The Epica Book 2001
This 15th 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 2001/02 Epica Awards, Europe's premier creative award show.
Judged by journalists from 30 leading advertising magazines, the 16th Epica Awards attracted 5.283 entries from 643 of the best European advertising agencies, photographers and production houses in 38 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.
IDEAS SELL BEST
Sebastian Turner, CEO, Scholz & Friends AG.
Recall values in advertising are pretty down-to-earth. According to various estimates, 50 to 75% of all advertising makes no impact at all. However, these figures are challenged by a new study in which an amazing 87% of the commercials covered by the report achieved or even exceeded their targets. The advertisements in question? The 400 commercials which did best at creative competitions.
So, can we conclude that creative advertisements always succeed? Big flops prove the contrary: lots of campaigns have been praised for their creativity while totally failing in the marketplace. On the other hand, the list of advertising campaigns that have succeeded despite their lack of creativity is pretty long, meaning that creativity does not necessarily affect the outcome of a campaign. So what does this tell us?
Looking at the situation from the consumer's point of view provides some useful insights. Consumer interest in advertising is extremely low and continues to decrease. An international study of advertising recall values has shown that in 1960, 40% of commercial TV viewers could remember one specific spot, whereas today only 8% are able to do so. Even if consumers had nothing better to do than study advertising messages all day, they could not absorb, let alone retain, all the information that is imposed on them by ads.
Of course, the number of ads has exploded over the past few years. How can an advertisement reach its target under such circumstances? One method might be to use a few TV commercials or print ads over a comparatively long period of time. They might thus gain high popularity, but not necessarily become widely accepted - or even create sympathy for a brand. At least one adverse side-effect is the tiring effect of new TV commercials on the target group, provided people are watching in the first place.
The advertising industry seems to be trapped in a vicious cycle:the more monotonous and bland TV commercials become, the less widely accepted they are. Alternatively, high-impact commercials have to be repeated more often in order to increase the pressure and get the desired attention - otherwise monotony sets in and interest levels fall. Consumer surveys show that the final result of these methods is the same: most consumers have had enough of advertising and try to avoid it.
Yet if the majority of advertising is considered annoying by consumers, is it possible that 61 % of them would miss ads if they did not exist? This is the result of a survey conducted in Great Britain. However, as we all know, the British are famous for producing the most creative advertising in the world.
Does this mean that the effectiveness of creative advertising varies from country to country? Interestingly enough, the German market provides a good indication. Two brands have achieved success as a result of the outstanding creative quality of their advertising over the past few years, namely Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Internal studies comparing advertising expenditure with recall values demonstrate this correlation. Both brands show a steep increase in popularity compared to the amount of budget spent. None of their numerous rival marques can demonstrate an equally favourable equation. And both brands offer - in addition to a precisely defined brand core - entertaining advertisements.
A recent joint study by the German Society for Consumer Research and the Gesamtverbandes Werbeagenturen (German Association of Advertising Agencies) measured both advertising pressure - that's to say, the clients' budgets - and the quality of the advertising concerned. High quality ads were deemed to achieve "by far the best results" and led to the conclusion that "the most innovative rather than the biggest [spenders] will make it".
A comparison between the two most important advertising competitions in Germany and Switzerland provides further insights. Every year, the Art Directors Club (ADC) rewards the most creative advertising campaign, as chosen by its jury. Only a very small percentage of all print, poster and commercials have a chance to win these awards. If creativity had only a little influence on the success of advertising, the ADC winners would make a negligible showing in competitions based on effectiveness. However, this is far from the case! In fact, of the campaigns that received Effie (advertising effectiveness) awards from Germany's advertising agencies association in the 1990s, a high percentage were also recognised by the ADC for their creative quality.
Finally, practical experience supports the assumption that creative advertising sells better. An investigation of 480 more- than-usually effective campaigns from all over the world concludes that "the most successful campaigns are clearly more creative than average campaigns". The authors of the study are former Procter & Gamble marketing managers, and thus above any suspicion of praising creativity for their own benefit. In fact, they are supported by the equally objective Nestle boss Helmut Maucher. who observes: "There are plenty of examples where, rather than an extremely high budget, the idea, the creativity and the intelligent positioning of an advertising campaign have guaranteed success."