Snowflakes instead of golden rain
ADC Three gold and nine silver cubes are the meager yield of the 2004 ADC judging.
ADC Three gold and nine silver dice are the meagre yield of the ADC judging for 2004. Alea iacta non est: While outside Mother Hulda made the flakes dance generously, in the World Trade Center in Oerlikon the dice fell very rarely on the tables - but the voting folders fell all the more frequently under the tables. The jurors of the 28th ADC Awards rated only nine of the 1011 entries submitted as outstanding and just three - all in the film category - as groundbreaking. With 48 awards, the bronze cubes were also around two thirds below last year's yield. On the other hand, 132 entries made it onto the newly introduced shortlist. The result can be explained by the new mode, which was used for the first time this year (see page 9). But the icy economic climate, which caused many large advertising budgets to freeze, was also reflected in the entries. Markus Gut, jury president of the Outdoor Advertising category, concluded: "A strong mode plus a weak year equals fewer prizes." Protests from the administration
Another indication of a weak year was the high number of individual entries. These were often subsequently combined into series by the juries, which caused some protests from the administration. In this way, the original 1011 works submitted were ultimately reduced to a total of 996.
There were no high-flyers this year. Nevertheless, something has changed at the top of the cube ranking this year: last year's second-placed agency Ruf Lanz swung onto the top step of the podium with a total of eleven precious metal awards, ahead of Publicis. The creative duo Markus Ruf and Danielle Lanz won gold in the supreme discipline of film for the Mühlehalde home for the blind and silver for the Ed Fagan commercial for Bank Coop. There was also silver in the advertising category for VBZ and in the radio spot category for Sport Factory Outlet.
The Migros series of commercials "Advertising ideas from customers" made by Publicis was also unanimously awarded gold. The films had already won second place in the 2003 Campaign of the Year competition. However, the Feldschlösschen films showed that professional and public opinion are not always congruent: while the readers of Werbewoche relegated the spots to seventh place, Spillman Felser Leo Burnett was awarded ADC gold. The agency also received a silver cube for the Mammut advertising campaign.
For ADC jury chairman Andreas Prokesch, the fact that the sparse gold awards were all given in the supreme discipline is a signal to the clients "that we can actually do it, but are not allowed to prove it enough".
Added value of the awards
Markus Ruf is also convinced that the low dice count should not lead to the conclusion that Swiss advertising has become worse. "A shortlist this year is worth more than a bronze a year ago," emphasizes the jury president of the sales promotion category. The majority of the jury members also responded positively to the tougher judging criteria. Nevertheless, in the sometimes heated discussions, there were occasional comments that this was still Oerlikon and not Cannes.
When, after almost 24 hours of marathon judging, the last gold cubes were (not) cast, the jury chairman's arbitrary rules of procedure slowly began to falter. Despite fierce protests, Prokesch allowed the jury to vote three times on the Sporttip radio spots by Jung von Matt (JvM). However, this did not change the final result: silver for JvM and a thick blanket of snow for Oerlikon.
Shooting star Ruf LanzJust nine heads make up the
advertising agency Ruf Lanz. Nevertheless, just two years after it was founded in 2001, it advanced to second place in the ADC rankings and outshone the Goliaths of the industry in this year's judging with the strictest mode and the largest yield of precious metals. The agency of the two former Advertisers of the Year Danielle Lanz and Markus Ruf (r.) expanded its business in March 2003 with the
advisor Marcus Gretener (l.) and generated a profit of
sales of 2.7 million francs. Despite the great success
The desire for growth is limited: "We want to continue to make interesting advertising for customers who allow it. And that's not an unlimited number." (la)
The jury only saw groundbreaking work in the film category: the advertising for the Zurich Mühlehalde home for the blind, for Feldschlösschen and for Migros was worth its weight in gold.
All roads lead to McDonald's: DDB won silver for the idea.
Mammoth in the fog: This brought SFLB a silver lining.
Simone Keller
Another indication of a weak year was the high number of individual entries. These were often subsequently combined into series by the juries, which caused some protests from the administration. In this way, the original 1011 works submitted were ultimately reduced to a total of 996.
There were no high-flyers this year. Nevertheless, something has changed at the top of the cube ranking this year: last year's second-placed agency Ruf Lanz swung onto the top step of the podium with a total of eleven precious metal awards, ahead of Publicis. The creative duo Markus Ruf and Danielle Lanz won gold in the supreme discipline of film for the Mühlehalde home for the blind and silver for the Ed Fagan commercial for Bank Coop. There was also silver in the advertising category for VBZ and in the radio spot category for Sport Factory Outlet.
The Migros series of commercials "Advertising ideas from customers" made by Publicis was also unanimously awarded gold. The films had already won second place in the 2003 Campaign of the Year competition. However, the Feldschlösschen films showed that professional and public opinion are not always congruent: while the readers of Werbewoche relegated the spots to seventh place, Spillman Felser Leo Burnett was awarded ADC gold. The agency also received a silver cube for the Mammut advertising campaign.
For ADC jury chairman Andreas Prokesch, the fact that the sparse gold awards were all given in the supreme discipline is a signal to the clients "that we can actually do it, but are not allowed to prove it enough".
Added value of the awards
Markus Ruf is also convinced that the low dice count should not lead to the conclusion that Swiss advertising has become worse. "A shortlist this year is worth more than a bronze a year ago," emphasizes the jury president of the sales promotion category. The majority of the jury members also responded positively to the tougher judging criteria. Nevertheless, in the sometimes heated discussions, there were occasional comments that this was still Oerlikon and not Cannes.
When, after almost 24 hours of marathon judging, the last gold cubes were (not) cast, the jury chairman's arbitrary rules of procedure slowly began to falter. Despite fierce protests, Prokesch allowed the jury to vote three times on the Sporttip radio spots by Jung von Matt (JvM). However, this did not change the final result: silver for JvM and a thick blanket of snow for Oerlikon.
Shooting star Ruf LanzJust nine heads make up the
advertising agency Ruf Lanz. Nevertheless, just two years after it was founded in 2001, it advanced to second place in the ADC rankings and outshone the Goliaths of the industry in this year's judging with the strictest mode and the largest yield of precious metals. The agency of the two former Advertisers of the Year Danielle Lanz and Markus Ruf (r.) expanded its business in March 2003 with the
advisor Marcus Gretener (l.) and generated a profit of
sales of 2.7 million francs. Despite the great success
The desire for growth is limited: "We want to continue to make interesting advertising for customers who allow it. And that's not an unlimited number." (la)
The jury only saw groundbreaking work in the film category: the advertising for the Zurich Mühlehalde home for the blind, for Feldschlösschen and for Migros was worth its weight in gold.
All roads lead to McDonald's: DDB won silver for the idea.
Mammoth in the fog: This brought SFLB a silver lining.
Simone Keller
