Being a judge of the world’s best TV commercials can’t possibly be hard duty, especially if you’re doing it near the main drag of this steamy, sun-drenched resort.
But what’s being judged are several thousand commercials, enough to render you bleary-eyed after going through the same routine for several full days. Included is one session that may run from early morning till midnight, and all in small, dark viewing rooms in the film center known as the Palais des Festivals.
It’s all part of the 47th annual International Advertising Festival in Cannes, a sequel to the film festival held earlier this month–plenty of fanfare but also plenty of work for judges, especially those viewing commercials.
“The judging process is absolutely grueling,” insists Helayne Spivak, a seasoned Manhattan creative consultant who recently became acting creative boss at Chicago ad agency Euro RSCG Tatham.
Two former judges, Bob Scarpelli, the Chicago-based U.S. chief creative officer for DDB Worldwide, and former Chicagoan Nina DiSesa, now chairman-chief creative officer for McCann-Erickson in New York, agree that the entire process is intense and takes plenty of hard work.
“I dreaded the whole thing before I got to Cannes,” says DiSesa, who was a judge in last year’s competition. “But now that I look back, it was probably the best experience I ever had as a jurist in an advertising competition.”
There are 22 judges from around the world on the TV portion alone. Problems that can surface include feverish nationalismand/or banding together with other judges to tilt the balance in favor of certain commercials, even though all judges have been advised not to play favorites.
Staying awake while viewing the commercials was a challenge, says DiSesa, adding, “but if a particular spot puts you to sleep, it didn’t belong on the short list.”
That list is perhaps 400 or 500 commercials that make it to the finals before more judging trims the number.
There were a record 5,757 commercials submitted for this year’s competition, exactly 1,000 more than a year ago. Judges will be broken into three or four groups and view an equal number of those spots.
There can be very lively debate on the pros and cons of particular commercials, including a TV spot–a favorite of one of the judges–that was dropped but then brought back for reconsideration for the short list.
“When you’re a judge in a competition like this, you get yourself in the right frame of mind, and focus yourself as best as possible,” says Cheryl Berman, chairman-chief creative officer of Chicago-based Leo Burnett USA, one of two TV judges from the U.S. this year. The other is former Chicagoan Jim Ferguson, president-chief creative officer of Y&R Advertising in New York.
Berman, who has been a judge in other competitions, takes a simple approach.
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“It’s got to have relevance and connect with the consumer, and if you can’t remember [the commercial], it doesn’t belong on any final or short list,” she says.
Despite the hard work–which may find as its reward offers for higher-profile and higher-paying jobs for judges–most say they would come back if they were picked to do so.
There are 15-minute breaks periodically so the judges can see daylight and watch everybody else enjoying themselves.
“This is a wonderful place if you’re a tourist, but not if you’re working,” Spivak says. “Most certainly, it’s not a boondoggle for judges the way some people think.”
She got picked as a judge in 1994, and would hightail it back to Cannes if selected again.
So it’s not bad duty after all–just commitment and time, blended with more than a touch of professionalism.
– Sources say a 50 percent share of Zenith Media Services, still owned by U.K.-based Cordiant Communications, may wind up under Publicis Groupe S.A. and/or a joint media venture with Publicis, which earlier this week announced it is acquiring Saatchi & Saatchi PLC. Saatchi owned the other 50 percent of Zenith, which will become part of or a separate unit of Publicis’ overall media-management business now under the Optimedia banner.
– Chicago-based eppraisals.com and ad agency Bozell Chicago mutually agreed to terminate their relationship. Sources indicate the client is assigning its account to Jordan Tamraz Caruso Advertising, also Chicago.
Strictly Personal: Birthday greetings to restaurateur Michael Kornick, 38, and wife Lisa Koch, 34; Lisa M. Collings, 36 (Buzz Divine); Jamie Farrell, 15; Maureen Adduci, 39 (Leo Burnett Co.); Jeff Hinch, 43 (Oracle Consulting); Robert Neumann, 36 (Andersen Consulting); and attorney Ty D. Laurie, 39.