Is generating buzz different from winning advertising awards?

Nice to meet you, I'm Yusuke Kondo, a copywriter at Dentsu Inc.'s Creative Planning Division 5. I'm from the Cheer Squad, with no overseas experience. As someone going against the global trend, I was suddenly dispatched to Singapore and witnessed the world's ideas firsthand at Spikes Asia 2016. I'll reflect on what surprised me and what made me go "huh?"—a frog in a well who's seen the ocean, focusing mainly on the Outdoor category.

 

The Main Battlefield: Technology × Low-Context Ideas

This year featured a new competition, "YouTube Creative Hack," and seminars covering "Pokémon GO," "Facebook," and "LINE," making digital creative the main focus. Following the trend from this year's Cannes Lions, seminars on tech like AI and VR were prominent, and award-winning entries also showcased the use of such new technologies.

While it was repeatedly emphasized that "technology is merely a means; what should be evaluated is the idea itself," the impression was that all entries particularly emphasized "how well that technology works" and "what problems it solves and how it contributes to society."

TOUCHABLE INK Sweeps Three Categories

Samsung's TOUCHABLE INK stood out with its triple crown. Having already won numerous categories at this year's Cannes Lions, it now takes Grand Prix in Design, Healthcare, and Innovation.

It was recognized not only for its "for good" aspect—brilliantly solving challenges for the visually impaired using Samsung's technology—but also for effectively enhancing the corporate brand.

Galapagos-like challenges are hard to evaluate

I noticed something interesting. Among the Japanese entries that won awards, some weren't particularly well-known domestically. Conversely, some that generated buzz in Japan didn't win. Does this mean "domestic buzz and fulfilling an advertising function don't necessarily align with winning international advertising awards"?

Looking at the presentation images, the Japanese entries that weren't recognized shared one common trait: lengthy explanations of the problem. While presentation boards typically clearly outline the challenge, the solution idea, and the results, the non-winning entries tended to have overly detailed explanations. In other words, they felt the need to explain everything from scratch, assuming people from different cultures wouldn't understand otherwise. Even when understood, the reactions often seemed distant, like "Oh, really?" – a missed opportunity for effective communication.

Looking at the winning entries, the challenge for TOUCHABLE INK was for the visually impaired. Special printers for the visually impaired are very expensive, so the idea of using heat to make ink swell and become tactile is something I believe people worldwide can understand without explanation.

Other examples, like "On days with lots of angry tweets on social media, we lower the price of chocolate in real time" (Snickers), also featured low-context messaging. Both the challenge and the idea were instantly understandable.

While this might be common sense for winning international advertising awards, as a first-time participant, it felt incredibly fresh. It was a moment that reaffirmed the famous adage, "A concept must be expressible in a single word." Furthermore, I believe that internationally, the requirement extends to "the challenge itself must also be expressible in a single word." Since we can't present in front of the presentation board, I want to be conscious of making it understandable just by reading it.

The Outdoor category also features low-context ideas.

The Outdoor category evaluates outdoor advertising. It showcases examples that effectively convey brand messages to consumers using public spaces, including posters and billboards.

This year's Grand Prix winner, just like at Cannes, was Brewtroleum. The challenge was "boosting sales in the sluggish beer industry." The idea was "creating biofuel from beer production byproducts and selling it at gas stations." By creating the excuse "Drink beer to save the world," sales reportedly increased by 10%.

It was a classic example of how a straightforward challenge combined with cutting-edge technology can win. The sheer audacity of the beer industry going this far, coupled with their remarkable execution, was astonishing.

The one that won GOLD in the Outdoor category, and my personal favorite, is PACIFIC BRANDS UNDERWEAR GROUP AUSTRALIA's "THE BOYS".

This underwear manufacturer installed a giant billboard that changes with temperature and wind speed to get men to choose their underwear. Hanging from it are two men, "BOYS." When the temperature drops, the two "BOYS" shrink and rise upward; when it rises, they sag and stretch downward. And when the wind blows, they sway. "As your boys do."

This bold copy caused the award ceremony venue to erupt in laughter. By confidently executing a humorous idea while utilizing advanced technology like temperature and wind sensors, it earned recognition across cultures.

It really hit home that this kind of humor is universal.

At a seminar, Spikes emphasized that global companies need flexible localization to be accepted locally. Yet winning required clear challenges and ideas that weren't overly localized.

It's difficult to achieve both ads that are genuinely loved and understood locally and ideas that are recognized internationally. But rather than just winning an advertising award in name only, we aim for a win that truly makes sense.