Romanian copywriter scoops Gold at Creative Conscience Awards

Cristina Blanaru Creativity, CSR

Maria Teodorof, Romanian copywriter working for The Geeks (agency part of Leo Burnett Group ), scooped Gold at Creative Conscience Awards, awards launched in 2012 by the platform with the same name, promoting innovative ideas that encompass world changing creativity.

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The aim of the awards and of the platform is to use creativity as a catalyst for positive change to benefit ethical, moral and worthwhile causes. The competition is open to creatives from all over the globe and offers them an opportunity to use their talent to make a  change in the world.

The judges at 2014 edition of Creative Conscience Awards were

  • John-Paul Flintoff (writer, performer and activist, award-winning journalist that wrote for Financial Times and The Sunday times)
  • sir Jonathon Porritt (environmentalist and writer, Founder Director of Forum for the Future)
  • John Mathers (Chief Executive Design Council)
  • Michael Wolff (Founder of Wolff Olins, designer, visiting professor and senior fellow at Royal College of Art)
  • Margaret Calvert (typographer and graphic designer, member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale; 
a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art;
 a Fellow of the University of the Arts London;
an Honorary Doctor of Letters, Brighton University; and a Royal Designer for Industry)
  • Thomas Kolster (Author, Speaker & Founder of the Goodvertising Agency & Where Good Grows)
  • David Pocknell (graphics and architectural design, former presidentChartered Society of Designers, trustee York Museums Trust and committee member of the D&AD)
  • Naresh Ramchandani (Pentagram’s first partner with advertising background, )
  • Paul Barlow (founder and principal of L&CO, a London-based design and branding studio)
  • Marion Deuchars (graphic artist living and working in London)
  • Lawrence Zeegen (Dean of Design, London College of Communication (part of the University of the Arts London)
  • Ian Callum (Design Director Jaguar)
  • Sebastian Conran (Director of Sebastian Conran Associates, previously worked for Wolff Olins, Mothercare and Conran Group)
  • Dinah Casson (Interior design and architecture)
  • Simon Conder (Architect and Designer)
  • Wendy Dagworthy (Dean of Material, RCA)
  • Wayne Hemingway (Fashion & Social Designer)
  • Jo Godden (Lingerie & Swimwear Designer)
  • Darren Conway (Cameraman and Director)
  • Giles Duley (Humanitarian Photographer)
  • Fred Scott (Filmmaker & Photographer).

Maria’s campaign:

The campaign Maria did offers a perspective on what the consequences of violence against women are. The central piece of the campaign, the “Meet Ana” video, captures a woman’s speech, presented by a man.

I found the insight for my campaign by reading a lot of opinions coming from women that went through the violence drama, opinions presented on blogs, women-oriented websites and so on. All of them had one thing in common: the fact that they haven’t notice how quickly they’ve changed into what their intimate partners wanted and, out of fear, took their men’s voice and made it as their own. I never saw that underlined in any ad and that was the element that I used to support my campaign. I think this insight and the twist that the images provide made this video so powerful and I am happy that people with extensive experience in the field considered it worthy of winning an award.

Maria Teodorof

Copywriter

The video make-off:

Maria did it all by herself, with a little help from some friends. As she already had the idea, she put it down in writing and decided to film it through her own efforts.

“I thought I needed more than just a script to show exactly what I had in my mind. So I’ve rented a studio, I asked a friend to bring his camera and another friend to be the my actor”, Maria told AdHugger.

“The video that resulted was good, but not good enough, and I wanted it to be perfect. That’s when Costin Radu, MD at my agency, offered to help with filming and directing. The content remained the same, but, with his help, I achieved a good quality video which I was able to present as a finalized TV commercial”, she added.

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Maria found out about the contest out of pure luck. As she told us, she was googling for extra info related to a speaker she found in TED video, which was also member in the Creative Conscience Awards jury.

“I read what the contest was about and I immediately remembered my idea, which perfectly fit the scenery. The contest is one that promotes good advertising,  that kind of advertising that isn’t made for profit, but for the sake of the cause”, Maria said, adding that the award she got is “an example that good advertising can win awards while supporting a good cause”

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Who is Maria?

Maria is 23 y.o and she is copywriter with the Romanian digital agency The Geeks.

She decided to get into the copywriting because, as she says, “It is the only thing I do best”.

Maria works in advertising for two years and a half and she already managed to accomplish one of the things she had on her “to do” list, namely to create a campaign by herself and get an award for it.