The Epica Book 2000
This 14th annual edition of the Epica Book features more than 800 commercials, print ads, publications, internet sites, direct marketing operations and packaging design projects honoured in the 2000/01 Epica Awards, Europe's premier creative award show.
Judged by journalists from 30 leading advertising magazines, the 14th Epica Awards attracted 6.268 entries from 771 of the best European advertising agencies, photographers and production houses in 39 countries.
All the Winners and finalists are in the Epica Book, together with a selection of other high-scoring campaigns.
The Epica Awards have become the reference for creative achievement in Europe. The Epica Book is a lasting record of the awards and a unique source of information for all those interested in contemporary European creative trends.
MEDIA INVESTMENT x MESSAGE = ADVERTISING EFFECT
Ami Hasan, hasan & partners, Helsinki
The formula for effective advertising is really a lot simpler than most people inside or outside the advertising business realize. That is because deep down any advertising campaign consists of only two variables - just two things that the client and the agency have the power to influence.
The first variable, media investment, dictates to whom, when, where, how often and in what size or length you're going to communicate. This is where the bigger part of the advertiser's money usually goes and from experience we know that very few of them are able, if sometimes willing, to double their media budget. Most wise advertisers try and maximize their media expenditure anyhow, though not at the cost of the other variable - the message.
While we all know that media planning is a complicated science, the latter variable, at first look, seems simpler to understand than the first one. It consists of only two components, namely what you're going to talk about and how you're going to talk about it. Simple, just get these two things in place and you have not only done what you get your sizable salary for. but you most probably also have an award winner.
Award winner? Who cares? Why bother?
It may or may not always have been so, but these days there seems to be a lot of criticism directed towards advertising awards shows.
I do agree that there are way too many of them and that agencies (ours included] spend way too much money on them. We could all easily manage without The Annual Award for Best Black and White Quarter Page in Practical Janitor Magazine as well as without some more well known shows. And the sad truth seems to be that most clients don't see the difference between this and the Grand Prix in some prestigious international creative competition. Which only means that most shows could do a better job of promoting themselves amongst our target audience. I can also as easily imagine some better uses for the agency's money than translation costs and entry fees for the work that doesn't win anything - and sadly enough not all of it does. I could gladly use that money to hire some new top class creatives, but then again they would probably produce some more work to be sent to the awards shows. I'm trapped.
Therefore I try to raise another question, which I happen to think is actually a more important one. What about the work that doesn't win awards? Or the work that doesn't even passthe first (and some might say the highest) threshold: the work, whose creators themselves don't even think it is good enough to be sent to compete in awards shows. This work, too, was dearly paid for by the client and he very rightfully expected it to be excellent and bring him, his company and his brand some results.
And excellence is what awards shows are all about. Not only in advertising, by the way, but in all fields of life. Excellent performances, and excellent performances only, are awarded whether it be high school piano competitions or the Olympics. Not the mediocre ones, never.
Does this mean that the vast majority of all advertising is mediocre at best? Sadly, yes. In most advertising there usually is something fundamentally wrong in how it communicates with the target group . That is, it basically creates - or fails to create - an emotional link between the advertised brand and its potential buyers.
There seems to be a constant debate on "does award winning advertising sell". I would like to turn even that discussion around and ask does non-award winning advertising sell? At the very least I find it extremely easy to believe that excellent advertising is more pleasing to the target audience than mediocre advertising and that they tend to like the senders of excellent messages more than the senders of mediocre ones. I don't need a thorough academic study to prove that - even if there's been quite a few of them done already - it's simple human behaviour, something we advertising agencies are supposed to be experts in.
And since there's an ever increasing amount of advertising surrounding us in our daily lives, I for one would like to see more excellence, brilliance and beauty around us than mediocrity. Be that in advertising, architecture, art or just everyday conversation between two human beings.
Ourjob as advertising people is to give advertising a good name. Both amongst our clients and equally amongst their clients, the consumers. We can achieve that by simply delivering that excellence, brilliance and beauty through the ads we create. It doesn't cost anybody more, but it can demand from us a bit more hard work. Part of the return may be an occasional award, an additional proof of work well done.
Which gives me a valid reason to put even that in perspective. The way I see it, awards shows are an excellent benchmarking tool for us agencies. My grading goes as follows:
If you have a finalist in a major awards show, you know you've done a good piece of work. If that piece of work wins an award, you know you're also a lucky son of a bitch.
If your agency year after year has several finalists in major awards shows, you know you have a very good agency. If your agency year after year wins awards in those shows, you know your agency is one of the very best.
Congratulations!