"American Idol" has finally met its future "Mad Men" (and two women in this case).
Four lucky winners were announced a few hours ago at the New York Times building where a panel of respected judges watched ad pitches from eight finalists. First of all, I should describe what the contest was about: The Big Ad Gig aimed to provide an internship opportunity with a top creative shop for aspiring advertising professionals (students or those early in their career). Before being selected as the finalists, contestants submitted YouTube videos of themselves justifying why they deserve to be given the Big Ad Gig. Then, they were given a creative brief about Hands-Only™ CPR and had to pitch an idea in front of the judges. I can only imagine how nervous these students and young professionals were! Try speaking in front of Alex Bogusky of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Tham Khai Meng of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide or Priscilla Natkins, The Advertising Council (full list of the Big Ad Gig judges) and others.
Avi Truzman, http://abrahamtruzman.carbonmade.com/
Avi's winning campaign will run across Microsoft's media properties. On the photo: Avi with Jamie Wells, Global Trade Marketing Director, Microsoft Mobile Advertising
Jaime Walker, www.jaimewalker.com
Matt Koulermos, www.mattkoulermos.com
On the photo: Matt with Tham Khai Meng of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Anna Lippert, www.artdirectoranna.com
It was lots of fun to see creative, original, off the wall ideas. What was the most interesting is that every presented concept had multi-screen or cross-media approach - there was gaming, mobile, tv, web, print, radio, guerilla marketing, billboards, on-the-street marketing. I don't think that a successful campaign needs to span every single medium, but choosing the right mix for a given budget is something that both media planners and creative professionals should consider.
Some contestants were stronger in copy, others in visual representations, but the winners are the ones who understood the insight of the target audience - adults 18+ who do not provide CPR in emergency situations for the fear of making things worse. I wanted to provide you links to their sites so that you can see their work and hopefully hire them after they're done with internships at Atmosphere Proximity, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky and Ogylvy & Mather.
Congrats to the winners again!
Rimma
P.S. Photos of the judges, contestants and pitch slides are posted on Flickr. Please excuse the photo quality!
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