"New jury brings credibility"
Othmar Casutt, a member of APG's executive management, is pleased about the relaunch of the poster contest.
Othmar Casutt from APG management is pleased about the relaunch of the poster competition.WW The leading advertising agencies showed less and less interest in the old competition. The awards became less important. Why was this the case and what new ideas does APG have to restore the competition's importance?
Othmar Casutt The previous competition was held for the first time in 1942. Since then, the conditions for communication have changed completely. When the competition was introduced, the main aim was to promote artistic creation. At that time, there was only one poster format, the world format (today the F4). Later, additional formats were added and significantly changed the poster design. The older the competition became, the greater the criticism from poster designers. These were increasingly the creative people in the advertising agencies and less and less the artists. However, the judging criteria remained unchanged and the competition fell into disrepute in the advertising industry as a cultural poster competition in which the commercial poster was given too little importance.
What's new about the Swiss Poster Award? The change to the competition now launched by APG lies almost exclusively in the completely new jury. It consists of recognized and active art directors, including Dominic Geissbühler, a proven expert on cultural posters, and two representatives from the client side. This jury will create the credibility of the competition that has been lost in recent years.
In 2001, a new set of rules was tried without much success. What procedure will be used for judging the new competition?
The judging procedure is not the decisive factor. This became clear when the regulations were amended in 2001. The intention at the time was to pave the way for commercial posters by including various categories. However, the composition of the jury failed to convince the advertising scene and the fact that the title of "Poster of the Year" was not awarded last year, despite four category winners, with an unconvincing explanation, has probably pushed the competition to the sidelines for good.
Is it a flaw that competition is no longer approved by the FDHA? The interests of APG as the market leader in out-of-home advertising and the FDHA have drifted further and further apart.
The newly created Swiss Poster Award should also count towards the ranking of advertising agencies. Would such a ranking be at all representative without evaluating the posters?
Of course posters belong in the ranking. However, to date there has been no reason to include the results of the previous competition in the ranking. These results simply lacked the necessary competence. This is why APG started thinking about a new direction for the poster competition and realized and implemented the project in a very short space of time.
Why do those involved believe that the new Poster Award will be a success? The conviction that this new competition will establish itself quickly and well in the industry is based on the fact that advertising agencies are interested in having their poster campaigns professionally assessed by a competent jury. The current composition of the Swiss Poster Award jury is exactly what has been missing until now. In addition, the competition is backed by a company that has every interest in doing something to maintain the high standard of Swiss poster art in the commercial poster sector, without neglecting the fact that the high standard must also be maintained and promoted in the cultural poster sector.
Top jury for Swiss Poster AwardPresident: Fredy Collioud Publicis AG Werbeagentur, Zurich
Members: Daniel Comte, Advico Young & Rubicam; Remy Fabrikant, JWT+Hostettler + Fabrikant; Tobias Trevisan, Neue Zürcher Zeitung; K.
Domenic Geissbühler, Creative Director; Markus Gut, Publicis advertising agency; Wendelin Hess, Atelier Müller-Hess; Danielle Lanz Ruf, Lanz advertising agency; Roger Möschler, Head of Marketing APG Winterthur; Martin Spillmann, Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett; Dominique von Matt, Jung von Matt/Limmat; Beat Mühlemann, MGB.
Entries for the "Swiss Poster Award" poster competition from October 4, 2004 at www.apg.ch/kultur. The closing date for entries is November 15.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
Othmar Casutt The previous competition was held for the first time in 1942. Since then, the conditions for communication have changed completely. When the competition was introduced, the main aim was to promote artistic creation. At that time, there was only one poster format, the world format (today the F4). Later, additional formats were added and significantly changed the poster design. The older the competition became, the greater the criticism from poster designers. These were increasingly the creative people in the advertising agencies and less and less the artists. However, the judging criteria remained unchanged and the competition fell into disrepute in the advertising industry as a cultural poster competition in which the commercial poster was given too little importance.
What's new about the Swiss Poster Award? The change to the competition now launched by APG lies almost exclusively in the completely new jury. It consists of recognized and active art directors, including Dominic Geissbühler, a proven expert on cultural posters, and two representatives from the client side. This jury will create the credibility of the competition that has been lost in recent years.
In 2001, a new set of rules was tried without much success. What procedure will be used for judging the new competition?
The judging procedure is not the decisive factor. This became clear when the regulations were amended in 2001. The intention at the time was to pave the way for commercial posters by including various categories. However, the composition of the jury failed to convince the advertising scene and the fact that the title of "Poster of the Year" was not awarded last year, despite four category winners, with an unconvincing explanation, has probably pushed the competition to the sidelines for good.
Is it a flaw that competition is no longer approved by the FDHA? The interests of APG as the market leader in out-of-home advertising and the FDHA have drifted further and further apart.
The newly created Swiss Poster Award should also count towards the ranking of advertising agencies. Would such a ranking be at all representative without evaluating the posters?
Of course posters belong in the ranking. However, to date there has been no reason to include the results of the previous competition in the ranking. These results simply lacked the necessary competence. This is why APG started thinking about a new direction for the poster competition and realized and implemented the project in a very short space of time.
Why do those involved believe that the new Poster Award will be a success? The conviction that this new competition will establish itself quickly and well in the industry is based on the fact that advertising agencies are interested in having their poster campaigns professionally assessed by a competent jury. The current composition of the Swiss Poster Award jury is exactly what has been missing until now. In addition, the competition is backed by a company that has every interest in doing something to maintain the high standard of Swiss poster art in the commercial poster sector, without neglecting the fact that the high standard must also be maintained and promoted in the cultural poster sector.
Top jury for Swiss Poster AwardPresident: Fredy Collioud Publicis AG Werbeagentur, Zurich
Members: Daniel Comte, Advico Young & Rubicam; Remy Fabrikant, JWT+Hostettler + Fabrikant; Tobias Trevisan, Neue Zürcher Zeitung; K.
Domenic Geissbühler, Creative Director; Markus Gut, Publicis advertising agency; Wendelin Hess, Atelier Müller-Hess; Danielle Lanz Ruf, Lanz advertising agency; Roger Möschler, Head of Marketing APG Winterthur; Martin Spillmann, Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett; Dominique von Matt, Jung von Matt/Limmat; Beat Mühlemann, MGB.
Entries for the "Swiss Poster Award" poster competition from October 4, 2004 at www.apg.ch/kultur. The closing date for entries is November 15.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
