Rebecca Carrasco’s Andy’s Diary – Day One

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CARRASCO_1.jpgPicture 847.pngRebecca Carrasco is in New Orleans this week judging the annual international ANDY Awards, one of four Aussies on the 24 person international jury, who has kindly agreed to write a daily diary exclusively for CB. Campaign Brief,Campaign Brief Asia and Bestads are international media partners of theANDY Awards, which has an all-star jury, chaired by Ty Montague, chief creative officer, JWT North America and Michael Lebowitz, founder and CEO, Big Spaceship.

Day One

You look out the window onto an amusement park of life. It’s good, it’s bad and it’s really raw. These people don’t give up and they don’t give in; they just get creative. And drunk. And kinda naked. Welcome to post-Katrina, post-Mardi Gras and post-Superbowl New Orleans where most people have checked-out for the month, but 25 people have just checked-in for a week.

Day 1 = 14 hours = about 1500 ads.

Picture 849.pngPicture 848.pngWhile the party rolls around the clock on Bourbon Street, the handsroll around the clock at the Ritz Carlton where, somewhere on the 1stfloor, 25 judges race the little hand to get through the preliminaryjudging set for day 1 before day 2. To be honest, it would probably beeasier to get through an alligator sausage cheesecake. (And that’s avegetarian talking.) But as we sat there in our ‘breakout group’ of 3,we watched the TV, branded content, mobile, online and wireless entrieson a large plasma screen, while also listening to radio and judgingprint entries on the computers in front of us. Simultaneously.

So 14 hours later, a few patterns are already emerging. Despite thefact that the collective background of the jury is more diverse thisyear, everyone just wants to be entertained. And surprised. Andrewarded for their time. So it would seem that an idea is still thesafest place to park your money. The entry video has become an industrystandard, but the ones with substance stand head-and-shoulders abovethe consumerphenomenonmultitouchpoint360 buzzmetric specials which arestarting to smell a little like Gouda. The best videos are the onesthat just describe the idea. No bullshit. No bullshit. And although thejury is not out on any of this yet, I think it’s also safe to say thatunless you have a terrific small idea; it’s best to think big. Even ifthe budget isn’t.

JOSEJOE_JUDGING-web.jpgObviously I can’t say what’s going to win, so it’s lucky I don’t knowyet, but I can say that a couple of local entries looked pretty good upon the big screen. I’d be surprised if the other judges didn’t walkaway with a soft spot for what has been brewing down under. There wasalso a great ad agency website hosted entirely through YouTube that’snot only smart but beautifully done; I doubt that one will gounnoticed. And there was a corker of a TVC that I imagine will probablywalk itself to the finish line in one stunning take. But it’s earlydays, so who knows.