Not one South African Web site entry won an award at the recent Cannes International Advertising Festival, says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, who represented SA on the judging panel for the Cyber Lions online and interactive advertising awards.
"It is clear that the South African advertising industry has fallen dramatically behind current trends in both Web design and Internet marketing strategy," Goldstuck says. "Not a single South African Web site entry or online advert was even considered for the Cyber Lions awards."
The jury scrutinised 1 343 entries from 41 countries, including 22 from SA. However, only one South African entry - a Nike advertisement - made a shortlist of 280, and that entry did not come into contention for an award.
Top honours went to entries from the US and Denmark, with entries from Brazil, Canada, Japan and Sweden featuring prominently. Goldstuck says the clear favourite was the Grand Prix-winning Nike Football site from Denmark, one of a large batch of Nike entries from around the world.
The second Grand Prix award, for the BMW "Hire" film campaign, was described as "the most controversial decision in the four-year history of the Cyber Lions". The campaign consisted of a series of five- to-six-minute films designed to be downloaded from the Web.
Cyber Lions jury president George Gallate, CEO of Euro RSCG Interaction, said there was no room for excuses from countries that did not score in the awards stakes, pointing out that there was no link between resources and awards. "In assessing the final list of winners it was notable that the quality of the work submitted by the networks was not as high as that from the smaller independent shops," Gallate told a press conference.
Goldstuck told the press conference, however, that the element that came across most often in deciding to give an award was the emotional factor. "It points the way to the future of interactive advertising," he said.
On 31 July, Goldstuck, in partnership with Cyber Lions sponsor MSN, will present a half-day seminar to examine the Cannes Cyber Lions award-winners and the lessons they hold for SA.
Share
