Do we need another Cannes? Or how a regional competition can loose identity…
Oct 13
Posted by: daniela, under Uncategorized.
Tags: festivals
Last week the Golden Drum Festival, a festival originally designed to provide a competition platform for the New European countries took place in Portoroz Slovenia.
This competition exists now for 15 years and i am keenly aware of it for the last 3 editions.
What can i say? Usually i embrace change – but in this case i am rather dissapointed. Why?
Well – what started as a NEW EUROPE competition is now mainly (most categories) open to the world. And if we want to compete with the world we go to Cannes? No?
There are only 4 categories (TV, Radio, Print, OOH) left that are restricted to this region. And this while we are heavy users of integration, which is preached everywhere. So why treat us as an ATL region? As our budgets are lower and our engagement in all media (lets face it NEW media is as common to us as ALL media) is high, this makes no sense.
So why that change? Is it in order to get more money for more entries? This question is a natural one. But does that help the reputation of our region?
There are many other reasons why i feel that Portoroz might not be the circus for proper comparision anymore:
- The quality of work entered was lower. Good crafting with no idea or good idea with lack of craft. This is an almost quote from a jury member who then also stated they were looking at business results to help them – what? Creative Competition or most beautiful effies? So why hand out so many drums? Does that not lower the value of the prizes and take away from the prizes won in the previous years?
- Lack of understanding of the categories and regulations by the jury. Examples:
Entries in Group E (Design & Art Direction) compete in the following categories:
| Category 21: | Annual reports, brochures & catalogues |
| Category 22: | Calendars |
| Category 23: | Direct marketing materials (incl. free cards) |
| Category 24: | Packaging design |
| Category 25: | Miscellaneous print & 3D materials (incl. business gifts, T-shirts) |
Do we have to understand Category 25 as including outdoor installations? I don’t think so. But the adidas installation the ‘impossible goal keeper’ won a Golden Drum and even worse the ‘Monument Marking Kosovos Independence’ even received the Grand Prix. And now the regulations part. In the TBWA meeting Kurt Georg Diekert CCO of TBWA Germany and head of that Jury openly in front of hundreds of festival participants remarked that the agency could not sell the idea to the client and therefore paid for the monument themselves. That’s not even a half a ghost! That is a reason for disqualification. No matter how good or bad the idea, which i also am missing.
- New trophies, doubled trophies and dropped trophies
Up to 2 years ago we still had the Bronze Drum – why was that eliminated? Would that not allow for better gradation? Where do we ever have a 2 stage competition? No communication to find. If the Grand Prix should serve as highest level then they should be sorted by category and not media.
How can an entry win a grand prix without a gold or silver if there are entries that win both? (Sharks Kiss my ass, Kosovo Monument again) For that matter – how can an entry win the Grand Prix in print but only a silver in ooh with the exact same execution (now horizontally)? (see Head and Shoulders 1961). Or win a gold with the horizontal version in ooh and a silver with the exact same visual vertically? (Strada shoes)
And then there is the WINGED Nike – a client prize in a creative competition? Someone has to give me an explanation – but that is beyond comprehension
Now to the best question: How can an agency become agency of the year with only one awarded entry???
- Last but not least what were the seminars that the participants paid to go to learn from?
Mostly there were screenings from other festivals and network Creative Academies? Where were the subjects? EROS LIVING FUTURE DEATH?
So – i will have to digest this for a bit.
The best thing was as usual the ROMANIAN PARTY. And that was all that’s worth it.
My five cents only anyways.
Daniela
