Rain of nails over Berlin
Awards: The ADC Germany judged fewer entries—6,438—and awarded more prizes—392—due to the higher caliber of the work. The frontrunners, Jung von Matt and Scholz & Friends, outperformed everyone else.
almost reverently silent in Berlin's huge Tempodrom event hall. In his
ADC board spokesman Michael Preiswerk gave the opening speech
especially the people at Springer & Jacoby, who despite
submission stops had appeared at the ADC show. The agency is
the most creative of them all, but for reasons of economy it tore itself apart in the
the emergency spending brake in the competitions. A courageous decision, given that
In 2005, they accounted for five or half of all
Collect gold awards.
The spontaneous applause from the competitors was genuine. After all, they could
The larger trophy haul this year - here it is nails in the
three precious metals - among themselves. In the ADC ranking 2006
This year Jung von Matt came out on top as the most creative agency with 107 points
- ahead of Scholz & Friends (75) and Heimat (38), which took second place.
second and third place. Second-placed S&F took home
the most gold nails - two - and was able to climb up the leaderboard.
from fourth to second place on the podium (see the
Interview with Sebastian Turner, Chairman of the Management Board of
S&F Group, page 10).
Remarkably spectacular - despite less humor
For Jean-Remy von Matt, the spiritual father of the highly controversial and
also at the ADC empty-handed "Du bist Deutschland" campaign, should
the triumph in the medal table may have been a small consolation.
After all, he and his creative team were able to reclaim first place
- but without a gold nail, which they were denied.
The Berlin agency Heimat, which moved up from fifth place to
bronze podium, on the other hand, surprised the TV spot jury
and the audience. In the category which, according to jury head Andreas Grabarz
less humor, but more intelligently staged ideas than usual
she won for the second consecutive time for
Hornbach builders' merchant (customer of the year 2005) a
Gold nail. Heimat broke through again with the film "Heartbeat"
conventions of an industry that is still perceived as bourgeois,
by literally pouring a lot of blood and even more pounding hearts into the
work and gardening of the protagonists. In the same category as in the cinema category, the
the Hamburg-based Nordpol+ with its spot "Crashtest" for Renault two
golden nails. With intelligent humor - a crash test with
food from different car nations, where the baguette
wins - the work stood out from the crowd. The spot is now
was already considered a hot contender for the Lion at Cannes.
More gold in the non-classical disciplines
The HLX TV advertising campaign by Scholz
& Friends, which won gold in the Media category. At
the idea that many have described as ingenious, clever or even titanic
is an election commercial for the fictitious party "Die
PARTEI" (Party for Labor, Rule of Law, Animal Welfare, Promotion of Elites
and grassroots initiative) of the satirical magazine Titanic. Thanks to the
high number of registered "party members" received party leader and
editor-in-chief Martin Sonneborn free broadcasting minutes and appeared with the
most absurd party program for the 2005 state elections in NRW.
He sometimes promised that if he won, he would stop all surreptitious advertising in the
ban television, rebuild the wall and of course
to open a black money account in Switzerland immediately, "as all
parties do".
Another unique, original work with international class
stood out in the Editorial category: the SZ magazine "Das
Twin booklet". Two visually almost identical, but in terms of content
different editions published as a supplement to the Süddeutsche
Newspaper - one half of the circulation in the north, the other in the south
Germany. If you are interested in the counterpart with the articles about the
other half of the twin, had to ask for it at the kiosk.
Michael Preiswerk identified a trend not only in the generally still
stronger gold, but also in the once again strong quantitative
and qualitative increase in non-classical disciplines and in the
pleasing decline in "golden ideas", original works that are, however
were only created for creative competitions. In contrast, the
newly introduced category "Integrated Communication" only in terms of numbers.
Of the 476 works submitted, not a single one received a medal.
Jury chairman Ralf Zilligen put it in a nutshell: "Everyone is talking about
integrated and networked communication, but only a few implement them
in such a way that the specific capabilities of the respective channels
be used appropriately. Integration does not mean that an idea
adapted and declined through all media."
Jury Chairman Michael Conrad drew a positive balance from the
performance show put together by the 276 jury members.
"More important than the people or agencies that did the work
were the work itself," explained Conrad, who has already completed countless
international creative tournaments. He sensed a
high level of expertise, especially in many innovative ideas,
fresh ideas, the extensive use of modern technologies and the often
excellent execution.
The best examples of this were not least gold winners such as the
"Medienwolke" exhibition stand concept for O2, the launch event for the VW
Fox, in which a middle-class hotel in Copenhagen is run by a
international troupe of artists for the young peer community in three
weeks, or the Adidas website "Y-3 Cubes".
Isolated brilliant performances
Thanks to the broader positioning, i.e. more categories, the
Germany's chances of winning more at international festivals.
But that is not the only reason. The reactions of the international
According to the trade press, gold and silver works prove that the German
Advertising industry more creative and competitive in international comparison
has become.
Creative pool in the land of ideas
The German ADC, which actually awards prizes, has itself
a prize from the sponsors of the location initiative "Deutschland -
Land of Ideas" award. The initiators - the
Federation of German Industries and leading companies
and other cooperation partners - the 42-year-old creative club for its
work and commitment in communication. With this
They confirm the progress made by the industry, which also
has gained international recognition.
Luca Aloisi
