When creative advertising emerges on paper

December 6, 9 am. The six-member "Only an ad can do this" jury meets in the cafeteria at Publicitas headquarters in Zurich-Altstetten to select the best entries for next year's campaign. Toni Vetterli, Head of Marketing at the Swiss Media Association, explains to those present at the start that 76 entries were submitted.

The brief for participants in the tenth edition of the creative competition was the same as at the launch: advertisements were sought that drew attention to the benefits of advertisements. However, the competition had a few new features for the anniversary. On the one hand, a briefing event was held to explain the framework conditions and draw attention to stumbling blocks. After all, there are quite a few stumbling blocks, as was discovered at last year's competition - the winning entry "Karaoke", which used the lyrics to Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way", was beyond the financial scope due to the rights to the songs and could therefore not be realized. On the other hand, both ideas for individual subjects and ideas for campaigns could be submitted this year.

Only the idea counts

22 individual subjects and 54 campaign proposals were submitted. Slightly more than last year, says Vetterli happily. Then it's time to get to work. The jurors stroll through the cafeteria and examine the subjects spread out on tables and on the floor. Jury president Andreas Prokesch gives a few more instructions: For the time being, he says, it's just a matter of evaluating the idea. "Is it good? Is it feasible?" However, the jurors should not pay attention to the quality of the execution. Good ideas can be "made to fly" with a little fine-tuning, Prokesch continues. In the first round, the jurors mark ideas that they like with colored Post-it stickers. Around 23 campaigns or subjects make it through to the next round. After pleas from individual jurors for their favorites and discussions - do the works hit the mark? Which ideas are really new? Are the subjects feasible? - the shortlist winners are determined by vote. Six submissions remain on the table.

After a further round, it will be decided which two works will receive the ticket to Oslo: Two teams from the shortlist will travel to the BestYET competition next May 2012, which is attended by young creatives from all over Europe. For the time being, however, the jury does not yet know who it has sent to the Norwegian capital. The evaluation is anonymous, the subjects are simply given numbers.

Then comes the final task for the jury members: they have to decide which advertisements from the shortlist will be realized. The decision is made in favor of six different subjects. They are to appear next year as filler ads in over 100 newspapers and magazines.

Who is traveling to Oslo?

Before heading to lunch together, Toni Vetterli reveals the secret of who is responsible for the subjects. It is agreed to maintain confidentiality for the time being. The shortlist winners will only find out that they have won at the awards ceremony on December 13. Just like the three creatives who will represent Switzerland at BestYET: Gaël Tran and David Moret, both from Euro RSCG Genève, and Silvio Seiler. The latter is no stranger to the competition, having already won it two years ago. For these three, it's time to prepare. After all, the title of Best Young European Team and two tickets to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival are up for grabs at BestYET.

The jury

The six-member jury for the creative competition included Isabelle Hauser, Art Director at Ruf Lanz, and Patrick Ryffel, copywriter at Philipp und Keuntje (Hamburg) - both multiple winners of "Das kann nur ein Inserat".

They were supported by Simon Smit, copywriter at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, Stefan Erhart, Head of Brand Management Switzerland at Swiss Life, who is responsible for the current "Wendeätze" campaign, and Toni Vetterli, Head of Marketing at the Swiss Media Association, who stood in for his association colleague Michael Seiler, Head of Advertising Market Newspapers Espace Media. Andreas Prokesch, long-standing chairman of the ADC judging panel and freelance copywriter and concept developer, acted as president. Isabel Imper

Award ceremony

The award ceremony and the exhibition of all the works submitted for "Das kann nur ein Inserat" took place on Tuesday evening at Zurich's Basilica club. The young creatives had the opportunity to exchange ideas over an aperitif. Toni Vetterli opened the official part of the evening by explaining the competition procedure and thanking the sponsors. He then handed over to jury president Andreas Prokesch, who explained the jury's new procedure and presented the shortlist subjects to the creatives, sponsors and media representatives present and congratulated the winners. The picture on the left shows the three shortlisted winners, who are traveling to the bestYET in Oslo at the invitation of Publimedia. Gaël Tran (left) and David Moret; the two creatives from Euro RSCG traveled all the way from Geneva for the award ceremony, where they also inquired about the nightlife options while they were in Zurich. Next to them is Silvio Seiler (right), who runs his own office under the name Silvio Seiler Graphik und Design in Appenzell Ausserrhoden. (Image: Blaženka Kostolnà)