Brazil's advertisers in the award rain
At the Festival Mundial de Publicidade in Brazil, U.S. advertisers came away empty-handed for once
At the Festival Mundial de Publicidade in Brazil, US advertisers came away empty-handed for onceBy Stefan Hofmann* From June 13 to 16, the 13th Festival Mundial de Publicidade took place in Gramado, Brazil. It takes place every two years and is considered the most important event in the communications industry in Latin America.
The seemingly provincial venue, far away from the large conurbations and advertising strongholds of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, is astonishing. Gramado is located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, on a plateau two hours away from Porto Alegre. Although Brazilian advertisers are used to longer distances - a presentation here can easily take three to four hours by plane - the rather complicated journey to the festival does seem to have a negative impact on visitor numbers.
Luiz Coronel, President of the organizing Latin American Association of Advertising Agencies (ALAP), was nevertheless satisfied with the 3500 visitors from 30 countries, particularly in view of the electricity rationing currently imposed on Brazil. With the exception of the market leader for energy-saving lamps, which was able to increase its sales in Brazil by around ten million reais (9.5 million Swiss francs) or 35% within three weeks, the measures are having a dampening effect on the economy as a whole and therefore also on the willingness to travel.
The Gramado Festival accepted entries in Portuguese, Spanish and English. A total of 1768 campaigns from 179 agencies from 12 mostly South American countries were submitted this year. The absence of the other leading advertising countries can be explained by a clash of dates: the Gramado Festival, which is predominantly important in the Latin American language region, was held shortly before the Cannes Festival.
Brazilians win awards on their own continent
Despite the undisputed dominance of television advertising in the Latin American media mix, only 476 TV commercials were submitted - compared to 708 advertising campaigns. Submissions were significantly lower for graphic publications (260), radio spots (191) and outdoor advertising (141).
In complete contrast to the provincial venue, the festival jury was international. In addition to personalities from the ALAP member states, communication specialists from Europe, the USA and Asia were appointed to the jury.
Brazil's position as one of the leading countries for creative advertising, which it has regularly held at international competitions such as New York, Cannes and London in recent years, was also confirmed at the Gramado Festival. For example, 19 out of 27 Gold Awards, 28 out of 47 Silver Awards and 33 out of 57 Bronze Awards as well as 4 out of 5 Grands Prix went to Brazilian agencies. The special prize for the best-used medium also went to Brazil for an outdoor advertising campaign. The Amazonas special prize for the best eco-campaign, on the other hand, went to an agency from Portugal. Argentina took second place in the country ranking after Brazil, followed by Portugal, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Japan and Mozambique. Cuba, the USA and Ecuador came away empty-handed.
The importance of TV advertising in South American countries, especially in Brazil, was also reflected in the quality of the work. While truly outstanding campaigns were few and far between in most categories, the quality of the TV commercials from Brazil was significantly higher.
The themed events and workshops held as part of the festival were well attended. In his show "The design and control of digital communication", English advertising filmmaker and digital designer Tony Kaye argued for a more holistic and differentiated approach to electronic media in relation to users' values.
Luis Bassat, President of Ogilvy & Mather, Spain, and Luis Augusto Cama, Vice President of Ogilvy & Mather, São Paulo, showed and analyzed the most successful TV commercials of recent years.
In the context of the festival, the Latin American Association of Advertising Agencies invited representatives from politics and communication to a business lunch, which offered an exchange of ideas on topics relating to commercial communication. In this context, Paulo Renato de Souza, the Brazilian Minister of Education, and the author of these lines discussed possible opportunities for the exchange of young professionals between Switzerland and Brazil in the spirit of Stages and agreed to meet again in due course.
*Until recently, Stefan Hofmann was Client Service Director of BDWHS, Baden, and ASW President. He was a member of the TV jury at the Festival Mundial de Publicidade in Gramado.
Top Twenties With one Grand Prix, 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze awards, Carillo Pastore EURO RSCG (Brazil) was the best agency. Click (Brazil), Savaglio TBWA (Argentina), Master (Brazil), Upper (Brazil), DZP (Brazil), McCann-Erickson (Portugal), Doctor Propaganda (Brazil), Competence + MKT (Brazil), ADN (Uruguay) also placed in the Top Twenties, Martins + Andrade (Brazil), V&S (Brazil), McCann-Erickson (Argentina), Comunicação Carioca (Brazil), Pejota (Brazil), Escala + MKT (Brazil), Edson, Augusto, Handler, Costa (Brazil), Strat (Portugal), Clemente Camara (Mexico), Sancho BBDO (Colombia).
The seemingly provincial venue, far away from the large conurbations and advertising strongholds of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, is astonishing. Gramado is located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, on a plateau two hours away from Porto Alegre. Although Brazilian advertisers are used to longer distances - a presentation here can easily take three to four hours by plane - the rather complicated journey to the festival does seem to have a negative impact on visitor numbers.
Luiz Coronel, President of the organizing Latin American Association of Advertising Agencies (ALAP), was nevertheless satisfied with the 3500 visitors from 30 countries, particularly in view of the electricity rationing currently imposed on Brazil. With the exception of the market leader for energy-saving lamps, which was able to increase its sales in Brazil by around ten million reais (9.5 million Swiss francs) or 35% within three weeks, the measures are having a dampening effect on the economy as a whole and therefore also on the willingness to travel.
The Gramado Festival accepted entries in Portuguese, Spanish and English. A total of 1768 campaigns from 179 agencies from 12 mostly South American countries were submitted this year. The absence of the other leading advertising countries can be explained by a clash of dates: the Gramado Festival, which is predominantly important in the Latin American language region, was held shortly before the Cannes Festival.
Brazilians win awards on their own continent
Despite the undisputed dominance of television advertising in the Latin American media mix, only 476 TV commercials were submitted - compared to 708 advertising campaigns. Submissions were significantly lower for graphic publications (260), radio spots (191) and outdoor advertising (141).
In complete contrast to the provincial venue, the festival jury was international. In addition to personalities from the ALAP member states, communication specialists from Europe, the USA and Asia were appointed to the jury.
Brazil's position as one of the leading countries for creative advertising, which it has regularly held at international competitions such as New York, Cannes and London in recent years, was also confirmed at the Gramado Festival. For example, 19 out of 27 Gold Awards, 28 out of 47 Silver Awards and 33 out of 57 Bronze Awards as well as 4 out of 5 Grands Prix went to Brazilian agencies. The special prize for the best-used medium also went to Brazil for an outdoor advertising campaign. The Amazonas special prize for the best eco-campaign, on the other hand, went to an agency from Portugal. Argentina took second place in the country ranking after Brazil, followed by Portugal, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Japan and Mozambique. Cuba, the USA and Ecuador came away empty-handed.
The importance of TV advertising in South American countries, especially in Brazil, was also reflected in the quality of the work. While truly outstanding campaigns were few and far between in most categories, the quality of the TV commercials from Brazil was significantly higher.
The themed events and workshops held as part of the festival were well attended. In his show "The design and control of digital communication", English advertising filmmaker and digital designer Tony Kaye argued for a more holistic and differentiated approach to electronic media in relation to users' values.
Luis Bassat, President of Ogilvy & Mather, Spain, and Luis Augusto Cama, Vice President of Ogilvy & Mather, São Paulo, showed and analyzed the most successful TV commercials of recent years.
In the context of the festival, the Latin American Association of Advertising Agencies invited representatives from politics and communication to a business lunch, which offered an exchange of ideas on topics relating to commercial communication. In this context, Paulo Renato de Souza, the Brazilian Minister of Education, and the author of these lines discussed possible opportunities for the exchange of young professionals between Switzerland and Brazil in the spirit of Stages and agreed to meet again in due course.
*Until recently, Stefan Hofmann was Client Service Director of BDWHS, Baden, and ASW President. He was a member of the TV jury at the Festival Mundial de Publicidade in Gramado.
Top Twenties With one Grand Prix, 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze awards, Carillo Pastore EURO RSCG (Brazil) was the best agency. Click (Brazil), Savaglio TBWA (Argentina), Master (Brazil), Upper (Brazil), DZP (Brazil), McCann-Erickson (Portugal), Doctor Propaganda (Brazil), Competence + MKT (Brazil), ADN (Uruguay) also placed in the Top Twenties, Martins + Andrade (Brazil), V&S (Brazil), McCann-Erickson (Argentina), Comunicação Carioca (Brazil), Pejota (Brazil), Escala + MKT (Brazil), Edson, Augusto, Handler, Costa (Brazil), Strat (Portugal), Clemente Camara (Mexico), Sancho BBDO (Colombia).
