INTERNATIONAL AD FESTIVALS
Lürzer's Archive magazine is a bi-monthly festival of exceptional ads worldwide. Each year, events are held globally to inspire and celebrate those in advertising. From Miami to Pattaya, we take a look at international ad festivals staged in five cities around the world.
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: 17 - 23 June
At its launch, originally in Venice, there was just a single category for television and cinema ads which attracted 187 entries from 14 countries and just 130 delegates attended. Now in its 59th year, the Cannes Lions festival has grown to become one of the biggest celebrations of creativity and communications where over 28,000 international entries are showcased and judged - making it arguably the most prestigious award in international advertising.
It is perhaps the only advertising festival in which musician, producer and entrepeneur Pharell Williams can be found speaking about music and marketing in an afternoon seminar, or where popstar Nick Jonas would discuss consumer relationships. This year's festival in Cannes, France takes place from 17-23 June where over 9,000 members of the global creative communications industries from 95 countries will attend seven days of workshops, exhibitions, screenings, master classes and high-profile seminars by industry leaders.
There are 15 award categories altogether for 2012, two of which are new - Mobile Lions and Branded Content & Entertainment Lions. Last year's winners include Google for Arcade Fire, 'The Wilderness Downtown' (Cyber Lions) and Decode Jay-Z with Bing (Titanium & Integrated Lions). Watch a video which is part of the 'Great Stories Start in Cannes' series:
Clio Awards: 15 May
The CLIO Awards is one of the world's most recognised international advertising, design and communications competitions and is in its 53rd year. The event was originally conceived to honour American advertising but expanded in 1965 to include international work. Today it will typically receive more than 10,000 entries, 65 per cent of which come from outside the US. Last year CLIO reduced the number of categories from 360 to just 64.
Mediums include Print, Integrated Campaign, Facebook Integrated Media Design and Student. The award ceremony will be held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Last year's winners included McDonald's Wrapped campaign by Leo Burnett, Jakarta, Indonesia and 'Human Rights Watch' for Environment Burma by JWT, New York.
FIAP (Festival Iberoamericano de la Publicidad) : 30 April - 2 May
After initially traveling (1969-1989) and being held for 21 consecutive years in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1990-2011), the Ibero-American Advertising Festival moves to what many consider the Capital of Latin America - Miami, bringing with it, the region's leading creative talent. FIAP was created in 1969 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina to promote and integrate communication throughout Spain, Portugal and Latin America - and since 1993, the Hispanic market of America, featuring only television and cinema spots. The festival has previously been held in Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, Columbia, Costa Rica and Argentina. It too is an event which recognises and encourages up and coming creative talent and has a Creative Youth Triathlon category dedicated to this, as well as interactive conferences and workshops. Take a look at their Hall of Fame.
D&AD Awards: Dates to be confirmed
This year is a milestone for the Design & Art Direction organisation as it marks its 50th anniversary. There are 25 disciplines in the Professional Awards, which include Art Direction, Digital Advertising, Graphic Design, Illustration, Packaging Design and Writing for Advertising.
The 2012 Student Awards, also known as Baby Pencils, is a fantastic opportunity to see up and coming talent and the future of the creative industry. This year's briefs include 'creating an ad campaign promoting a new, over 60s television channel for UK broadcaster Channel 4'. For the first time ever they have also opened up a brief, Mark Your Mark, to anyone under the age of 26 and to all recent graduates. Judging will take place over the course of Monday 16 - Thursday 19 April 2012 at Olympia, London. The Student Yellow Pencil winners will be revealed on 26 June as part of D&AD's New Blood, where the best new talent from the worldwide D&AD Education Network will be on show. Read about the stories of past winners.
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Adfest: March 18 - 20
The Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, known better as Adfest is in its 15th year and will be held in Pattaya, Thailand. The festival's tagline is 'Made in Asia' to reflect not only the origin of the festival, but also emphasis on and appreciation of local culture. This year's theme is Fast Forward, embracing the relentless pace of change that is transforming advertising in Asia. The festival is concentrating this year on providing creative inspiration for their delegates as well as raising awareness of how to thrive in a world characterised by change and creating ideas that spread globally within a click of a button.
What the festival says: "Adfest 2012 is an opportunity to equip yourself with the skills you need to master and adopt new technologies without losing that creative spark. It's about embracing the future, riding the rollercoaster of excitement to take the fast-track to success and creating ideas that will be shared and exchanged faster and further than ever before."
Last year's award winners included 'Sorry Thailand' for the Positive Network by agency JEH United Co., Ltd, Bangkik Thailand, 'It's in our Nature' for Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts by Ogilvy & Mather, Hong Kong and 'Cleaning Lady' for Sanitol Hand Sanitizer by McCann Worldgroup, New Delhi, India.
You can refer to the print magazine for event listings.
