Here are some of the photo's from today's Hot Guns' lunch at the SnakePit in St Kilda. By all accounts, it was quite a success and they plan on doing it again. Thanks to the SnakePit for their hospitality and the (small) tab. Oh, and Brendon Guthrie from Grey for coming along as a 'mentor'.

Any queries/concerns email: Connor Beaver

What started as an inspirational speech from one of JWT’s leading planners quickly became an issue of security as the Andy Awards' judges, currently in Sydney, were verbally abused by an unknown terrorist organisation. Of course, it was a bit of fun during Friday's breakfast for the Andy's judges, which was sponsored by JWT Sydney. Watch the VIDEO

The Andy's judges let loose on Wednesday night at the Hero of Waterloo (Sydney's oldest hotel)  for a Pub and Karaoke night hosted by FBI Recruitment, and kindly sponsored by Mother and Mark Waites.
They were joined by the cream of Sydney's creative community, none of whom displayed any musical ability on the night - except, of course, Rob Belgiovane, the local Karaoke champ! Just about all the judges had a go at karaoke, and some surprising talent - and non-talent - emerged.
It came down to a clap off between the reigning US champion, Andrew Keller (who was well supported on the night with backup from his wife Helen), Nobby and Judee (Jureeporn Thaidumrong) ...... And Andrew Keller reigns again!  He won, not just for his raw singing ability, but for hogging the stage, and MCing most of the night when the official MC (Nobby) was otherwise engaged. The inaugural Karaoke Trophy (the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus) mounted on a trophy base, was presented to Keller by David Droga.

With Steve Back set to re-ignite Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, master photographer and tvc director Derek Hughes re-lives Pink Floyd for the Campaign Brief March issue, out now.
Hughes can be contacted on 0407 753 375 or via email
To subscribe download this: Campaign_Brief_subscription_form_07.pdf.

Andrew Keller, executive creative director at Crispin Porter & Bogusky, is in Sydney for the Andy Awards' judging, along with many of the world's top creative directors. Pictured here at the CB/Bestads judges' breakfast between Feh Tarty from Goodby's San Francisco and Judee from JEH, Bangkok. Here is the second of his reports for CB...



The week has progressed nicely.
Do I know more about doing advertising?
Am I smarter?
The days go up and down. One minute you think you’ve got it. The next minute you’re a student again. But that’s advertising. A place where strategy, subjectivity and a small creative spark make a little door for the completely unexpected to walk in.
In general, the work is very smart. You get the sense that all of us are really hunkering down and solving our client’s business problems. That the problems, not simply the potential for award, is generating said spark. It’s good to see brands are sticking with what’s worked from last year. Whether it’s Skittles or Sony or Guiness for example, there is equity in the things they’ve created. And apparently the stuff is working or else why do them again.
But you can’t be boring and repetitive. Who knew the simple celebration of color or good things coming to those who wait or the notion of candy as existential metaphor could have so many legs? But they do. And then there are brands like JC Penny and Absolut who have evolved. Or just flat out started over again. Pulling up their flag and replanting it in a more opportune space. For the work and for business.
I think it’s a kind of rebuilding year for interactive. It was a wild west where technology created the magical spark for an idea. But now we all know a thing or two about how to cut a lady in half. Technology as a crutch is not going to fly. Our ideas are going to have to start walking on their own.
Also, there’s a new category this year that tells us something about the industry we work in. It’s called “Non-interactive interaction." This is a funny name. Well, it's actually very telling that it exists. First of all it suggests that watching a commercial is not interactive. It also supports the fact that there have been offline campaigns that were very “interactive."
The scarier translation is that we may soon have a category called “interactive non-interaction." There’s a good amount of this out there. They are called web films. Sites that just have web films in my opinion are not truly interactive. They are media vehicles. So either this awareness should inspire us about TV or it should prevent us from not sliding backward from the task as given to us in name for the online world. It was an awesome day when a department at an agency got called “creative": the creative department. How simultaneously daunting and arrogant. But it’s very effective at telling us what it is we are expected to be.
Now along comes the online world. And it gets the title “interactive." It’s a lot to live up to. But just as I expect interactive work to be creative, we better expect our creative work to be interactive. And, may our TV and print ads and web banners all be interactive-if not in their cyber-physicality and activity then at least due to an idea that is so surprising/engaging/relevant/delightful that it reaches in and grabs your heart or brain or balls, and shakes them up a bit before the viewer can turn away.
 
Finally….Karaoke (at the Hero of Waterloo pub, hosted by FBI
Recruitment, and kindly sponsored by Mother and Mark Waites).
Here is the reality. It was rigged. There was already a trophy. It already had my name on it. For this I am ashamed. OK it didn’t really have my name on it. But said trophy features a Virgin Mary-like character holding a baby Jesus-like character. Who has blonde curly hair.
Destiny? Perhaps. But where is the sport? Could it have played out differently? Upon recognition of this, it was all I could do to make sure that those responsible for this did not do so in vain. So I tried harder than I ever have…for them. To prevent their embarrassment…their shame. It for sure had nothing to do with my own ego.
The finalists were myself, Judee and Nobby.
The fact is, Judee won. Her talent, her passion, her rendition of 'Like a Virgin' got the girl power on the floor and shook the 19th century pub that housed the competition to its core. Nobby insisted on Billy Joel. I think he will forever question the strategy of doing 'New York State of Mind' in Sydney, of all places. But his voice was impeccable. If he’d practiced, it showed, if he didn’t practice, then the startup of a new agency has marinated his soul in such a way as to elicit gilded chocolate tones with a caramel center. He also tried to kiss me. That was awkward. Subsequently, I have promised, for my wife’s sake, to shave every day.
Other highlights: Tuttsel doing 'My Way�' was a standout. Guy doing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was inspirational but not as good as his version of 'Desperado'. And virgin karaoketeer Susan Credle succumbed to the sweet temptation at least four times. All in all, an incredible event. And a good way to drop our inhibitions as we move into the final rounds of judging.
Onward to the GRANDY.

“JWT Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland offices have each received resounding independent endorsement of the quality of their creative output this week and tremendous recognition for their recent campaigns," said JWT Australia and New Zealand CEO, Noel Magnus. “These results certainly herald a creative renaissance for JWT right across Australia and New Zealand. We now have an absolute obsession with creativity in all aspects of our communication development process."
The JWT Sydney team has achieved unprecedented results in the JWT Global Creative Challenge in which all 150 JWT offices around the world compete and are ranked for their creative output. 
JWT in Sydney has been placed at the top of four out of seven categories for Q4 2007: Print/Poster, Media, Direct and Ambient. This is a huge feat for the Sydney office and a record tally.
Says Jay Benjamin (above right), co-executive creative director JWT Sydney: “We can't even begin to express what a Herculean effort this is. This is a big improvement from last year’s results for JWT, which was then placed 70th on the overall rankings."
Adds Andy DiLallo (above left), co-executive CD: “When you compare the size of the JWT Sydney office with that of New York and London, it really is amazing to come top of four categories."
JWT is now one of the top four creative agencies in Australia on the just released Campaign Brief Agency Creativity/Billings Index (or Hot+Cold chart). “This was one of our goals when we first got here so are very proud to have seen it happen," said DiLallo and Benjamin.
Campaign Brief reported that, “JWT Sydney came right out of the blue with the Thrifty Thinking campaign including ambient stunts and Thrifty Cheap Dad, Olympus Fly, Kellogg Changing Kitchens plus print for Listerine Tooth Fairy, Purell Hand Glove, Olympus, RSPCA, Lipton Daily Focus and Vespa Blur, and Schick Quattro Ice Resurfacer.
Similarly JWT Melbourne has improved its Campaign Brief ranking significantly on last year. JWT has moved way over to the right, out of the torpor of the tepid zone to very, very warm territory. JWT was ranked among the top four most creative Melbourne agencies in the recent Campaign Brief index at a time when JWT Melbourne is building a new creative team under the leadership of Richard Muntz. 
JWT Melbourne’s campaigns for Ford XR8 Ute Utopia spot and Police target metrosexuals ambient, Vegemite Last Quarter and We Are What We Do/Change the world 9 to 5 work were cited as reasons for the major jump in rankings.   
JWT Auckland is well towards the 'hot' end of the scale in CB's NZ chart, with 100% NZ exhibit in Paris, Ford Balloon stunt and Police Chase, Special K Ann's Jeans, Caci Medispa Tattoo were cited as reasons for the major jump into the hot zone.
 

A long, hard judging week in Sydney is nearly over for the International Andy Awards, but after hours there was time for the some of the world's top creative directors to blow off some steam. On Tuesday night, they - along with some specially invited guests - were treated to a night at the Opera House, where they got to play on stage, thanks to the folks at NSW Tourism.

News Limited’s group director of marketing: advertising and integration Garth Agius today announced the Australians who will sit on the Juries at the 2008 Cannes Lions.
 
FILM LIONS - Ted Horton, Executive Creative Director, Big Red Group, Melbourne (far left)
PRESS LIONS - Darren Spiller, Executive Creative Director, Regional, Publicis Mojo, Melbourne (second from left)
OUTDOOR LIONS - Garry Horner, Executive Creative Director Whybin TBWA, Sydney (centre)
PROMO LIONS - Ben Coulson, Creative Director, George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne (second from right)
RADIO LIONS - Dejan Rasic, Executive Creative Director, Colman Rasic Carrasco, Sydney (far right)
CYBER LIONS - Ashley Ringrose, Co-Founder, Soap Creative, Sydney
DIRECT LIONS - Dylan Taylor, Direct Creative Director, BMF Sydney  
MEDIA LIONS - Anne Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, MediaCom, Sydney

Agius said the list demonstrated the strength of Australia’s creative industry: “Representing Australia at the Cannes Lions means mixing with the very best talent there is. Judging the world’s greatest work is a tough gig, but we are confident that these experienced and talented creative and media practitioners will excel in their task. It’s terrific that Australians will be represented on eight of the ten jury panels at the 2008 Cannes Lions."
 

Writer Damian Fitzgerald has joined Three Drunk Monkeys following a two year stint at BWM where he worked on brands including BigPond, Virgin Money and Guinness. In addition to advertising, Fitzgerald has written and performed stand up comedy in the UK, Asia and Australia and sold comedy material to TV and Radio shows across Europe.
"I'm outrageously excited about joining 3DM. My first brief on Monday was to write a brand funded short film so I know I’m working in the right place," says Fitzgerald. Before moving from the UK two years ago, Fitzgerald was also a writer for Britain's best selling range of greetings cards.
Says Justin Drape, 3DM CD: "It’s great to have Damian come on board. He’s obviously a talented guy with big plans. We’ve already appointed him Executive Creative Director of our 2008 Christmas card."
Three Drunk Monkeys have grown from a team of three to a group of fifteen in the last year with clients including Foxtel, Unwired, Yahoo!7, SBS, Pepsi and NRL. 

Eleven of the world’s top designers, including Australia's Vince Frost, have been chosen to judge the One Show Design awards, honoring the year’s best in advertising design, corporate identity, environmental design, publication design, direct mail and package design.
 “Due to the increasing number of entries received from around the world and the growing emphasis placed upon good design in the consumer marketplace, last year marked the first time design was given its own separate event," said Mary Warlick, CEO of The One Club. “One Show Design honors only the very best in design, so naturally, we only invite the very best designers to judge the work."
The jury, hailing from seven countries, will meet in New York to choose the winners of the coveted 2008 One Show Design awards from March 24-27. Winners will be announced on May 6 at an awards ceremony held during the One Show Festival at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City.
 
Judges for this year’s One Show Design competition are:
Marian Bantjes, Quatrifolio (Bowen Island, Canada)
Jenny Ehlers, King James (Cape Town, South Africa)
Vince Frost, Frost Design (Sydney, Australia)
Keiko Hirano, Communication Design Laboratory (Tokyo, Japan)
John Jay, Wieden + Kennedy (Portland)
Diti Katona, Concrete Design (Toronto, Canada)
Clement Mok (San Francisco)
Emily Oberman, Number 17 (New York)
Alvaro Rego, Mumedi (Mexico)
Laurie Rosenwald, Freelance (New York)
David Turner, Turner Duckworth (San Francisco and London, UK)
 
Top honors at last year’s awards went to Apple Computer, Gnarls Barkley, Pearl Jam, BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi.

The full list of Australia's Cannes jury members will be announced in tomorrow's Media section of the Australian, but three names have leaked ahead of time. Garry Horner, ECD of Whybin\TBWA, Sydney will be on the Outdoor Lions jury, Ben Coulson, CD of George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne will be on the Promo Lions jury and Dylan Taylor, CD Direct at BMF Sydney will be on the Direct Lions Jury. Check out tomorrow's Australian or here on the blog.

Rocky Ranallo, former deputy creative Director of Clemenger Sydney (three years) and The Campaign Palace Sydney (19 years) has signed on as associate creative director of Belgiovane Williams Mackay, Sydney.
Ranallo is one of Australia’s most respected creatives, best known for his award winning work for Meat and Livestock Australia and Thredbo 'I like it'.
His campaign for MLA Lamb, colloquially referred to as the 'Tom Cruise lamb roast' campaign, was included in the '50 best TV ads of all time' last year.
He has won numerous awards including Gold Lions at Cannes, Award Pencils and seven Caxton trophies.
Says Rob Belgiovane, Executive Creative Director at BWM: “Rocky has been a close friend for over 20 years, and I have had the pleasure of working with him several times over my career. He will make a tremendous difference to our creative integrity at BWM."
Ranallo begins immediately at BWM, working closely with Belgiovane across all the Management Hubs and all clients. He will also take a seat on the Management Board. 

Andrew Keller, executive creative director at Crispin Porter & Bogusky, is in Sydney for the Andy Awards' judging, along with many of the world's top creative directors. Here is the first of his daily reports for CB...

G’day from Sydney,
Not sure where to start.
Let’s start with Sydney. It is gorgeous. Smart. The right amount of civilized Britishness mixed with a laid back beach vibe. It’s basically perfect. And it's the end of summer here. So blue skies, green trees and sparkling seas...blah blah blah. You get the point. We’re not here by accident.
And the ANDY’s...The ANDY’s are a weighty thing to be a part of. I’ve been fortunate to participate a few times now and rub shoulders with some of our industry’s finest while musing at our industry’s best work from the year. Droga, Tarty, Tuttsel, Nobay, Waites, Hoffman, Credle. That’s like half of them. It’s a humbling experience. The finest minds dissecting our work. It makes you want to work harder. Or at least wish you had.
If you remember my journal from last year, you may be aware that we partook in some karaoke. This year, it's officially been added to the list of activities. Now, there’s no way Mr. Waites- our gracious and talented host - decided to do karaoke because he likes it.  I’m not buying that. The facts are that David 'Nobby' Nobay made this an issue. He’s thrown down the proverbial gauntlet and is rumored to have pre-filtered the songlist to work in his favor, in preparation for what he deems a re-match. He’s also lobbied for an encore performance from Thirasak Tanapatanakul (heretofore referred to as Guy) while bringing in an additional ringer from Thailand- Jureeporn Thaidumrong (heretofore referred to as Judy) -- who apparently knocked it out of the park at another agency award competition karaoke showdown . For my part, all I can say is that the event will be reported fairly and accurately.
The work has been great so far. I’m fascinated by print. What is a great print ad is almost impossible to nail down. There are rules and there are goals and there are philosophies, but there are no guarantees. The right answer just is the right answer. I wish I could say more. Keep it simple, keep it branded, stay tight to the product and its benefits, Have a powerful strategy. Surprise and engage. Make it relevant. OK, so what is relevant and what is funny? What amount do you leave out so that the reader can feel smart for understanding vs have you left out so much as to alienate them? It’s a delicate balance. When you see it you know it. (Hmmmm.... sounds like a cop-out.) I’ve got a week to figure it all out.

On Thursday Foster’s, via Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, launches the fifth installment in Carlton Draught’s ‘Made from Beer’ campaign with ‘Sky Troop’, a $9 million integrated campaign based around a 50-foot schooner of Carlton Draught that runs amok in the suburbs following a dodgy skydiving performance.  Released exclusively in cinemas, MPEGs of the campaign are not available until the digital campaign is released mid-March, and will run exclusively for six weeks before airing on television for the laggards in May.
Directed by Plaza Films’ Paul Middleditch, the director behind the Carlton Draught ‘Big Ad’ and Pure Blonde’s ‘Utopia’, it is the first piece of work released by Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne, since they won the account from George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne. Creative director was James McGrath and creatives were Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford, former Patts’ creatives who worked on the last four ‘Made from Beer’ executions.
The big-budget blockbuster opens at a sports stadium and is set up as Carlton Draught providing the half-time entertainment. Three hundred ‘ordinary’ blokes in bright yellow jumpsuits jump out a 50-foot schooner of Carlton Draught to form the beer’s horse-shaped logo, before spelling out the word, ‘wow’ in reaction to cheers from the crowd. They land successfully, however the schooner misses the stadium and goes on to wreak havoc in the suburbs, destroying a couple of $69,000 Jags in a car yard before traveling over the red-tiled roofs leaving a TV repairman hanging to the side of a building for dear life.  A grumpy old man, who is watching the skydivers on television, says to his wife: “That wouldn’t make me buy it" just as the pot of Carlton Draught comes crashing into his house, demolishing it.
While post production was by Animal Logic, much of the commercial was shot in-camera as possible. For example, about 30 blokes jumped out of the plane, which was manipulated to make it look like 300, and the Jags were smashed – in one take – but the houses were models built to scale.
Peter Sinclair, general manager of beer at Foster’s, says media fragmentation meant Foster’s couldn’t just roll this out with a traditional big ad on a big screen. The campaign will test the proposition that ‘content is king’ with four million people seeing it before it launches on TV. The target market is 18 to 39-year-old blokes, which research shows are active online users.
“It will cost us up to fifty percent less than if we had got those four million through just traditionally putting it on TV. So, the model is almost saying you invest in the content and part of the return is upfront because you don’t have to invest as much in actually showing them. This is because if it is that good, through the experience you have in cinema and through what happens in digital, you will pass it on, you’ll be happy to send it to your mates," says Sinclair.
Rather than using an interruption model, people will be invited to watch the advert, providing they are over 18. This will be done digitally via internet search engines, including Yahoo and ninemsm and social networking sites, including Facebook and YouTube as well as its own website www.skytroop.com. Furthermore, a partnership has been formed with 3 Mobile, asking subscribers if they would like to be sent the advert.
Sinclair says Foster’s has every confidence this campaign will continue to do the job started back in 2003 with ‘Horses’ and continued with ‘Canoe’ and ‘Big Ad’ and more recently ‘Flashbeer’.
“There will be inevitable comparisons with ‘Big Ad’ because of the scale of it, but the reality is that I think this is unique enough in terms of the idea and unique enough in terms of content and crazy enough in the way it plays out that it will find its own unique place in consumer’s hearts," Sinclair says.
He adds that in the past seven years Carlton Draught had defied all the market trends and grown three-fold, a success story driven by the brand positioning of ‘a good honest beer that doesn’t take itself too seriously’, and the ‘Made from Beer’ campaign.
“Each time we have brought quality content and world class advertising to the table Australian consumers have reacted positively and voted with their wallets and their hearts and brought into the brand and that has primarily driven the success," he says.

The Work 07 is out and it is the best edition yet. Complete with two DVDs this 400 page hardback annual is a must for every creative and every agency creative department in Australia, NZ and Asia.
For the second year O&M has edged out BBDO in the Top Network chart, followed by Saatchi & Saatchi. Saatchi’s New Zealand tops the Agency chart followed by DDB Auckland and JWT Singapore. Two legends from the region are also inducted into the CB Hall of Fame - JWT worldwide creative director Craig Davis and Ron Mather. A must-have annual of the best in the region.

Download the order form:
The Work 07 ORDER-FORM.pdf

The latest Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings are out and this year Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore top the Agency chart to be named CB Asia's 2007 Agency of the Year. Saatchi & Saatchi held off a strong challenge from No2 agency, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. Last year's No1 agency, Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok, was third.
The Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings chart the performances of 184 agencies and 1223 individual agency creatives from around the region.
Analysis and coverage of the Creative Rankings fills 36 pages of the latest issue. To subscribe to Campaign Brief Asia, download this PDF:
Campaign_Brief_subscription_form_07.pdf






Asia's Top Ten Agencies 2007
1. Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore
2. O&M Singapore
3. Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok
4. Dentsu Inc Tokyo
5. O&M Bangkok
6. JWT Singapore
7. O&M Mumbai
8. Hakuhodo Tokyo
9. McCann Erickson Malaysia
10. BBDO Bangkok

Asia's Top Ten Creatives 2007
1. Roger Makak - Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore
2. Thirasak Tanapatanakul - Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok
3. Richard Copping - Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore
4. Jagdish Ramakrishnan - BBDO Singapore (ex Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore)
5. Jon Chalermwong - Saatchi & Saatchi New York (ex Creative Juice\G1)
6. Prangthrip Praditpong - Nude Communications Bangkok (ex Creative Juice\G1)
7. Eugene Cheong - O&M Singapore
8. Kittitat Larppitakpong - Saatchi & Saatchi Bangkok (ex Creative Juice\G1)
9. Stuart Mills - O&M Bangkok
10. Nutchanun Chiaphanumas - McCann Erickson Bangkok (ex Creative Juice\G1)

Asia's Top Three Networks 2007
1. Ogilvy & Mather
2. Saatchi & Saatchi
3. JWT

Campaign Brief Agency of the Year 2007
SINGAPORE - Saatchi & Saatchi
THAILAND - Creative Juice\G1
MALAYSIA - McCann-Erickson
JAPAN - Dentsu Tokyo
INDIA - Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai
CHINA - JWT Shanghai
HONG KONG - Ogilvy & Mather
THE PHILIPPINES -  BBDO Guerrero Ortega
TAIWAN - Ogilvy & Mather
INDONESIA - Draft FCB

A press ad to commemorate the death of Sir Edmund Hillary by the National Geographic Channel via Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, has been announced as the December/January winner of the Could Be a Caxton competition, established by the Caxton Committee and supported by The Newspaper Works to recognise and showcase great creativity on a bi-monthly basis.
Toby Talbot, ECD of DDB NZ, and the judge of the December/January competition, said: "There are some who say that newspaper doesn’t have a role in today’s media mix. This ad totally debunks that theory. Given it was the venerable London Times that first brought the world news that Ed Hillary had “knocked the bastard off�?, it seemed entirely appropriate that a newspaper ad should mark the passing of the great man the day after his funeral. And it says so much about the National Geographic brand that it can get away with running this ad. The brand fit is perfect. If it were my ad (and I’m pissed off that it wasn’t because we have them as a client) I wouldn’t have had his name or any kind of line. It really doesn’t need it. At least it doesn’t here in New Zealand. You see Everest. You see the flag at half mast. You get it. Regardless, this is what I’d call a proper press ad. And I wish I’d done it. Can’t say fairer than that."
The creative team from Saatchi & Saatchi wins an all expenses-paid trip to the 2008 Caxton Weekend.

CLIENT:  NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
AGENCY:  SAATCHI & SAATCHI SYDNEY
COPYWRITER: STEVE JACKSON
ART DIRECTORS: VINCE LAGANA AND MYLES ALLPRESS
 
Highly Commended was awarded to Consortium, Auckland for its 42 Below press ad.
The February/March competition is now open for entries.  It’s free to enter and anyone can submit nominations. For more information on how to enter the Could Be a Caxton competition and the Caxtons in general, visit Caxton Awards

The deadline is just over a month away for agencies and their clients to show their support for Earth Hour 2008. Not only do you get to save the planet but your work could win you a trip to the Cannes Advertising Festival. Campaign Brief is offering two trips to the creative team who demonstrate the most effective and/or inspirational way to leverage Earth Hour 2008 and the Sydney Morning Herald is offering a trip each to the client and agency person behind the best work.
Burnett's created the original event last year, with 2.2 million Sydneysiders turning their lights off. That alone made a huge difference to the city's energy consumption. Imagine what a difference this simple action is going to make when the 54 participating cities around the world turn their lights off for an hour at 8pm on Saturday 29th March, 2008.
Corporate support has been overwhelming. Already pledging to turn their lights of and reduce their carbon emissions by 5% per annum are ABN AMRO, Macquarie Bank, Accenture, @radical.media, Arthouse Hotel, BankSA, Bankstown City Council, City of Melbourne, City of Subiaco, CNBC Australia, Dinosaur Designs, Icebergs Bondi, ING Direct, NSW Dept Environment & Climate Change, Ricoh Australia, The Slip Inn and The Age - amongst 2,000 other companies and 43,000 individuals.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. Register your agency's support at www.earthhour.org  - all you have to do is log on and enter a few details
2. Get your clients to sign up at the same site
3. Come up with a ball-tearing award-winning concept for one of your clients' brands
4. Check that the use of the Earth Hour logo fits with the brand guidelines
5. Have the ad run before Earth Hour on March 29
6. Put in for holiday leave for Cannes
7. Turn the lights off on your way out

For the Campaign Brief prize, the work will be judged by an international panel of top creatives led by Leo Burnett’s global creative director Mark Tutssel (left). For the Fairfax/SMH prize, judging will be via a jury chaired by Noel Purcell, group general manager, Westpac. 
Thank you to these agencies who have said they will work with their clients to create Earth Hour themed campaigns and events: Saatchi & Saatchi, George Patterson Y&R, Clemenger BBDO, JWT, DDB, SO&M, BMF, Host, The Glue Society, Publicis Mojo, BWM, M&C Saatchi, Whybin\TBWA, BWM, Lowe Hunt, Euro RSCG, McCann-Erickson, The Campaign Palace, The Furnace, Naked, CHE, Grey, Badjar Ogilvy, Cummins Nitro, Samuelson Talbot, Smart, Marmalde, Spinach and Draft FCB. Just about the whole industry has put aside its cynicism and pledged to support this initiative.  Yes, the original idea came from another agency but the brief has been thrown wide open. How many times in your life do you get offered an open brief that encourages you to openly borrow from a Cannes-winning idea?

You can download the ‘Earth Hour Advertising Partnership Kit’ via this FTP site:
ftp://203.28.166.111
Login: earthhouradvertising
Password: partnership 

Melbourne digital agency Citrus has appointed two new senior hires to boost its digital expertise emanating from the progressive UK market and further its goal to become Australia’s leading digital agency.
Craig Stuart (pictured) joins as art director within its creative team following five years freelancing for agencies in Australia and the UK including Leo Burnett, Clemenger Blue, Venus Advertising and Freeform Advertising. During this time he developed fully integrated brand and retail campaigns for Carlton Draught, NAB, Loreal, Garnier and Myer. While in the UK Stuart freelanced for agencies including Joshua, Grey Interactive, RMG Blackcat and JWT, executing integrated campaigns for Mercedes Benz and Vodaphone 3G.
Stuart will work across Citrus’ key clients including Sportsgirl, Borders, Victoria Racing Club, and STA Travel.
Tim White joins Citrus as senior relationship manager within its client services team.
Previously White was corporate strategic partnerships manager for UK department store John Lewis where he developed and managed the retailer’s digital strategy. Prior to John Lewis, White worked with Australian digital agency the Eclipse Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deloitte as an integrated marketing consultant.
White will manage Citrus’ major accounts including Borders, STA Travel and Primelife.
Peter Noble, CEO of Citrus, said the recent appointments continue Citrus’ deliberate approach to hire international talent and build its expertise in retail branded ecommerce and relationship marketing.
“Both Craig and Tim have fantastic experience in one-to-one communications and retail branded ecommerce, which is far more developed as a channel in the UK and closely aligns with our service offerings. They share our digital approach in the branded ecommerce arena and will enable us to engage with clients in a much more strategic way, and elevate our thinking as a company.
“They also understand our client engagement model, which is very relationship-oriented and mirrors many of the bigger UK digital agencies. We’ve found that we’re talking the same language as talent with UK experience, which makes us attractive to them as well.
“Craig will provide a creative backbone for Citrus’ digital model, while Tim will be instrumental in deepening our strategic engagement with clients.
“With a solid blend of brand and direct response experience, Craig will elevate our creative ability to build deeper and more meaningful multi-channel consumer experiences that not only build brand awareness and loyalty, but deliver results where they count," Noble said.
Noble added the agency aims to more than double in size from 30 to over 70 staff over the next two years by leveraging its specialist online retail, branded ecommerce and relationship marketing capability.

DDB has won Campaign Brief Agency of the Year on both sides of the Tasman with both Sydney and Auckland putting in a stellar effort in 2007 resulting in a great range of work across a multitude of clients. Work that will probably go on to win awards this year, if not already done so in 2007.
Says Marty O’Halloran, chairman and CEO, Australia and New Zealand: "While I have great Managing Directors in both Sydney (Chris Brown) and Auckland (Sandy Moore), both Toby (Talbot) and Matt (Eastwood) report directly to me. Creativity is one of my passions and this is a strong signal to the network that creative excellence is DDB’s number one focus.  Too many CEO’s focus on profit at the expense of the creative product.  We deliberately focus on creative over and above profit. Maybe that’s why we are so profitable!"
Says Matt Eastwood, ECD of DDB Australia: "It's extremely exciting to win Agency of the Year in both Australia and New Zealand. Ever since both Toby and I arrived at DDB, we've tried to focus on nothing but the work. Walk the walk, if you will. Each of us quietly went about rebuilding our departments, with a renewed focus on award-winning work. And it paid off. In Sydney, the team is incredible. Each and every one of the creative department contributed to this win. But there's no secret, they simply worked incredibly hard, totally dedicated to the quality of our output. I'm very proud."
Adds DDB New Zealand executive CD, Toby Talbot: "It's been a real year of transition for DDB. If you'd asked me who was going to win Agency of the Year when I started at the end of January last year, I wouldn't have picked us to be honest. We still had a long way to go. But we won Lotteries, we hired some great new people and we became a much tighter, more focused agency. All the shit we copped on the NZCC Blog really helped too. Deep down, we've all been determined to prove those anonymous tossers wrong.
"But I guess if I was going to put it down to one thing it would have to be Marty. Matt and I owe him a huge gratitude for supporting all the changes we've made and making stuff happen fast. If there's anyone who's more excited about winning AOY than Matt and I, it would be him. Marty just loves creativity and understands how important it is to an agency's culture. You can't ask for more than that in a boss."

The same AOY issue also includes the annual Agency Creativity/Billings Charts (better known as the Hot+Cold Charts) for Australia and New Zealand.
To subscribe to CB, download this PDF: Campaign_Brief_subscription_form_07.pdf

Marcello Serpa, partner and general creative director, AlmapBBDO, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been selected by the international Clio Awards as the recipient of its distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for 2008.  The prestigious award, given in recognition of outstanding and ongoing contribution by an individual who is leading the industry forward, will be presented at a formal dinner event on May 15, 2008 at the new Gansevoort South Hotel on Miami Beach as part of the 49th annual Clio Awards and Festival (May 14-17, 2008).
“Throughout his career, Marcello Serpa has clearly embodied the tradition of creative leadership, integrity and dedication to great ideas that are the cornerstones of the Clio Lifetime Achievement Award," said Tony Gulisano, managing director, Clio Awards.  “It is our honor to present him with this award."
Serpa, 45, is widely recognized as a driving force in bringing international acclaim to Latin American advertising. He began his career with a seven-year stint in Germany, first studying visual and graphic arts before doing creative work at agencies GGK and R.G. Wiesmeir.  Upon returning to Brazil, he worked in the Rio and Sao Paulo offices of DPZ before joining DM9DDB in 1991.  It was there that he made history, becoming the first Latin American to win a Grand Prix at Cannes in the Print and Outdoor category for a 1993 campaign on behalf of Antarctica soft drink. 
That same year, Serpa and Jose Luiz Madeira, a senior account manager and strategic planner, both left to become partners at AlmapBBDO.  The team helped transform the agency to a new level of creative and strategic excellence, and have since amassed an impressive roster of blue-chip clients including Volkswagen, Pepsi, Inbev, Bayer, Audi Brazil, Mars Brazil, Gatorade, Havaianas, Greenpeace and others.
Serpa is the most awarded creative in the history of the Sao Paulo Creative Club Yearbook, and been elected as best creative director in Iberian America and Brazil eight times by El Ojo de Iberoamericana. Throughout his 15 years as partner and creative director at AlmapBBDO, the agency was the most awarded agency in the world by the Gunn Report for two years in a row, named agency of the year at Cannes and by Advertising Age, and won 45 Clio statues.
“I was nicely surprised and deeply happy to learn that Clio feels my work and professional life are deserving of such a definitive award," said Serpa.
He joins a prestigious list of past Clio Lifetime Achievement Award honorees: Bob Isherwood, worldwide creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi; Bob Greenberg, chairman/CEO, chief creative director, R/GA; John Hegarty, chairman/worldwide creative director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH); Lee Clow, global director of media arts, TBWA\ Worldwide; Neil French, former worldwide creative director, Ogilvy & Mather and WPP; David Abbott, cofounder, Abbott Mead Vickers, and Tony Kaye, the pioneering director and cinematographer.

When the NRL approached Three Drunk Monkeys to develop a way to increase club membership, their solution was to treat members as the key signings for the approaching 2008 NRL season. A series of press conferences was set up where leading NRL players, coaches and management showed their support for members who were interviewed about their decision to sign on with their team. The response was overwhelming with members flying interstate to take part in the event. Presenters David Murdoch, Luke Elvy and Russell Fairfax from FOX SPORTS came on board and the stories of these members now feature in news reports that are currently airing on TV and online. The  campaign also includes press ads each week that list members’ names  as they sign on to become part of their team.

VIEW THE SPOT

Client: NRL
Title: Key Signings
Agency: Three Drunk Monkeys
Creative Directors: Justin Drape, Scott Nowell
Art Director: Sam Chappell
Copywriter: Nick Morrissey
Director: Justin McMillan
Agency Producer: Thea Corone
Business Management: Mark Green, Daniel Deutsch, Leigh Morrison, 
Andrew Stanley
Production Company: AHT
Client: Michael Johnson, Kylie Stray

Here's ANOTHER PART of the BankWest Happy Banking campaign via Host, Sydney.

Leo Burnett Melbourne has lured David Klein from Publicis Mojo as Head of Art. Klein was jointly responsible for the latest award winning Drumstick spot and several of the latest Toyota AFL spots.
Klein began his career at WCJ in 1995, having graduated with honours in graphic design from Swinburne University. From WCJ, he moved to Grey Melbourne where he won awards for his work on TAC. In 2000, David relocated to London where he worked at Delaney Lund Knox Warren as well as Grey, gaining experience on clients like The Financial Times, Starburst, Mars and P&G.
 On his return to Australia, he joined Mojo Melbourne where he was one of the key members of the successful pitch for Nike Australia. Since then he has created award winning campaigns for Tourism Victoria, Nike, Nestle and the popular Toyota AFL Footy Moments ads. His recent work for Nestle Drumstick was awarded ‘Ad of the year’ by B&T and was recognised at Cannes, Clios, the New York Festivals, AWARD and MADC.
 

GPY&R Brisbane has appointed award winning creative team Andre Hull and Lee Sunter. Hull and Sunter bring with them considerable digital & interactive experience on global brands and are both highly awarded. They will work closely with local GPY&R CD, Tim Green and Head of Digital, Rob Hudson.
Says GPY&R Managing Director, Phil McDonald: “Most recently Andre and Lee have been working at specialist digital shop; Publicis Modem in London. They’ve won at D&AD among other shows and they bring the creative firepower we need to bolster our digital & interactive team."
“We’re committed to attracting outstanding talent to our agency and fresh, young creatives like Andre and Lee are great for our clients and our people, but hopefully in the long run this type of thing is good for the local industry too. We’ve all got a role to play in deepening the talent pool here."
Hull and Sunter join the agency next week.

Michael Rebelo, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi’s Singapore office has been promoted to run Saatchi & Saatchi London as Managing Director. Rebelo will report into Robert Senior, UK CEO, SSF Group, the newly formed mini group structure.
Rebelo’s appointment underlines the SSF Group’s stated ambition of championing creativity to drive growth at Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon.
Senior said: “Michael is world class talent.  He has exactly the right combination of experience, talent and energy to make a colossal difference at Saatchi & Saatchi London."
With Rebelo at the helm, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore was named Agency of the Year 2007 by Marketing magazine, Ad Asia magazine, and by the Institute of Advertising Singapore for the second year running. The agency has had an impressive new business record winning United Overseas Bank, ESPN, MSIG Insurance, Sony Ericsson and Tiger Beer under his leadership.
Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore was also the fourth most awarded agency at Cannes in 2007 and came 13th in the Gunn Report 2007, up from 21 in 2006.
Patt Brett said, “While is is sad to lose Mike, he has done a tremendous job for us in Singapore.  It is testimony to his abilities that he has taken one of the best jobs in the global business."
Rebelo will continue his role in Singapore until June 2008 and his successor will be announced n the next couple of weeks.