Insights on Eurobest 2017 with Andreea Ghenoiu, Romania’s Promo&Activation juror

Newsroom Creativity, Festivals & Awards, People

As the echoes of the New Year’s holidays are almost gone, lets take a look back to the creativity festival that closed the ceremonies celebrating great ideas in 2017. Andreea Ghenoiu, Group Creative Director of Jazz, was one of the Promo & Activation jurors, at Eurobest. Her insights, opinions and feedback on the evaluated work, in the interview below.

  • What impressed you the most at Eurobest this year?

Easy one: the quantity of amazing work. There were so many cases that made me give Wows, Likes or Loves.

  • Name 3 qualities a case study should have to win a Eurobest trophy in Promo and Activation category.

After the judging sessions, I would say it’s a 3R rule: Relevance, Results, Response. After falling in love with the idea, the jury would always check the results – the impact – and if it really fits the category. I think I heard the category definition read about 50 times; each and every time someone would question the relevance of an idea in the Promo Activation category.

  • Which was the most exciting thing about being in this competition jury?

Diving into the best advertising practice for 5 days: cases, conferences and lots of talented people you not only get in touch with, but you also have the chance to see their references, expectations, ways of looking to an idea.

 

  •  What was the hardest part of being a juror at Eurobest? 

Coming back to Earth from cloud no. 9. Falling in love with an idea than check all the points that had to be noted and, eventually, discover it’s not an award idea in your category, although it’s a best advertising practice worldwide. I had to fight with myself and my creative structure to get over this what seemed to me at first, to be a nonsense, but proved to be the right way.

  • What trends did you spot by reviewing the case studies submitted at the contest in Promo and Activation category?

I discovered a lot of work that does something good for humanity, environment, the Earth. And here I’m not only talking about social causes or NGO’s campaigns. I’m talking about big brand campaigns: corporate campaigns, CSR campaigns. In a more and more disturbed world, the brands are becoming kinder.

  • Name a case study in your category that didn’t won, but you think it was special.

I would say the Ali Cola case. It’s a product launch case. The Ali Cola is a variety of Cola in Germany and like all Colas, its color is dark brown. Only this time, the owner of the brand decided to sell its product in 4 different colors representing the 4 colors of the human skin: from dark brown to white passing through light brown and a yellowish one. The statement of the launch was that even if we come in different colors, inside, we’re all the same, we “taste” the same. The launch took place in the refugee crisis social context in Germany and Ali Cola’s idea was fully embraced by media and people in the street.

  • What do you think it’s the idea with the highest social impact that won at Eurobest this year?

I have two ideas in mind that have huge social potential. I say potential because they have been launched recently and the results are in the making. I am talking about Yournalist, an app that gives you an objective perspective on any media subject by selecting 6 point of views out of everything that has been written / broadcasted / posted on a certain topic. And this is amazing in a world that craves for objectivity because publications and TV station have their own ways of interpreting what’s happening around the world.

The second idea is Humanium: the first metal made out entirely of illegal weapons that will help conflict countries create something good out of it. The first two transports of Humanium have already arrived in Central America and this is just the beginning.

  • What do you believe are the main difficulties in creating a good case study suited for the Promo and Activation category?

Good ideas with no engagement or too low engagement. And that, in my opinion, has to do with bad timing. The idea might be right, but not in that very moment. A promo and Activation big campaign is very social sensitive. If “your people” focus is somewhere else, the campaign does not exist.

  •  Which are the particularities behind the Promo & Activation discipline?

Ideas in this discipline must generate interaction. The consumer participation is essential. The consumer is the one who, eventually, somehow promotes the product and the service. The idea has to make the consumer become the “seller”, “the brand ambassador”, willingly.