the director and student category entries are strictly for students of filmschools.
Categories are further divided into European and non-European with first and second prizes on offer. Effectively, twelve prizes will be awarded with the addition of a Special Jury Award.
To enter, visit: http://www.yda2006.com/

The 2nd annual Fairfax AWARD Copy School commences in May, so if you’re a young writer and serious about wanting to be an effective, creative copywriter, come and learn from some of the best in the business.
Sydney: May 8 to 12.
Melbourne: May 22 to 26.
Mornings only. Register now with Alma Kettles at AWARD.
Tel: (02) 9281 8004.
Email: alma@awardonline.com

“Thanks to email and blogging, the power of the written word has come full circle – and we’re seeing that come to life in campaigns for brands like Tesco in the UK – and our recent Elle Macpherson book of stories. When you are relying on just words to engage someone or communicate an idea, it forces you to be very clear about what your idea actually is. Copy School is an opportunity to learn how to think more individual and original thoughts and put those thoughts into action. Now, in particular, I’d say a course like this is invaluable."
Jonathan Kneebone,
The Glue Society, Sydney

Next week (April 3-5), marks the official start of D&AD Congress 06, as over 300 of the world's top creative practitioners arrive in London to choose the best work entered into the D&AD Global Awards 2006. D&AD Judges, who all responded to the job description: "Obsessed with Creativity," must decide who, if anyone, should be awarded a D&AD Yellow or Black Pencil for groundbreaking creative work.
"Judging Week is the start of D&AD Congress 06 - four weeks with something for everyone who is passionate about creativity," said D&AD Chief Executive Michael Hockney. "I especially look forward to the public debate over the judges' selections at the D&AD Global Awards Nominations Exhibition at Old Billingsgate in May (3-5 May)."
D&AD Global Awards 2006 key facts:
1. D&AD's most successful Call for Entries to date with more entries across more categories from more countries than ever before.
2. Over 24,000 pieces of work were entered.
3. 61 countries entered work. First time entries came from: Bahrain, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Morocco and Serbia.
4. Australian and New Zealand entries have increased significantly, up by 17% and 3%, respectively.
5. There has been a significant increase in entries to craft categories across all sectors.
6. Over 300 judges will attend Judging Week from 23 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. The ANZACS are represented by Warren Brown, creative partner of BMF Sydney (Film jury), Nobby, ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney (Print Jury), Jonathan Kneebone (TV & Cinema Graphics Jury), Mike O'Sullivan, ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi NZ (Writing for Advertising jury), Dylan Taylor, Direct CD at BMF Sydney (Direct jury), Tom Eslinger, CD of Saatchi Interactive NZ (Interactive jury), Ashley Ringrose from Soap Creative (Interactive jury) and Marshal Heard from Noise (Digital Craft jury).

National retail agency The Ideas Group has been reinvigorated with a management buyout, a new direction and a change of name.
The agency, with key clients including Capt’n Snooze, Radio Rentals and DaimlerChrysler trucks, will now be known as The Foundry and will be headed by former The Ideas Group GAD Simon Burrett and CD Ian Brown.
All The Ideas Group’s clients have come over to The Foundry, and all The Ideas Group staff has been moved across.
Brown and Burrett made the decision to take over the 23-year-old business on the strength of what they saw as clear potential for the future.
Burrett, who has helped secure key new business clients for the agency over the last 12 months, said his aim was to refresh and reinvigorate the agency for the benefit of its current client list, and to continue to drive new business growth.
Since joining The Ideas Group in early 2005, Brown has significantly changed the makeup of the creative department and this is now yielding results.
Both the Sydney and Melbourne offices will move in the next six months.
Prior to The Foundry, Brown worked as Group CD on Tooheys and Telstra for Singletons for five years, and before that three years at Colenso BBDO, Auckland.
Burrett is a former Director of CHE and Clemenger BBDO Sydney. He is a noted retail specialist, having written and delivered the AFA Adschool Retail Marketing course in 2005 and again 2006.

BMF Sydney has lured creative team Matt Lawson and Onur Kece, the creators of the highly praised Big Pond 'Great Wall of China' spot, from BWM Sydney. They teamed up in 2002 while studying at RMIT and while at university they completed AWARDSchool, won a position at the MADC mentor program and picked up a gong at MADC for best student entry. In 2004 they joined Frank Morabito at Spinach in Melbourne where they worked on Durex and Renault.
Soon after, they were lured up to Sydney by BWM. During their short time there they won best of show at AWARD Pie Night for their Qantas Poster and made their first television commercial- the Telstra BigPond "Great wall of China" spot, directed by Vikki Blanche. It has so far collected a gong at Mobius and a finalist at Young Guns with no doubt more to come.

Sam Neill stars in a classy spot for Meat & Livestock Australia promoting Red Meat via The Campaign Palace, Sydney. Created by Yanni Pountartzis and Dean Hunt, beautifully directed by Dave Denneen @ Filmgraphics.

Sydney vs Melbourne: Which city puts on the best show?
Monday morning discussion.

JWT has hired Aris Theophilakis, former group CCO at Springer & Jacoby, as a global creative director on Unilever, the WPP Group network's second-largest client after Ford.
Theophilakis, spent two years at Springer & Jacoby, whose key clients include Mercedes-Benz and Olympus. Before that, he was executive creative director for Europe at Bates in London. Earlier in his career, he was Bates' ecd for the Asian region in Singapore, working on brands such as Nokia, Heineken and Audi.
"Aris has a track record of creating big ideas for big brands across multiple markets and the media," said JWT global chief creative officer Craig Davis, to whom Theophilakis reports. "Those talents are precious."
JWT's Unilever business includes Knorr and Lipton in certain international markets and Sunsilk, Caress and Lever 2000 in the U.S. Last year, the agency lost its piece of Omo detergent outside the U.S., and in January JWT lost its share of oral care brands in Asia, Latin America and Africa to Interpublic Group's Lowe.
Said Theophilakis: "I'm doing this because it will be a tough challenge. I'm basically not a maintenance guy."

A new spot from Grey Worldwide, Melbourne promoting The Melbourne Comedy Festival created by Hilary Badger and Rob Beamish and directed by Matt Kaymen @ 37 South Films.

Melbourne based Rowe Ingevics & Partners, founded by Jonathon Rowe and (former The Moult Agency, Sydney CD) Phil Ingevics, has been renamed The Loop Agency, coinciding with the agency’s first anniversary.
Says Rowe: “Branding ourselves Rowe Ingevics was sensible at the outset because our names had some meaning in the market. Now we are more established, a moniker that better reflects our business model is appropriate."
Says Ingevics: “More and more brand building opportunities emerge everyday. We’re about helping brands stay in the loop - from the perspective of changing consumer need states, and what’s actually possible.
“This means about half our revenue is derived from strategic work at both marketing and brand level, and the rest from creative. We pride ourselves on bringing creativity to any business problem a client might encounter."
Clients include carsales.com.au, Hudsons Coffee, Cheviot Bridge Wines and The Long Flat Wine Company, David Lawrence and Jigsaw fashion labels, Creative Brands, Citrofresh Organic Products, Autopeople Automotive Recruitment and St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research

The national series of radio creative workshops run by international creative expert and creator of the award-winning radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia, goes to Perth next week.
Van Dijk will be the featured guest speaker at a breakfast seminar for advertising agencies, to be held in conjunction with the Perth Advertising and Design Club (PADC), as well as holding a seminar for in-house radio copywriters.
The breakfast seminar and workshop are part of an ongoing national strategy by Commercial Radio Australia to provide support for creatives who are writing radio ads with the overall aim of ensuring consistently high quality radio ads throughout Australia.
Chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said better radio ads would help attract more advertising dollars and the radio industry must be proactive to providing support and opportunities for targeted professional development for the talented writers working on radio creative.
“We want Australian radio ads to consistently be amongst the best in the world – and while many agencies are doing excellent work it is up to the industry to work more closely with agencies to help foster talent, ideas and world class standards," Ms Warner said.
The latest figures compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the five major capital city markets show the Perth radio advertising market is buoyant with growth of about five per cent for the eight months to the end of February, compared to the same timeframe last year, with total ad revenue of $41.4 million for this period.
Ms Warner said Commercial Radio Australia had contracted Mr van Dijk, who moved to Australia from the UK earlier this year, as consultant Creative Director with a general brief to promote radio as an advertising medium.
“Mr van Dijk is more then qualified to talk about world standards in radio advertising given his specialist agency, Eardrum, has won many international awards and, earlier this week, won five awards at the UK 2006 Aerial Awards for radio advertising including the Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Best Directing category."
The breakfast seminar, to be held on Wednesday, 29 March at the University Club of Western Australia, will look at international trends, case studies and the power of radio.
A further workshop for radio station creatives, to be held later that day, will combine a combination of theory and hands-on studio work and seek to inspire and challenge the traditional way of approaching a radio brief.
“I have been running these workshops for the UK and Europe’s leading agencies and they never fail to inspire a greater level of enthusiasm for the medium. Effective radio requires good creative and good radio creative requires more care and attention than it currently gets. The workshop will open your eyes (and ears) to the potential of radio, and challenging the conventional ways of writing, casting and directing a radio ad," said Mr van Dijk.

Australia's creative messiah Dave Droga makes the cover of the latest U.S. Creativity magazine, which looks at the launch of Droga 5 in both LA and New York. It looks like he was on the same CB shoot as the Saatchi & Saatchi, NZ creative department - the pic appeared in our NZ Agency of the Year issue.

This year’s Cyber Lions and Media Lions juries were announced today by the organisers of the 53rd Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
Matias Palm-Jensen, Creative President of Farfar, Sweden, will chair the Cyber Lions jury. The Media Lions jury will be headed by Renetta McCann, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group. Both juries will start voting in Cannes on the 15th of June. The Media Lions winners will be honoured on Tuesday evening, 20 June and the Cyber Lions winners will be announced on Wednesday, 21 June.
“Since the introduction of Cyber Lions in 1998 and Media Lions in 1999, these competitions have become the most respected in the industry, and therefore we are delighted and honoured to have such international high-calibre jurors, the best in their profession, to judge and honour the work of their peers", said Terry Savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival.
Australia is represented on both juries - Matt Cumming, CD Digital, M&C Saatchi Sydney (above) is on the Cyber Lions jury, while Gary Hardwick, managing partner of Ikon Communications Sydney is on the Media Lions jury. New Zealand is represented on the Media Jury by Michael Prentice, strategic director of MTC, Auckland
CYBER LIONS JURY MEMBERS
Sweden, Matias Palm-Jensen, Creative President, Farfar (Jury President)
Argentina, Fernando Barbella, Creative Director, OgilvyInteractive
Australia: Matthew Cumming, Creative Director Digital, M&C Saatchi Sydney
Austria, Anitra Eggler, Creative Director, holzhuber/impaction
Belgium, Erwin Jansen, Managing Partner, These Days
Brazil, Ricardo Figueira, Creative Director, AgênciaClick
Canada, Steve Mykolyn, VP, Creative Director, TAXI Canada
Denmark, Lars Cortsen, Creative Director, Framfab Denmark
France, Philippe Simonet, Co-CEO & Executive Creative Director, PublicisNet
Germany, Fabian Sax, Creative Director, Aimaq·Rapp·Stolle Interactive
Germany, Olaf Czeschner, Chief Creative Officer, Neue Digitale
Italy, Raffaella Bertini, Managing Director & Co-Creative Director, Nurun Italia
Japan, Yasuharu Sasaki, Creative Director, Dentsu
Korea, Hye won Oh, Creative Director, Cheil Communications
Norway, Jørgen Bøhle Bakke, Copywriter, TRY Reklamebyrå
Poland, Grzegorz Mogilewski, Chief Executive Officer, Max Weber
Spain, �ngel Ybáñez, President, BetyByte
Sweden, Gustav Martner, Creative Partner, Daddy
The Netherlands, Sicco Beerda, Creative Strategist, Euro RSCG 4D
United Kingdom, Seb Royce, Creative Director, Glue London
USA, Colleen DeCourcy, Chief Creative Officer, Organic

MEDIA LIONS JURY MEMBERS
USA, Renetta McCann, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group (Jury President)
Australia: Gary Hardwick, Managing Partner & President, Ikon Communications
Austria, Friederike Müller-Wernhart, Managing Director, MindShare
Brazil, Paulo Stephan, Media Director, Talent Comunicação e Planejamento
Canada, Alain Desormiers, President, Touché! phd
Chile, Martin Osorio, General Manager, Mediaedge:cia
Colombia, Nelson Garrido, Managing Director, OMD Colombia
France, Marie-Laure Sauty De Chalon, Chief Executive Officer, Aegis Media France
Germany, Marianne Doelz, Managing Director, Initiative Media
India, Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO, South Asia, GroupM South Asia
Israel, Oren Yonayov, CEO, United Media
Italy, Riccardo Bandera, Founder/Managing Director, Maxus BBS
Japan, Miki Matsui, Executive Creative Director, Hakuhodo
New Zealand: Michael Prentice, Strategic Director, Meares Taine Creative
Norway, Eddie D'Sa, Managing Partner, Naked Communications
Portugal, Fernando Mendes da Cruz, CEO, Media Planning Group
Russia, Svetlana Shupe, CEO, ZenithOptimedia
South Africa, Lucinda Dare, Media Director, FCB Jhb
Turkey, Banun Erkiran, Managing Director, MediaCom Istanbul
United Kingdom, Derek Morris, Vice Chairman, ZenithOptimedia
USA, Jim Poh, VP, Director of Creative Content Distribution, Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Using dental records as a means of identifying family members creates chilling image in the viewers' mind as to the possible consequences of not having a working smoke alarm in this new spot for Duracell via agency Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne. It was created by Richard Williams and Ant Phillips and directed by Adrian Bosich via Exit Films.

Lion Nathan has appointed HOST to complete a scope of work on the company’s craft beer offering, James Squire (alongside incumbent agency Giant Leap) and future innovation projects. The agency joins BMF, Clemenger BBDO and Saatchi and Saatchi on the Lion Nathan roster of agencies.
Marketing Director – Premium and Innovations, Brett Grebert, said: “HOST has a proven track record of delivering highly creative work that works. It also has a great deal of experience in delivering integrated campaigns across multiple touch points – something that is increasingly important at Lion Nathan."
Says HOST Managing Partner, Anthony Freedman: “We are delighted to be working with Lion Nathan, a company that has repeatedly demonstrated its desire to produce great work. We have been challenged to create world class campaigns that get people talking and we look forward to doing just that."
Grebert confirmed that the first work from HOST will be developed in conjunction with regular creative partner, The Glue Society (Glue's Gary Freedman and Jonathan Kneebone are pictured above), and will be in market mid-year.

A new animated spot for Sanitarium via agency Adworks Ogilvy, Auckland. Created by Drew Ayers and James Bowman via Flux Animation.

dmg world media, an international organizer of exhibitions and publications, are bringing their ad:tech conference, the world’s largest interactive marketing event, to Australia. The conference is scheduled to launch February 7-8, 2007 and will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.
In an article posted to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) website, Online advertising grows 60 per cent to $620 million with no sign of slowing, the inaugural Chairman Cliff Rosenberg states, “Internet ad growth is not surprising in itself, but the strength and ongoing potential for growth is stunning," he said. “Revenue has romped past outdoor and cinema ads combined, and are now very close to catching magazines and radio."
“We are thrilled to bring ad:tech to Australia," states Don Knox, vice president of ad:tech events. "The internet ad growth in the Australian market is huge and presents an incredible opportunity for ad:tech to deliver the best source of education, networking and technology solutions for interactive marketers. We couldn't be happier with our decision to serve this market with a tightly focused interactive marketing conference."
For more info visit www.dmgworldmedia.com.

It’s the educational program made famous for producing many of the biggest names in creative advertising, including David Droga, and AWARD School Asia has already proved its worth in its first full year.
2005 graduates and McCann Singapore creatives Teng Run Run and Gayle Jill Lim sold their AWARD School ad for TEFAL, and it has since gone on to make a finalist at AdFest and picked up a Bronze and a Silver for best use of media at the Creative Circle Awards 2005.
Under McCann ECD, Ng Tian It, their TV spot for BIC permanent marker picked up a Bronze at AdFest this month, which also scooped silver in Cannes last year, a Silver in the Creative Circle Awards, a bronze in Malaysia's MC2 awards, and a finalist in Young Guns.
Says Tian It: “The AWARD School is one of the best things to happen on the local scene. It represents the best hunger meter I can ever find to identify potential talents."
AWARD School is completely unique in that it is a course in IDEAS and how great creative thinking applies to advertising. It provides students with insight into the creative process and develops the creative disciplines of art direction and copywriting.
Says AWARD Regional Committee representative Tay Guan Hin (JWT Regional ECD South East