Three times Epica gold for Switzerland

"It's crazy. It never stops," Peter Brönnimann was delighted when Werbewoche was able to inform the creative director of Leo Burnett Switzerland about the new gold for his Swiss Life phrases. The new edition of the witty wisdom also made it into the discussion for a Grand Prix in Paris. However, after the agency - then still known as SFLB - had already been awarded this top prize in 2011 for the identical campaign, the jury wanted to be a little more creative in 2013, although it was clear to everyone that "the most sustainable ideas are actually the ones that can be continued endlessly". The Grand Prix Press therefore went to Namibia, where Young & Rubicam designed a very artistic poster for Landrover.

Switzerland also won gold in the Film Communication Services category. Swisscom won with the online video "Action Hero". The clip was produced by Swissfilmmakers GmbH, directed by Tobias Straka and filmed by Pascal Walder. At the Edi, the same film "only" made it to a nomination.

Patriotism with an eye on Germany

Another gold in the Consumer Services category went to a film about the campaign for the new Galaxy S4 at Zurich Central Station. Who's Mcqueen Pictures used 13 cameras to create an entertaining documentary about how passers-by were able to win the new smartphone if they could keep "all eyes on the Galaxy S4" despite numerous distractions. The work, produced by Philipp Petersson and Rainer Spix, has also just been awarded a Gold Edi. At the Epica Awards, however, the entry ran under the German flag because it was submitted by the Berlin agency Heimat.

A film series for Volvo has triggered a very emotional discussion within the jury. Forsman & Bodenfors in Sweden have shown a series of - in the true sense of the word - sensational films about Volvo trucks. All four films received the highest score in the anonymous voting. Nevertheless, the jury ultimately decided against the Film Grand Prix because the films were also a continuation of an existing campaign. An argument that some could not understand, because it is a crucial insight in advertising (as with the turnaround sentences) that the best concepts work in the long term and can therefore be revived again and again over the years. More on this in the next print edition of Werbewoche. In the end, the Film Grand Prix went to Denmark and the small fashion label "Made from cool". The cool clothes now want to conquer the world market with the help of a series of commercials in which Hollywood star Christopher Walken plays an amazingly "cool" role. The film "Hands" by the Nexus agency in England is absolutely worth seeing. The image production for Honda deservedly won gold in the animation category and was also in the running for a Grand Prix.

Which Swiss entries will be awarded bronze or silver will be determined in the next few hours on the basis of an in-depth evaluation of the votes. Advertising Week will stay tuned.

Epica goes global

Unlike most creative competitions, the Epica Awards jury is not made up of advertisers and creatives judging their own work, but representatives of the international trade press judging the best ideas. The journalists from 19 magazines spent four days last week awarding scores between 0 and 10. An extended pre-selection jury had previously drawn up the shortlists from 3397 entries via Internet voting. Active in Paris, the jury included delegates from Lürzer's Archiv (Germany), Brand News (Italy), Kampanje (Norway), New Moment (Serbia), Sostav (Russia) and Exchange4media (India) as well as Werbewoche.

The Epica competition is currently undergoing a period of change. After the company started as a purely European award 27 years ago, the new owners of Maydream around CEO Philippe Paget want to take the competition global. China, India and the USA are already involved. The upcoming award ceremony will take place for the first time in January "with a lot of symbolic character" in New Delhi. Conversely, agencies in Germany have somewhat withdrawn from the award after the Epicas no longer count towards the ranking in the trade magazine Horizont. Here too: Werbewoche is staying tuned!

Andreas Panzeri