Satoshi Takamatsu, President of the 5th CUP jury:
As jury president I try to make a bouquet, I am a florist.
Satoshi Takamatsu, Founder and Chief Creative Director, Ground, Tokyo and President of the 5th CUP Jury:
“Normally I get inspiration from judging, I was inspired from the new, unfamiliar regions work. I am not familiar with the Southern America work, Turkey work, New Europe work. There are a lot of things that inspired me, I will get new ideas, new approach to my clients.
In this festival I feel like here we are following another philosophy, different atmosphere. This is maybe because we are in Istanbul, in between Europe and Asia, in mixture of cultures so it’s easy. We open our mind to understand different culture from around the world, unfamiliar culture to us. We tried to understand what’s behind this. What is the cultural background, what is the concept, it was a long time and I am exhausted. We have good discussions for find the right ones.
It’s easy to find big flower in Cannes, but it’s difficult to find small beautiful flower in Cannes. But here it does not matter how big the flower is, but if the flower is related to the cultural background we try to find it no matter how small it is.”
It seems that festivals are meant to impress other agency people, and not so much the consumers. Do you think that the Genius loci concept is closer to consumers?
Satoshi Takamatsu: “I think so. In Cannes is something like a competition between agencies: we are big, we are strong, we try to impress other agency, to present our big client. Sometimes we forget about the consumer. But here since we tried to look at local cultural background we tried to understand local consumers. If the work is coming from Columbia, we try to understand the insight of a Columbian. And it the work is coming from Slovenia we tried to understand what is inside of this country. In this festival not intentionally but naturally one look at the consumer, how they react to this. For example we had a work from Columbia for a taxi driver University campaign for Chevrolet. In Columbia there are many taxi drivers, and their life have not changed for 20, 30 years. Taxi driver is just a taxi driver. But they created a university for taxi drivers. Not only taxi driving techniques, but how to manage small company, how to be hospitable, than they have a pride: I have graduated. They have graduate uniform, and the drivers are happy, their families happy, the level of taxi driver in Columbia increased. Io love that kind of stories. Not only the client, but the consumer – taxi driver is a consumer in this case, because he purchase cars, not only Chevrolet – they open for all drivers. We look at the work and the background of that. We have some international big campaign and we try to be neutral. Global big campaign is great. But small great campaign is also great.”
Can you think of any work of yours, your client, that comes so close to the client? Anything that you have done that is a small flower?
Satoshi Takamatsu: “I don’t think that anything I have done is a beautiful flower. Some are beautiful enough, some are so-so, honestly not all works very beautiful. But what I try to do. We have a client. We are not artist. We have to make a beautiful flower for the client. The client is like a girlfriend. It I have a girlfriend that likes red rose, I try to choose a beautiful red rose. Another client like white and big flower, I try to get her big and white. What I always think is I have to put something new. To the girl that likes red rose, a red rose is no surprise. I need to find lapping should be beautiful. New kind of rose. Arrangement. Virtual rose, not physical, computer graphic stuff, when I am in Istanbul. We have to have something new, new ideas. I have been doing that. Not always is amazing, outstanding. I try in my agency, which is not big.”
What is not big in Japan?
Satoshi Takamatsu: “In Japan I think big agency is more than 100 employees. My background is Dentsu: 6000 employees. 46 floors. I have been working in Dentsu for 16 years. I quit Dentsu 7 years ago and established my agency Ground and we have 16 people. I like small size, could be 20, 25, not more.”
What kind of flowers are your jury members, what kind of bouquet is your group?
Satoshi Takamatsu: “We have many different flowers around the world. Traditional flowers, as a typical rose. Some jury is something like new type of rose. Every year people try to invent new type of rose. Something like flower shop. They have traditional roses and exotic flowers. Every jury has that kind of attractive flower, but the mixture of flower is arrangement of this. As a jury president I try to make a bouquet. As a jury president I am a florist.”
Judging The CUP
Luis Miguel Messinu, President and Chief Creative Officer, Alma DDB Miami, USA
The winning work, the Grand CUP, is showing the power of industry that is able to change the world, to improve life in general.
‘The pills against others pain ’ is the piece that not only celebrate advertising but celebrate the contribution of advertising to life. To me it communicates the higher purpose and something that signals to industry and clients: that advertising can change the world.
Adrian Botan, Regional Creative Officer for CEE McCann Erickson, Partner and Executive CD, McCann Erickson, Romania:
“This competition is a very special, because we are judging local pieces made by global standards, with Genius Loci idea. This may come as disadvantage, but the work here is very relevant. Local innovation, local insight, but idea can be understood anywhere in the world. This can be seen from the winners here.”
Jureeporn Thaidumrong, Creative Chairwoman, nudeJEH, Bangkok:
"The Cup is very professional advertising competition. Supporting best strategy, best local insight, and international integrated, not only trying to find new, fresh work. Work here needs to answer the strategy, the very impactful insight. Here we award a big idea that is big enough to be used around the world. The criterions here are very professional."
GLOBAL SPIRIT FROM LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Luis Miguel Messianu, President and Chief Creative Officer, Alma DDB Miami, USA
Do you find this festival different from any other global festivals and in what ways?
I think it is a festival of festivals. It reflects a little bit of global spirit, but from a local perspective. To me coming from Latin America and using Hispanic, it really opens my mind and my eyes, because I get to see work that I normally don’t. It broadens your horizons and make it very interesting and very appealing.
Did it inspire anything about how you work? In what way?
I have been writing to my team and shared with them some work that has inspired me. I think it’s funny that best work is very local and it’s very universal at the same time. But I think each culture has its own particular elements. By looking what other parts of the world are doing you can understand there is another way to look at problems and solve them.
LOCAL INNOVATION, LOCAL INSIGHT, BUT IDEA CAN BE UNDERSTOOD ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
Adrian Botan, Regional Creative Officer for CEE McCann Erickson, Partner and Executive CD, McCann Erickson, Romania
You are a Romanian. And Romanian work did not win at the end.
This competition is very special. Because it judges pieces made in local markets against the global standards. Pieces that are based on local insights. Following genius loci concept. Which might sound as a disadvantage. At the same time the work is too local, but the work here is very relevant to the global side as well. I think it’s an amazing competition to be in. And it’s made for campaigns like Rom or like Christmas Guerilla. Local innovation, local insight, but idea can be understood anywhere in the world.
Guerilla and Rom already won in Cannes. Does it mean that Cannes is applying genius loci concept?
They have judges that are coming from all over the world. You see less and less jury that is dominated only by Americans or Hispanics. You see more and more diversity integrated. Here everything is judged through the lens of genius loci. Its brilliant local insights. It we don’t have strong local markets we won’t evolve as an industry. We see more and more of this coming. The local markets are now able to compete with quality ideas, with work from the States or work from Western Europe. The local talents are more and more relevant.
My problem with other advertising festivals is that they are meant to impress other agency people not the consumer. Is this one different?
This is a collection of the winners from other festivals. There are works that have no or little visibility on markets and by going to the festival they win awards. Consumers don’t care about advertising. I think the festivals are starting to change now, they are starting to regulate themselves and you see more and more pieces of work, coming with proves, coming with results, with impact of the campaign on the market, campaign’s history in special. In this competition the biggest part of the entries were like this.
How would you enhance the visibility of this festival?
Through us. And the organizer should invite more and more people to come and attend it. If more people are coming here they will understand what is going on. I think it is a brilliant festival and it is very beautiful to judge here and very easy. Because you have already seen the winners and you don’t see shitty work. You only see good work, above average. It’s fantastic for juror to see only good work.
Partner of Cup is Golden Drum and it covers Eastern Europe, your part. Do you know about the changes of Golden Drum this year? What do you think of them?
I think some changes are welcome. Still we shouldn’t do changes for the sake of changes, not to change something that has worked in the past. I think in terms of one of the most important changes that affected me is that the festival used to last for a week and now it is only three days. But in fact you still spend a week there. So it’s not much of the save. Who wants to save time will come in the last two days as usual. It doesn’t bring a lot of value.
In terms of work in categories – single channel, multichannel – I think it was a bit of a challenge to understand what’s going on, but right now it should stay like this. It should not change again. That’s good, because it pushes the agencies to adapt to the new world, which is multi-channeled. Not single-channeled any more. It’s about creating super integrated campaigns. I think it’s good that it has happen.
And what about going back to the roots, just Eastern Europe?
I don’t know. I was in favor of going back to the roots, but somehow we need to have some pressure to raise the bar. Anyway, I wouldn’t change anything in the way competition is run. Too many changes would confuse the participants. It’s important to have the stability.
BIG IDEA IS BIG ENOUGH TO USE AROUND THE WORLD
Jureeporn Thaidumrong, Creative Chairwoman, nudeJEH, Bangkok
The judges were from everywhere. How did you communicate?
Because I have been judging many times before I know that the one I pick is the best for me.
Your criterion is your heart or your head?
Both. Very professional advertising campaign has the best strategy, the best local insight, international integration, impact, it is not only new, fresh work. Big idea is big enough to use around the world.
Were there any works from your agency?
Yes, I got a few from Thailand, but didn’t make it to the short list.
But did you learn something from it?
Yes. The most insightful idea, the idea that can travel around the world, always wins.
The Pills concept can win in your country?
Definitely.
There are doubts about the advertising festivals that they are meant to impress other agencies not consumers. What is your opinion?
Things are changing. Today advertising people, especially creative, as anybody else are facing the same problems everywhere in the world. Financial crisis, environmental crisis, politic problems – ..the s ame. I think that deep insight we all have the same issues. We need to tackle them with specific solutions. But actually if you look closely at these problems they are all the same. You need insight to answer the brief.
What is the mission of the advertising?
Advertising is important. It is the way of communication. To communicate to many people in one time. You need to send an important message to people effectively. I don’t want to say advertising. I don’t want to call it advertising. Actually in our days we have to find a new world for communicate. You have to use psychology, technology, and strategy.
