Every week we bring you interviews with different people, managing or creative directors, presidents and board members of some organizations, who will judge at this year’s 17th Golden Drum, advertising festival and media meeting. But we shouldn’t forget about a person, who creatives the festival from its early beginnings, Mr. Jure Apih, its founder and president
What is USP of GD 2010?
To see and to be seen,
to listen and to be listened,
to touch and to be touched
on he most important advertising event of New Europe.
How will you surprise the participants?
Sorry, we can’t tell you, announcing surprise is destroying it.
Which trends of the industries are more evident for you while preparing the festival?
After Chaos Scenario of Bob Garfield in post digital era there aren’t clear trends to be followed. Searching for new ad paradigm, new ways to go forward and reconstruction of advertising industry are the questions and answers will show the new trends.
Last year not many works were sent to the festival. Many told the reason was the economical recession, was it the only reason?
Last year economic recession was the reason for much less entries in all world festivals’ competitions. The exception was some national festivals, as national markets became vitally important for agencies and studios. Golden Drum number of entries dropped 19%, which was less than in other world festivals; even Cannes Lions had 22% less entries.
Has the situation with sending works changed this year? Are the participants more active this year?
We do not know the answer yet as the first deadline is 1.September. As we enriched competition this year with new awards and new possibilities to win, we expect more entries. We hope you noticed also the first advertising pentathlon we innovated this year: every entry in Golden Drum New European competition will compete five times with a single entry.
What is the most popular category? How did the assignment of works change lately? Many ad festivals had to open new categories for example "digital’ because of the fast developing of the industry. What will Golden Drum offer in regard to this? What is your policy as for the fakes and how can you characterize the situation with them for the moment?
In the competition Press and Outdoor still dominates other groups by number of entries. And I must add that also in Off Drum competitions creatives send a lot of posters, last year we received even 523 posters. At Golden Drum we renovate competition every year, were the first (even before Cannes Lions) to introduce advertising campaigns in the competition and 7 years ago Interactive competition. Last year we invited PR colleagues not only to competition but also to Program and Creative Academy. Regarding ghost ads we write very clearly in Call for Entries that we do not accept ghost ads and that it is responsibility of the entrant to guaranty that the entries are the real ones, with the real client in real media. And we have a paragraph that by the demand of the jury, when they suspect that the entry is a fake, the entrant must deliver the proof to be real entry.
What European country is number 1 in creative to your point of view?
Slovenia, Russia, Bohemia, Poland, Serbia, Romania, to say nothing about Israel and Lebanon. The next one will be announced in October.
Jure Apih, ustanovitelj in predsednik festivala Zlati boben
Jure Apih, b. 1941, first gained recognition in the early 70’s as creative director of Studio Marketing Delo, the first real advertising agency in the former Yugoslavia. Later he worked as editor in chief of Telex, a progressive weekly news magazine. After political intervention he was forced to resign, and in the early 80’s he rebuild his career with the very first specialist marketing magazine in Yugoslavia, the Media Marketing (later renamed MM – Marketing Magazine). After the introduction of democracy and the independence of Slovenia in early 90’s he became a member of the Board of the nation’s largest Newspaper and Publishing House Delo, since June 2001 to August 2004, when he retired, he was the Chairman of the Board.
He was involved in advertising and marketing trade-organizations from the 70’s, and in 1993 he initiated the Golden Drum, the advertising festival of the New Europe, of which he is still the President. Founding member and CEO of ICAC – Intercontinental Advertising Cup.
Golden Drum
Seventeen years have passed since the modest idea that many saw as bold and overreaching was born. Since then the Golden Drum International Advertising Festival has grown into not only a European manifestation but into an important event noticed throughout the world. From Trieste to Vladivostok, from Helsinki to Tel Aviv, the Golden Drum is the biggest, the most important and the most noticed advertising overview and event of the year.
Whoever has followed the Portoroz meetings over the last sixteen years has to admit that because of it countless friendly, professional and business ties were established. Today we know each other better in this 400 million people region that was blown together by the winds from all over. We know who is who, we can compare and judge each other and with this knowledge we can trade easier on the domestic and international stage.
Golden Drum is the only event mentioned in the Gunn Report, the white book on the world advertising, collecting points of best ads, advertisers and agencies.
The 17th issue of Golden Drum will be held in Bernardin, between Piran and Portoroz at the Slovenian Seaside in October 6 to 9. Opening speech will be held by Sir John Hegarty, global creative director of Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty, who wrote: “The future of advertising has been questioned. Regardless of what cynics say, our industry is about to enter a golden period.”
