For the fourth year in a row, BBH London is the BestAds International Agency of the Year, but the big news is that four world-class Australasian shops are in the Top 10: Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand at #2, DDB New Zealand at #4 and Clemenger BBDO, Wellington and DDB Sydney at equal #6. Points are based on work selected for Week's Best on BestAds during 2007 so it's a unique measure of consistent creative excellence.

The Top 10 BestAds Agencies in the world in 2007:

1. BBH London
2. Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
3. Fallon London
4. DDB New Zealand
4. Duval Guillaume, Antwerp
6. AMV BBDO, London
6. Clemenger BBDO, Wellington
6. DDB Sydney
6. Goodby Silverstein and Partners, San Francisco
6. Mother, London

Check the BestAds Rankings to see the best performing agencies, clients, production companies and creatives during 2008. You can search by country.

They've sold out every year so be quick: If you're an Ad Nut and heading for the ad festivals in 2008 (and even if you're not), you have to get the 2008 Campaign Brief Tour T Shirt plus other gear - mugs, mousepads - all of which can be personalised at no extra cost.

Straighty180 have officially launched with offices in both Sydney and LA. An exciting young team of producer / directors and a post department that has worked on everything from Michelle Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to the new Russell Crowe / Christian Bale flick “3:10 to Yuma".
Their latest effort is a Xmas viral called “Like Flies To Wanton Girls". Recently featured on BestAds, it's a romantic yuletide romp based on a Shakespearean Quote.
Shot in Sydney, with Post FX created in Los Angeles and Paris. Featuring music by Spank Rock and Sufjan Stevens and the voice of one of the World's great Shakespearean actors, London's Brian Blessed.
To find out what a god wants for Xmas check it out at wantonxmas.com

JWT Melbourne’s digital department is to get a major shot in the arm, with Marty Hungerford joining the agency as Creative Director of JWT Digital and Nick Keogh as Senior Interactive Art Director. Both poached from GPY&R Melbourne, they will join the team already in place at JWT, including programmer Susan Hinton, designer Gideon Cheok and experiential creators Alice Mason, Liv Moore and Matt Lonergan.
At Patts, Hungerford and Keogh have been responsible for some of the best digital work to come out of Australia. Their campaign credits include creating sites, games and interactive features for clients such as VB, Boag’s, Ford, the Australian Defence Force, Austereo, Fifth Leg, Cadbury, the AFL, Nintendo and Yellow Pages online.
One of the earliest adopters, Hungerford has been working with multimedia concept development since 1996. He has won awards at shows including MADC, AIMIA and was named the Saxton Scholar in 2004.
After college, he started the groundbreaking Techno Renegade Magazine. He branched out to become a freelance digital designer, concept developer and producer before being becoming the first interactive designer at Patts in 2003.
In the four years since then, he has created an award-winning interactive department and made the transition from Interactive Designer to Art Director to Group Creative Head, Digital.
“I think the opportunity at JWT is fantastic. In digital terms, it’s got huge potential. The combination of their client base, Richard leading the creative department and the energy that (new Managing Director) John Gutteridge is bringing to the place make it an incredible opportunity,�? said Hungerford.
Similarly, Keogh has been involved in multimedia design since 1997 and finished college as the Most Outstanding Graduate for his year. He went on to Angliss Multimedia as a developer, creating projects as varied as an online training site for Crown Casino croupiers and an award-nominated interactive programme designed make sex education easier to understand for young children.
Keogh went on to freelance for clients such as BMW, NAB and Wilson Everard Interactive before joining Patts in 2005. His work has been recognized in award shows, including the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association Awards.
Muntz sees their appointments as the beginning of a new phase for the creative department: “Both Nick and Marty are freaks. They're a rare breed, combining original conceptual thinking across a broad range of clients with technical smarts. JWT have scored a major coup by securing such prodigious talent.�?
 

Well known Adelaide based creatives turned TVC Directors Lyn Punshon and Steve Callen have joined the team at Spirit Films. Punshon has been in the advertising industry for 37 years. He is an Art Director who has been creative director at Clemenger BBDO, a partner in KWP! and a creative director at Martins Design.  
With spots for clients such as Stockland, South Australian Tourism and Adelaide Bank on his reel, Punshon is currently directing his first job through Spirit Films for National Pharmacies.
Callen too has emerged from an extensive background as creative director at some of Australia’s biggest advertising agencies including Clemenger and Clemenger Harvie. Callen is highly regarded in the lndustry and a passionate film maker, and fresh from the recent success of his short film ‘You Better Watch Out’.

A series of radio spots for the Victorian Government urging people to bin their cigarette butts and based on actual prank calls, has won the overall and campaign categories for round two of the 2008 Siren Awards.
Writers of the campaign, Ben Keenan and Connor Beaver (pictured) from agency Grey Melbourne are also the first winners to take out a clean sweep of a Siren round, with one of the ads in the campaign, 'Lost and Found – male' also winning the single category.
The campaign for Sustainability Victoria was praised for its effective simplicity by previous round winners, and judges Simon Johnson and Ed James from DDB Sydney.
 â€œThe Bin Your Butts radio campaign stood out for us because it communicated a simple message in a real, honest way. In the single category, again it was the simple idea that stood out ahead of several other equally well-executed spots."
Three ads were highly commended in the campaign category: 'Carlton Draught Advertising Computer' for Fosters, written by Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford from Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne; 'Great Beer Inventions' for snackfood, Beerka, written by Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon from Leo Burnett, Melbourne and 'Open Family – Junk Food/Hits/Monsters/Dreams' for Open Family Australia, written by Brendon Guthrie and Tim Holmes from Grey Melbourne.
Two ads were highly commended in the single category: They were both from the 'Great Beer Inventions' campaign -  'Shopping Trolley' and 'Urinal' and written by Brendan Greaney and David Ponce de Leon from Leo Burnett, Melbourne.
Winner of the craft category was 'Black Widow Trackers' for Black Widow, written and produced by Jo Campbell and Gregg Sinclair from Australian Radio Network (ARN).
Judge and previous winner, Dylan Stephens from Risk Sound said: “I liked the Black Widow commercial due to its realism. The sounds are real and as the listener you can visualise the situation quite easily."
A commercial called 'Shower' for Rent Rescue was highly commended in the craft category. Sound engineer was Marty Braine from Brainestorm Productions and creative director was Ron Samuel.
The national Siren Awards are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country.  The awards promote the importance of creativity as a way to make radio advertising more effective. Round three of the Siren Awards for 2008 is now open and closes on October 19.  For a booking form and more information visit the Siren Awards dedicated website.
 

It is with deep regret to announce Wayne now has the disease in his spinal cord and is in Palliative Care at Sydney's Royal North Shore. Graham Nash personally paid him a visit and took him to the Crosby Stills and Nash concert on Dec 14th, this was an amazing thing however Wayne cried as he will probably never play again.

Please send him your love.

Regards
Ray Falzon

It was the concert that rock fans the world over were willing to smother their mothers to get a ticket. The website alone received 120 million hits, and with over 20 million ticket applications for the 20,000 tickets, there were bound to be a lot of unhappy fans missing out on Led Zeppelin’s first concert together for 20 years, held at London’s O2 Arena on 10th December. One person, who did get to see the gig, was Pod Film’s director Steve Scott. In November, Scott’s London based production company, Not To Scale, was exclusively approached by Mark Norton, the concert’s creative director to create A FILM that the band would play in front of for the pre-encore finale to their 16 song set, the epic 8 minute 29 second, ‘Kashmir’.
The brief was simple; if the stage is the altar, create a backdrop that is fitting. Steve Scott set about creating beautiful sets of amazingly intricate designs that grow organically, building throughout the song to crescendo. The designs evoked complex kaleidoscopic stained-glass windows forming the semblance of an abstract chimerical cathedral. The monolithic pillars from the Presence album cover supplied an Oscar Niemeyer like support and with further Art Deco and Islamic influence in the film the psychedelic result was guaranteed.
On first sight of Steve’s initial designs, the band’s response was classic rock n’ roll lexicon, “ Yeah Man, it’s like, the Temple of Rock and we’re the High Priests, Love it!�? claimed the discerning clientele.
And so cut to four weeks later, standing in an audience that contained amongst other luminaries; Paul McCartney, Liam & Noel Gallagher, Kevin Shields, Bobby Gillespie, Kate Moss, Richard Ashcroft, the Arctic Monkeys and Marilyn Manson, Pod Film’s Steve Scott and his Not to Scale Producer Gin Godden watched Led Zeppelin play Kashmir live in front of one of the worlds largest monitor’s a 28 x 12 metre giant and 20,000 screaming fans.
As NME wrote:
"The four-piece, dressed almost entirely in black except for Page's 
white shirt, played in front of a massive video screen, which featured 
straight shots of the band at first, but then exploded into 
psychedelic colours for 'Kashmir', the best received song of the 
evening."
Nice work, if you can get it.

SEE THE FILM

Australian owned and operated Domino’s Pizza today announced it has appointed The Campaign Palace, to lead the company’s creative advertising and below the line for its Australian and New Zealand business, effective 4 February 2008.
Domino’s CEO Don Meij said he is excited to welcome The Campaign Palace to the Domino’s team and is looking forward to a long-term, successful partnership: "Our promotional activity has been really successful over the past few months and we are expecting The Campaign Palace to deliver even more engaging promotions and advertising campaigns to our customers.
“I would also like to thank Communion and MJW Advertising for delivering fantastic campaigns and promotions over the past 11.5 years and wish them all the very best for the future.�
Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Allan Collins said the company undertook a three-month review of key creative agencies in Australia and New Zealand to find the best agency suited to the Domino’s business: “Following an extensive selection process, The Campaign Palace stood out as the best creative agency - one that understands our consumers, our brand and the way we operate,� Allan said.
The Campaign Palace Managing Director Lindsey Evans said Domino’s values and ethics were a great fit to The Campaign Palace business: “Domino’s not only has an exciting ambition for their business and brand but a wonderful set of values and ethics which together make this such a thrilling win,� Lindsey said.

Since the 17th century, the people of Catalonia, in the northeast of Spain, have made a tradition of hiding a small statue of a squatting boy called the 'Caganer' in nativity scenes. To spread holiday cheer, Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco created a site in which people can have 'The Great Pooper' drop a present in a friend’s name.
Check out Riney's Cheers to the CB Blog

Created and written by Jake Rusznyak and Dean Hamilton from BWM Sydney for BestAds, Wary Christmas puts a spin on the traditional cheer of the classic Christmas message by taking a light-hearted look at the perils of the office Christmas party. Working in collaboration with directing sensation The MacRae Brothers, recent winners of the $1 million prize in Project Greenlight Australia, everyone sat down and swapped horror stories before the boys came back with an incredible treatment. “Who knows, this could become the start of an end of year tradition for BestAds…" says writer Dean Hamilton.
Thanks also to master editor Danny Tait, Bean for Telecine and Sound Reservoir for audio post for giving their time free for this project.

Click to view the Wary Christmas video.

Agency: BWM Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Rob Belgiovane
Group CD/Copywriter: Dean Hamilton
Group CD/Art Director: Jake Rusznyak
Agency Executive Producer: Abby Hunt
Directors: The MacRae Brothers
Executive Producer: Alex Mooney
Production Company: Orange Whip Films
Editor: Danny Tait
Telecine: Bean
Audio Post: Sound Reservoir

It's fast coming up to the end of the Year and soon time to pick CB Australian Agency of the Year and NZ Agency of the Year -- and also to work out the 2008 CB Creativity/Billings Index (or Hot+Cold Chart).
As far as most agency creative directors (and increasingly, more CEOs) on both sides of the Tasman are concerned, CB Agency of the Year (celebrating its 21st next year for Australia, 9th for New Zealand) is the most coveted of all trade mag titles to win - and where an agency is placed on our annual chart is critical to many agency's new business performance in the coming year (that's the bit of most interest to CEOs!).
If you are entering other trade magazine Agency of the Year competitions, please send us (almost) the same thing. You'll be pleased to know it's free to enter, unlike the others -- and you won't have to personally front a jury of competing agency execs and clients in a Sydney hotel to present your case!
Provide your TV/Viral/Integrated on a DVD and Print/Outdoor/Ambient work as A4 laser prints. (Keep the package small this year!). Please list highlights of the year, including all awards won in 2007, new people, plus accounts won and lost, etc. in a separate doco.
Please only include work that has run between January 1 to Dec 31, 2007.
Even if you feel it's not your year, please send us your best as it is vital to work out where your agency fits on the 2008 CB Creativity/Billings Index.
Make sure your package arrives at CB prior to 12 noon this Friday 21st December, 2007.

Address packages to:

Campaign Brief
Level 1
24 Hickson Road
SYDNEY  NSW  2000



HONOUR ROLL: CB AUSTRALIAN AGENCY OF THE YEAR

    1987    The Campaign Palace, Sydney
    1988    Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
    1989    OMON, Sydney
    1990    Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
    1991    The Campaign Palace, Melbourne
    1992    Campaign Palace, Sydney
    1993    OMON, Sydney
    1994    Young & Rubicam, Sydney
    1995    Young & Rubicam, Sydney
    1996    Clemenger Melbourne
    1997    DDB Sydney
    1998    The Campaign Palace, Sydney
    1999    Clemenger Melbourne
    2000    Leo Burnett, Sydney
    2001    M&C Saatchi, Melbourne
    2002    DDB Sydney
    2003    Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
    2004    Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
    2005    Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
    2006    George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne


HONOUR ROLL: CB NEW ZEALAND AGENCY OF THE YEAR

    1999    Colenso BBDO Auckland
    2000    Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
    2001    Colenso BBDO Auckland
    2002    Colenso BBDO Auckland
    2003    DDB Auckland
    2004    Publicis Mojo Auckland       
    2005    Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
    2006    Saatchi & Saatchi NZ

Prodigy has signed multi-disciplinary, award-winning director Dael Oates. Well versed in live action, visual FX and animation, Dael comes from an 8-year tenure with Australia’s Oscar winning studio Animal Logic.
Oates’s directorial career developed by way of a visual effects path. Originally a designer, his unique style and creative approach gained him notoriety, making him highly sought after within the industry. 
With his distinctive style, each project sees Oates challenge creative boundaries, away from the confines of post-production, adapting his skill set in VFX and Animation, he combines this with traditional practical photographic and shooting techniques.  
His work has attracted interest around the globe, winning multiple awards for his music videos and design work, including a Gold World Medal for ‘Most Innovative Music Video’ at the New York Festivals’ 2007 International Television Programming and Promotions Awards for Telemetry Orchestra's single 'Under the Cherry Tree'.
Oates adapts his extensive experience spanning: design, compositing, animation and art direction to directing successful campaigns. Some of his most recent work includes: Saatchi’s Pedestrian Council ‘Scar Head’ campaign, Earth Hour’s ‘Flicking a Switch,’ Energiser’s ‘Photo Tower’, Optus’s Jellyfish ‘Together,’ FFC Cinema Ident, the opening credits for ABC's Margaret and David at the Movies, Channel V, Fox Sports, Spicks and Specks Idents and the recent video clip for the band 67 Special.  
In addition, Oates is completing his latest short film ‘Dead Air,’ with up and coming star Dwayne Stevenson, from the film Gabriel.  

George Patterson Y&R Melbourne has just created a  SITE developed for their clients. It’s to ensure they receive the best possible work over the Christmas period.







 
CD’s: Paul Catmur and Ben Coulson
Creatives:
Chris Northam
Simon Bagnasco
Marty Hungerford
Julian Frost
Rusty Benson
Nick Keogh
Stephen Joss

BMF is celebrating its appointment to handle the Christmas account worldwide, following a highly competitive pitch, which included incumbent agency St Nick’s, Heavenly Host, Mother Superior, Christian Porter and Three Drunk Wise Men.
Christmas General Manager Marketing Carol Singer said: “BMF’s integrated offering fits well with our need to reduce overheads. Their innovative ideas for product delivery challenged our traditional 'down the chimney' model."
It is believed BMF have proposed expanding the Christmas range of product offerings beyond the traditional gift and food categories. For example, a partnership with Richard Branson to open a chain of specialist, state-of-the-art maternity clinics under the name Virgin Births.
Warren Brown, Executive Creative Director of BMF said: “This is a fantastic creative opportunity, but also a big challenge. It’s not every day you get the chance to work on a campaign that is viewed by 6 billion people and has been running for 2000 years."
Nick Claus, Chairman of Christmas Worldwide, said: “BMF’s work really impressed me. They have successfully reinvigorated holidays like Australia Day, and we think they can do the same for Christmas, in an increasingly crowded religious and non-religious holiday market."
Matthew Melhuish, CEO of BMF said: “An opportunity like Christmas doesn’t come along every year. We couldn’t have achieved this win without the ongoing support of our existing clients, suppliers and staff, so we’d like to take this opportunity to wish them all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
The BMF Christmas campaign breaks on December 25th.

The annual Xmas Campaign Brief/BestAds Legendary Lunch attracted the cream of Melbourne creatives to One Fitzroy Street, St Kilda yesterday. Thanks to sponsors Helene Nicol from The Guild and Paul Curtain from Digital Pictures. The latter also sponsored the after party downstairs, attended by many others who missed out on the Lunch. Here are a few pics from the day, with the rest in the next issue of Campaign Brief.

Droga5,New York, the independent advertising agency founded by Aussie David Droga, has stunned industry spectators in the US by taking out the coveted Creativity Magazine Agency of the Year title after less than two years in business.
In doing so, the young upstart has beaten US creative heavyweights Wieden & Kennedy and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, both shortlisted. This is the first time in the history of the award that a foreign-owned agency has won the honor (Droga5 remains proudly independent and is presently 85% Australian owned). Droga5 is by far the youngest agency ever to win the title as well.
In a remarkably short space of time, the relatively lightweight Droga5 (its midtown NY office has less than 50 staff, making it a minnow on Madison Ave), has made its presence felt on the international ad scene with untraditional, breakout work for Mark Ecko, using the now famous 'Airforce One Tagging Viral' and more recently, the 'Tap Project' for UNICEF.
David Droga is no stranger to Agency of the Year awards: he's walked away with the title now in not one, but four separate countries - Australia, Singapore, UK and now USA. However, as founder of Droga5, he says that this one is by far the sweetest: "This is an amazing compliment to everyone involved, and now more than ever we want to live up to the goodwill thrust upon us".
As an Australian, Droga remains typically pragmatic over the title: "As I say internally: Enjoy the hype, just don't believe it!"
For the full story, download the PDF:

Droga5 Agency of Year Creativity Magazine Dec 07 .pdf

Special, the creative agency founded by Tony Bradbourne, Rob Jack and Heath Lowe, has officially opened for business.
It also announces the win of the New Zealand Volvo account, after a three way pitch.
Tony Bradbourne: “We’re very excited to be working with such a great brand, and with such aggressive sales targets."
Rob Jack: “We’re thrilled Volvo has bought in to our unique offering. We’re looking forward to a great year for our new client."
Special describe themselves as a ‘results obsessed’ creative agency.
They offer a very high standard of creative work (both Jack and Bradbourne have had many years experience in some of the world’s best ad agencies) but with a completely practical and effectiveness-driven approach.
Tony Bradbourne: “We put everything we do through an uncompromising filter. It’s designed to be intelligent, noticeable, engaging and most importantly, to work its socks off."
Rob Jack: “We keep things simple. We provide the same level of strategic insight, creative quality and craftsmanship to our clients that they would get from a big agency, but in a small agency package. Our clients get plenty of care and attention. We work directly with them. Top agency brains, small agency format."
Lowe adds high quality design as integral part of Special’s offering.He brings with him a wealth of international design experience, including projects for Nike and Adidas through Wieden + Kennedy and 180 Amsterdam.
The agency is situated in a 1920’s theatre in Kingsland, Auckland.
www.specialgroup.co.nz
Contacts: Tony 029 200 6708, Rob 021 897 002, Heath 021 657 865

Let's be honest - most public service ads should be re-named self-serving ads. I'm sure there are genuinely concerned people in the ad industry who do cause- related work they don't enter into awards or pr the hell out of - but I'm yet to meet them. I wonder how many of these oh-so-concerned creatives have ever put their hands in their own pockets to fund the production of their commercials. Not many I reckon. Creatives don't have any problems asking a production company to make their $100K public service commercial for nothing, but watch how quickly their commitment to the cause dries up the moment you ask them to donate $100 of their own hard-earned to the same cause. Public service is just that - public service. If you need to win an award for it you miss the point and the greater reward that comes with doing something for nothing.

Emerald City ended the year by creating an international TVC for Greenpeace starring Santa and owner of Emerald City’s little girl Billie Rose. Here’s what Gene Hasmi, Director of Communications at Greenpeace India had to say...

When I quit advertising three years ago I was so pissed off I swore I'm having nothing to do with it ever again. But the break was neither clean nor easy. 
For one, a lot of my friends that I couldn't rescue stayed behind on that ship. For another, just when I'd think that my work with Greenpeace had brought about a closure on my past life, I'd get a grating, contemptible, pathetic request from some inflated, self-possessed, nauseatingly shameless big kahuna asking if they could use the Greenpeace logo on some navel-gazing, ill-informed, clever-clever scam they'd just done. Not surprisingly, most of these requests (demands? orders, even?) would rear their ugly head in December, just short of award season. In fact, for someone who doesn't carry a calendar, this seasonal tide of filth was a handy reminder of what month of the year it was.
As the fall guy for Communications/Media in Greenpeace, the dirty job of explaining precisely why they should go eff themselves would fall in my inbox. I did so with no great enthusiasm, making the effort to suggest that unless they were working with us on things we desperately needed, they were serving their own purposes rather than ours. 
In 2004, an agency in Singapore wanted to work for us. Except they didn't. They had a campaign ready. All they needed was a logo. They went "cause shopping." If I'd turned them down, those ads would have appeared the next day with a WWF or FoE logo. It was amazing stuff, mind. It won all five of the world's top five advertising awards, but it did nothing for Greenpeace. Precisely because it was barely released anywhere, it got no critical exposure, it didn't address our campaign objectives, it didn't help with our fund-raising. Lesson learned.
You see, at Greenpeace (as with most honest NGOs) we're particularly vulnerable and naive -- we unconditionally accept that the cup of human kindness brimmeth over, an optimism that keeps us returning to our jobs every morning -- so when someone comes along with seductive twaddle about free publicity, we just accept it at face value. Specially since we know how difficult it is to make a dent in the harsh media landscape without big media budgets.
In light of this, the temptation to accept offers of pro bono work is immense. Hardened bastard that I am, it is easy for me to refuse.
But when my dear friend Rod wrote to me saying -- saying "I’m working with an ideas company which uses its skills for good instead of evil -- if it's good enough for the world it's good enough for us" -- I didn't think twice. Because Rod wasn't just ramming a preconceived piece of advertising down my throat, he was asking how he could help.
The result is bigger than just the 30-sec TVC that's being viewed across the world, and talked about. The result is you. Twenty highly-prized professionals drawn from some of the finest names in the business. People working nights, calling favours, forfeiting the warm comfort of doing nothing, working hard not just to create something astonishing but also to get it out into the world, and giving freely of their time, energy and resources without attendant expectations of getting rich, famous or laid...
If only more people in advertising were more like you and the Emerald City crew.
On behalf of my organisation, and all that we're fighting to protect, a very big thank you.

love.peace.justice
 
Gene Hashmi
Director - Communications
Greenpeace India

In response to the current controversy on the 'Best Arrangement of Existing Music' category, which was raised by Jim Hall from Soundtrax, the AWARD Committee says:

        In 2006 the Call for Entry Category was: Best use of existing music.
 After a lengthy meeting with a most senior sound industry representative (who was also voicing concerns from many in the industry that he had spoken to) AWARD took the advice given by him and changed the category to ‘Best Arrangement of Existing Music’ in the 2007 AWARD Call for Entry.
 The pieces that won in this category, were absolutely eligible for entry in this category.
 AWARD invited a prestigious panel of 13 Judges to review the Craft in Television and Cinema Entries over two very long days. Each piece was voted on once for a finalist, then discussed, then voted on for a Gong and discussed...again.
 The power of the voting is in the hands of the talented, experienced and knowledgeable juries that we invite each year to participate at AWARD. 
 Neither AWARD’s Management, the AWARD Committee, or the Chairman of the panel can persuade Juries to make any decisions or change any decisions on the day except in the circumstances of providing vital information in relation to scam that has been discovered during the judging week.  
The category does raise the following question however;
•     Best Arrangement – to what extent, to what percentage does an entry have to be arranged to qualify as an entry and then become a winner?
This exact issue was raised by an eminent member of the music community when the list of finalists were released and AWARD asked for copies of both the original track and 'arrangements' for review - which we received. AWARD also approached the company in question on 3 separate occasions to ask whether or not the tracks had indeed been re-arranged and was assured that they had been.
We currently cannot, and will not overturn judges decision except in the case of a 'scam' (as detailed in the rules of entry.)
We will however clarify the category definition  for AWARD 2008, and will arrange a meeting in the New Year with the disgruntled industry members, to provide better clarity to define all the categories in 'Craft'. When entries are eligible for the category, and then judged, AWARD must stand by the results and decisions made by the Juries.
In 2008 we are also going to look at appointing a craft specific panel to judge Craft in Television and Cinema, instead of a mix of craft and creative.
Thank you for your feedback and we do hope that we look forward to ensuring clarity prevails in 2008. 

James McGrath, executive creative director of Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, has been chosen to represent Australia on the prestigious 30 member jury for The One Show.
For the first time, the complete international jury will meet together in New York City to select One Show Pencils during the actual One Show Festival Week. Winners will be announced at the One Show ceremony on May 7, 2008 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
There will be two preliminary judging sessions in Hawaii and the Dominican Republic prior to the jury selecting the Pencil winners.
“Being selected to be a One Show judge is a career-defining honor, as is winning a One Show Gold Pencil," said Mary Warlick, Chief Executive Officer of The One Club. “The One Club has very high standards to uphold, so when we invite someone to identify the best creative work in the world, you can rest assured that person is equally capable of creating it."
Now in its 33rd year, The One Show is one of three annual awards programs that make up the One Show Festival Week to be held in May 2008. The festival also includes One Show Design and One Show Interactive.

Judges for The One Show are:

Chris Adams – TBWA/Chiat/Day (Los Angeles, USA)
Andy Azula – The Martin Agency (Richmond, USA)
Robert Baird – Mother (New York, USA)
Bob Barrie – Barrie D'Rozario Murphy (Minneapolis, MN)
Paul Belford – This is Real Art (London, UK)
Mike Byrne – Anomaly (New York, USA)
Glenn Cole – 72andsunny (El Segundo, USA)
Marty Cooke - SS+K (New York, USA)
Adriana Cury – McCann (São Paulo, Brazil)
Joe DeSouza – Fallon London (London, UK)
Andy Greenaway - Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore (Singapore)
Paul Hirsch – Leo Burnett (Chicago, USA)
Matt Ian - Bartle Bogle Hegarty (New York, USA)
Paul Keister - Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Miami, USA)
Arno Lindemann - Jung Von Matt (Hamburg, Germany)
James McGrath - Clemenger BBDO (Melbourne, Australia)
Steve Mapp - Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (Sausalito, USA)
Filip Nilsson – Forsman Bodenfor (Stockholm, Sweden)
Masako Okamura - Dentsu (Tokyo, Japan)
Ian Reichenthal – TBWA/Chiat/Day (New York, USA)
Kai Roeffen - TBWA\Germany (Düsseldorf, Germany)
Ted Royer – Droga 5 (New York, USA)
Beth Ryan - Bartle Bogle Hegarty (Singapore)
Eric Silver – BBDO (New York, USA)
Rob Strasberg - Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Boulder, USA)
Norman Tan - BatesAsia (Shanghai, China)
Monica Taylor - Wieden + Kennedy (Portland, USA)
Nancy Vonk - Ogilvy & Mather (Toronto, Canada)
Todd Waterbury – Wieden + Kennedy (New York, USA)
Yang Yeo – JWT Shanghai (Shanghai, China)

Last year the One Show received over 17,000 entries from 64 countries.
Prospective entrants are asked to log on to www.enteroneshow.org to enter The One Show. 
The deadline for entries is January 31, 2008.  

Calling all Aussie filmmakers! If you’re looking for that big break, this is it – entries are now open for the Lancer Supershort Series; a competition to find the best 60-second film inspired by the all the new Mitsubishi Lancer.
The competition is divided into seven different chapters, with each dedicated to a different theme associated with the new Lancer: Safer, Smoother, Smarter, Roomier, Stronger, Greener and Better. 
The first six chapters have been directed by former Sony Tropfest finalists and now Mitsubishi is giving you the chance to join this prestigious group of short filmmakers and direct the 7th and final chapter in the series.
“What we are looking for is another great idea. So grab your handycam, digital camera or even your mobile phone and start shooting!" says Mr Paul Unerkov, General Manager of Marketing at Mitsubishi Motors.
 
HOW TO ENTER
Direct and shoot a 60 second "supershort" film inspired by the All New Lancer and keyword 'BETTER'. As with Sony Tropfest films, a signature item must be included. In this case, you must show WHY the All New Lancer vehicle is 'BETTER', and refer to the '3-Diamonds' badge somewhere in your film.
You may interpret this brief in any way you choose - be creative like our six Lancer Supershort directors, who have come up with everything from international cake competitions to wild monsters. You may even choose not to feature the actual car.
 
THE PRIZE
The winning film will be included on the Sony Tropfest 2008 DVD which is distributed in the Sydney Morning Herald the weekend following the festival. The winner will also receive:
VIP tickets to Sony Tropfest 2008 in  Sydney on  Sunday 17 February  2008 
Return flights to Sydney for the winner and  one guest from their nearest capital city and 2 nights accommodation
 
ENTER NOW
Entries are now open and close at 5pm AEST on 15 January 2008
 
For more information please read the full terms and conditions for entry on www.lancersupershortseries.com.au  Entries can only be submitted via this website and will be made available to view in the online gallery.

I am writing to thank AWARD for the generally great awards night. I was lucky enough to pick up a pencil for original music and was honored to receive it as the judging is notoriously tough and historically the trophies are hard won.
Sadly my pencil and, for that matter, all the others handed out that night was immediately devalued by the mockery that followed. The following category was 'Best arrangement of existing music'. This is a somewhat controversial category but I believe it to be a legitimate one. There are some iconic examples where a performer has transformed an existing piece of music and given it new life. No greater example would be the haunting remake of Trent Reznor’s song 'Hurt', originally performed by Nine Inch Nails but totally reinvented by the genius of Johnny Cash.
Well blow me down if this actual track didn’t win a silver pencil. But...hang on..John Cash is well dead, and anyway he wasn’t commissioned by an agency to record this song... and where do the 'Music Production Company' who claim to have originated this track, fit in to the creative category? They are, in fact, a music licensing company who’s only contribution to this commercial was to negotiate a fee for the right to use an existing piece of music, created by other actual creative people. The same company also picked up another silver and 2 bronzes for negotiating a fee for three other existing pieces.
This is a total nonsense and puts the integrity of the AWARD awards into serious question. If doing a financial deal can get you 2 silver and 2 bronzes at AWARD then advertising has sunk to the level of the popular public 'misconception' of adland. It was bad enough to see the same company name listed as 'Music Production Company' on works by Bjork but this is beyond the pale. It is no different than Paramatta Motors entering the new 3 series BMW in the 'European Car of the Year' awards under their own name. They didn't make the car they just sold the damn thing!
Even if the company did the actual 'cutting down' of the track to the length of the commercial, making something physically smaller isn’t 'arranging'. It is an hour of studio time from any competent audio engineer and nothing more than that. Would the judges be impressed if an entrant negotiated the rights to a print of the 'Mona Lisa', ran it thru the photocopier on 50% reduction (to 'arrange' it) and entered it in the art direction category? What the results of 'Best arrangement of existing music' tells us is that this arrangement of Leonardo Da Vinci would be a legitimate entry and who could then deny one of the world’s greatest paintings a gold and, for that matter 'best in show'.
If AWARD is to have any credibility then these 4 pencils should be returned and the category results declared null and void. Despite this kerfuffle, It would be an injustice if the category were to be dropped, I mean John Cash would have got a legitimate silver if he had actually been commissioned to rearrange 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails but AWARD has to be a lot more vigilant as to the true legitimacy of entrants to what are meant to be the top regional creative awards.

Jim Hall
Creative Director
Soundtrax

Gold AWARD winner Tom Markham has been appointed Interactive Creative Director at Lowe and Rivet in Sydney. 
Markham was previously the Interactive Creative Director at Lowe and Draft in New Zealand. He will now work closely with Lowe ECD Dave Johnson and Rivet ECD Chris Hunter.
According to Judi Lewis, Rivet’s CEO, “The centre of gravity is now with integrated work. So we need strength in all areas of the one-to-one discipline – be that direct, digital or viral. Tom’s skill set is remarkably broad and covers all of Rivet’s offering."
Lowe and Rivet are bucking the trend to treat interactive as just another channel. “Many agencies up-skill regular creative teams in the interactive arena, and then double-check with a techie to check if the concept is do-able," says Lewis. “But we believe that world-class integrated work requires senior interactive creatives who can generate the big idea in the first place."
Markham’s credentials speak for themselves. ElectroCity, the online game he created for the NZ power company Genesis Energy, won one of only eight Golds at AWARD on Friday night. The Gold was for ‘best online and mobile game’, and it also won Silver for ‘best website’. The wins were especially sought after, given the record 360 finalists from countries as far afield as China, Malaysia and Singapore.
In just six months, ElectroCity has generated 1.6 million unique sessions in a country with a population of four million, and an average length of time at more than 10 minutes. 
Markham has also done high profile work across the Tasman for NZ Lotteries, Bank of NZ, Air New Zealand and Vodafone – where he worked on the launch of the telco’s broadband service.  
 

Graduating photography students at TAFE Ultimo have joined together to showcase their work for three days only. 
Called The Crumpler ‘Parting Shot Exhibition’, 15 graduating photography diploma students from the Sydney Institute of Technology (TAFE Ultimo) will display their best shots from their four year’s study.
The students,  who all work in various industries during the day, have studied long and hard and are a little nervous about their first showing as a student body.
The show is at ‘The Muse’ corner Mary Anne and Harris Streets, Ultimo, and runs 13 December through 17 December.  For more information, visit www.partingshot.com.au 

Dates of show 
o Thursday 13 December 6p-9p (opening)
o Friday 14 December 11a-6p
o Saturday 15 December 10a-4p
o Monday 17 December 11a-6p

 

71 bullets were awarded at the 2007 International Young Guns Awards announced today (Campaign Brief, Campaign Brief Asia and BestAds are media partners).
Jeff Anderson and Isaac Silvergate from TBWA\Chiat\Day New York are the 2007 YoungGuns of the Year - the best young creative talent globally in 2007 as recognized by the YGAward jury.
Their Mars Combos 'What your mom would feed you if your mom was a man' campaign won 2 Gold and 4 Silver Bullets in TV and Radio.
As the YoungGuns of the Year they also win US$20,000 and a place on the 2008 YGAward jury.
Nate Virnig, Jesse Synder and Rene Delgado from Miami Ad School Minneapolis, USA are the 2007 Student YoungGuns of the Year for their ‘Red Bull Campaign’ idea.
They also win a three-month paid placement at a Leo Burnett Worldwide office of their choice and US$5,000 to help them get there.
Top performers from Australasia: Josh Lancaster from Colenso BBDO, Auckland came 5th, followed by Tim Cairns and Tim Green from DDB Sydney in 7th place, James Dive and James Harvey from The Glue Society, Sydney in 12th place, Karen Maurice-O'Leary and Verity Butt from TBWA\Whybin, Auckland in 16th place, Anne Boothroyd from Colenso BBDO Auckland and Maria Lishman and Mike Felix DDB Auckland in equal 18th place, and Jonathan McMahon and Lisa Fedyszyn from Colenso BDO, Auckland in 25th place.
The two Gold Bullet winners for NZ were both for Josh Lancaster of Colenso BBDO Auckland, who won in Interactive and Outdoor Supersites and Spectaculars for Deadline Couriers 'Exploding Billboard'.
17 countries received a bullet and / or are finalist. The USA was the number 1 ranked country in all awarded criteria (including finalists) with 5 Gold, 7 Silver and 8 Bronze, followed by New Zealand with 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 8 Bronze and Australia with 3 Silver and 5 Bronze.
While the YG Agency of the Year was TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, Australasia performed brilliantly, with Colenso BBDO, Auckland at #2, DDB Sydney at #3, DDB New Zealand at #5, The Glue Society Sydney at #9, TBWA\Whybin Auckland at #13.
To download the YGAward 2007 Winners and Finalists PDF and view the 2007 Showcase go to the YOUNGGUNS NETSITE

Following the highly acclaimed Al Gore seminar in 2007, the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Y&R will be presenting its Australian worldwide CEO Hamish McLennan in discussion with Rupert Murdoch on how he has transformed the shape of media and marketing with News Corporation’s extraordinary group of assets. From Sky TV to MySpace to the Wall Street Journal, from Australia to London, from NY to China, News Corporation has changed the media landscape. See what the future holds for the creative community and marketers alike.
The 55th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival takes place 15 - 21 June 2008.
To attend, register from Thursday, 10 January 2008 at www.canneslions.com.

You might remember at AWARD night people could text comments that appeared in speech bubbles over photos of the winners. It was a bit of fun and quite a few people got into it. It was also a demonstration of AWARD embracing new technologies. There's a link to a video that shows what went on as well as a some screenshots and a blog post.

Check out the: VIDEO
Check out the: BLOG