The Epica Book 2005
The Epica Book is the only annual of its kind devoted exclusively to Europe’s best advertising.
The latest edition, number 19, contains 384 pages and features more than 800 commercials, press ads, posters, publications, websites, direct marketing, packaging and graphic design projects honoured in the 2005 awards. The book is introduced by Olivier Altmann, Chairman of the Publicis Worldwide Creative Board, and includes background stories on the 2005 Epica d’Or winners.
This unique record of European creative achievement is fully indexed and conveniently arranged by product categories with creative credits and brief English translations where necessary.
Judged by journalists from 31 leading european advertising magazines, the 19th Epica Awards attracted 4.987 entries from 625 of the best European advertising agencies, photographers and production houses in 41 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.
Index
This unique record of European creative achievement is fully indexed and conveniently arranged by product categories with creative credits and brief English translations where necessary.
POINTING THE WAY TO TOMORROW
Olivier Altmann, Chairman of the Publicis Worldwide Creative Board
As someone who was honoured with an Epica d’Or in 2004, I know full well just how much winning such an award can mean to an agency. And I’m even prouder that I was asked to write the introduction to this year’s Epica Book now that I’ve seen the quality of the two grand prix winners.
By singling out the Guinness ‘noitulovE’ commercial and the Grande Reportagem ‘Flags’ campaign, the jury of trade press journalists showed a combination of rigour and foresight that ought to make them the envy of international advertising juries round the world.
Guinness – now there’s a brand that has succeeded in getting back to product roots and then ingeniously transcending them in what must be considered a classic work of ‘advertainment’.
The concept was also flawlessly executed (courtesy of Daniel Kleinman): so flawlessly, in fact, that some viewers couldn’t resist the temptation to run the commercial backwards. And, of course, it’s hard to forget the music that works both to underpin the meaning of the film and to build dramatic tension to a stunning climax.
Likewise, Grande Reportagem has devised a print campaign that brilliantly denounces much of what is dysfunctional in today’s world, yet without lapsing into facile solutions like voyeurism, sentimentality and grimness for grimness’s sake. In addition, the visual approach they adopted was so ideally suited to the medium and the brand that it couldn’t fail to impress a panel of international journalists.
But however exciting these two campaigns may be, we mustn’t forget that our business is currently undergoing a sea change. The digital revolution, coupled with the Internet, mobile telephony and interactive television, is rapidly transforming traditional media and the way they’re used. People are spending more time at the computer than in front of the TV. They are about as likely to carry their mobile phones round with them as their wallets. And thanks to DVD/hard disk recorders, they can zap commercial breaks with just one click. All this means that we need to seriously rethink the ways in which we seek to woo our audience.
A quick look at the excellent web film made for Axe/Lynx – the winner in its category – should be enough to convince just about anyone that it’s a whole new ball game now. Brands can no longer afford to pump out the same message to everybody. Building one-to-one relationships is what it’s all about today.
All the advertising agencies are aware of this challenge by now, and they are striving to offer end-consumers a set of ‘experiences’ with each brand. But let’s be honest: so far, only a minority of them are making it happen, and they tend to be located on the other side of the Atlantic. Why? Presumably because the US got a major head start with the Internet, because media budgets are heftier over there and because the idea of taking risks in the interest of greater market share is more deeply ingrained in American culture.
Yet if Europe plans to get in on the globalisation act, we’d better start learning to think outside the box, and fast. Our creative people will have to be more versatile, showing equal motivation whether they’re designing a 30-second TV commercial or a website dedicated to a new product launch. Our art directors will have to excel in both designing print ads and flyers for opening nights. Our copywriters will have to be as good at crafting radio scripts as they are at developing content for a mobile phone mini-series.
This may well be a field in which major European advertising events like the Epica Awards can play a vital role – by recognising the best creative work currently being done, particularly work that makes you stand up and take notice. And that means work that points the way to the advertising of tomorrow.