What about this for a thought.
A new and entirely specialized show, started,
predictably and we believe uniquely, by an
advertising copywriter and some friends.
We were becoming irritated by the plethora
of categories and media in all the shows...
nice and profitable for the show-owners,
but inevitably losing any semblance of focus.
And the overall loser seemed to be Press. Their
awards buried, for instance, halfway through
the Cannes orgy, presumably as a ‘breather’
while everyone prepares for The Big One on
the Saturday night. Fair enough in a way, since
Cannes started out as film awards.
And yet, in the great scheme of things, it’s
unfair. Because among all the current techno-
logical flim-flam and the ongoing panic about
the still-impending‚ death of the 30 second
spot‘, press remains powerful, unchanged, and
unthreatened.
Press is the original one-to-one medium.
It’s portable, light, and needs no power-source.
It commands all of your attention.
You willingly pay to see it. It is never part of life’s wallpaper.
If you can produce a press ad that people read
and remember, you have cracked your
profession, matey.
Thus…The World Press Awards.
These will concentrate solely on press
advertising.
Ads. Things published on paper.
We decided to go against tradition and forego
the ‘cast of thousands’ judging-principle.
We have a small jury, made up of only the best
in the world, all with proven press expertise,
and absolutely nothing to prove.
No voting blocs, no scores to settle, no personal
axes to grind. (And in particular, no names
chosen by the local award-show representatives, solely to garner no-chance entries from
countries it’s your ambition never to visit).
There’s always a good principle about entering awards. Look at the judges and ask yourself.
"If this guy were sitting in the next office, would
I pop in to ask him what he thought of a concept? And if I wouldn‘t, why am I thinking about
paying three hundred bucks for him to do so?“
These guys are worth a lot more than that.
As one Creative Director from a multi-award- winning shop in Europe said:
"If I had to show my book to any, let alone all
of these guys, I‘d get sweaty palms“.
Full details here
