Jury chairman’s report:

A lean month in terms of quantity of entries – and most of what was put forward, while generally competent enough in execution, was tragically lacking in concept.

In TV, Aero pulled ahead of the pack by virtue of its charm and verve. Plaudits, too, to the campaign for Census 2011, which demonstrated a clarity and lightness of touch rare in Irish public service announcement advertising.

In Print, the Irish Examiner cut through the clutter with a powerful treatment of a sombre and genuinely newsworthy topic.

There was a particularly disappointing turn-out in Digital; after consideration, it has been decided not to make an award for April in this category.

Radio provided the month’s one genuinely excellent piece of creative, the brilliantly written “King’s Speech” for Curry’s – all the more impressive for the fact that it was apparently a spec script, first demoed in the agency, with the writer himself providing the spookily-accurate take-off of Colin Firth.

This success of this unorthodox approach set at least some of us to wondering whether, rather than merely cursing the undeniable dark – reduced budgets, cautious clients, nervous suits – Irish creatives shouldn’t be taking the initiative and lighting more candles themselves.

TELLY:

• 1st - Aero 'New Aero Biscuit' - DDFH&B
• 2nd - Census Campaign - Language
• 3rd - Bord Bia 'Chicken' - McCann Erickson

RADIO:

• 1st - Currys 'King's Speech' - Rothco
• 2nd - Irish Independent 'Shots' - IIBBDO
• 3rd - Frontline 'Drown Him Out' - Rothco

PRINTED:

• 1st - Irish Examiner 'Suicide' - Chemistry
• 2nd - Barry's Tea 'Names' - IIBBDO
• 3rd - Today FM Shave or Dye Campaign; 'Ray', 'Matt' & 'Bowling', - IIBBDO

DIGITAL: There were no results for this month.

DESIGN: No awards were given this month.

CRAFT:

Copywriting - Alan Kelly, Rothco - Currys 'King's Speech'

Direction - Tim Kirkby, Sweet Media - Aero 'New Aero Biscuit'

Jury

###  *Adrian Cosgrove*, Joint Creative Director, Owens DDB ###  *Keith Doyle*, Creative Director, Brando Digital. ###  *Nick Kelly*, Writer / Director (Chairman)

Jury chairman’s report:

It was a pleasure to Chair the Ad of the Month judging, there was lots of great work to choose from, but, from what I see and watch and listen to, I know there was more Irish work out there that wasn’t entered and coulda, shoulda been, so I’d encourage all agencies to put forward more work for next month.

In TV & Webfilm, the jury was impressed by the quality of writing in the Meteor ads - ‘everybody gets something’, they were directed with charm and with the camera lens focused directly on ‘fun’.

Out of the four John West stings the ‘Glue’ execution stood out best for the jury. It was the most engaging due to the performance of the little girl.

The RSA webfilm stood out for two reasons: its cinematography was captivating and also it was an ad created not by agency creatives but by a student as part of the 2010 Keep Drama off the Roads competition.

In Radio, the Meteor ‘everybody gets something’ campaign carried through seamlessly, it copped the 1st and 2nd place spots and rightly so. In 3rd place was a spot for Eason’s, its tongue was so firmly stuck in its cheek throughout that the jury couldn’t help but laugh at its sheer have-a-go attitude.

Print! The Meteor ’naked gym guy’ stood-out. The ad itself isn’t amazing per se, but its overall composition, the vivid colour treatment and of course the crack of an arse elevated it to something more memorable that the others.

Guinness came in second place, it’s a continuation of their big, epic print that they do for the Hurling Championships, for some it’s more-of-the-same but it’s a ‘good’ more-of-the-same.

And rolling in with 3rd place was Barnardos. A simple well crafted in-your-face, er..face. The photography is the hero here not the idea.

The interactive section was slim pickings, as fellow juror Alexis Bouchaert puts it: "What can you say about a category whose number of winners is pretty much the same as the number of entries. Where is all the great interactive work that is being produced in this country? And where are all the digital agencies? Is their conspicuous absence the symptom of a disconnect within the community.....or simply a sign that we're missing a trick? While digital remains the new frontier that everyone is striving to stake out, we must realise the true potential of Ad of the Month as a unifying forum to share our ambition, and to let the very best work shine."

And he’s dead right. I have seen and interacted with lots of great digital produced by Irish agencies yet it wasn’t among the entries! Vodafone ‘Cherry Points Sweet’ engaged us to a certain degree, we all watched the cherry drop and make its way to the top of the bun but that’s all we did! It was pleasant on the eye and the style of illustration had a naïve charm to it, so it took 1st and 3rd place. In 2nd place was the ‘Pass the Piehole’ work which asked different voiceover artists from around the world to take up a story where the previous vo left off. It didn’t really work as a piece of online interaction as it was solely aural – no pics, no clicks – just listening, so it got second place because as Alexis noted, there where only three pieces of work that had made it through to final judging.

A Craft Award goes to Des Creedon, he can write and write well, the Meteor campaign is fun – consistently. And secondly, we’d like to award the RSA film a craft award for its Cinematography – although long, we found it intriguing to watch.

Congratulations to everyone who entered. Of those of you reading and thinking that your own work was better than the work awarded then please, enter next month.

TV & Webfilm:

• 1st - Meteor - 'Naked Gym Guy' - Publicis QMP
• 2nd - John West - Sting 'Glue' - Boys & Girls
• 3rd - Road Safety Authority - 'Loaded Weapon' - Irish International

RADIO:

• 1st - Meteor - Top Up Campaign '€10 top Up', '€20 Top Up', '€5 top Up'. - Publicis QMP
• 2nd - Guinness - The Lift - Irish International
• 3rd - Eason's - 'Into Aliens ' -Irish International

PRINTED:

• 1st - Meteor - 'Naked Gym Guy' - Publicis QMP
• 2nd - Guinness - 'The Lift' - Irish International
• 3rd - Barnardos - 'Barnardos 48 Sheet' - Publicis QMP

INTERACTIVE:

• 1st - Vodafone - 'Cherry Points Sweet' - TMG Target
• 2nd - Piehole - 'Pass the Piehole' - Piehole
• 3rd - Vodafone - 'Cherry Points Parachutes' - TMG Target

Jury ---- ###  *Martin Cowman* Creative Director, Cawley Nea TBWA (Chairman) ###  *Gavin Kelly* Creative Director, Piranha Bar. ###  *Stephen Pullan* Creative Director, Young Euro RSCG. ###  *Stephen Pullen*, Creative Director, Young Euro RSCG.

Jury chairman’s report: The inaugural Ad of the Month judging highlighted a lot of good work as well as showing up some weaknesses across the various categories. Radio had some break-away winners with well crafted ideas. The No Nonsense.ie campaign a clear 1st in a category with a disappointing number of entries.

Telly and Print was a tougher contest. But the originality of DDFH&B’s rainbow out performed the strong execution of its Telly competitors. Simplicity and clarity ruled in Print.

Digital (Interactive/Experiential) caused the most debate. The fact that there were so few entries and that the submitted work doesn’t do the category justice, highlighted the need for more innovation from a broader range of agencies. However the pieces that placed deserved acknowledgment for their quality.

There was enthusiasm when it came to Craft nominations and whittling down the list was really tough.

The jury acknowledged that some good work over the last 6 months hasn’t been submitted and it’s been agreed that the March Ad of the Month will again allow entries first published in the six months leading to the next judging (Oct ‘10 - end March ‘11).

TELLY:

• 1st - NATIONAL LOTTERY, ‘Make Magic Happen’, DDFH&B
• 2nd - EIRCOM MUSICHUB, ‘Sleeveface’, Chemistry
• 3rd - NONONSENSE.IE, Campaign, Publicis QMP

PRINTED:

• 1st - CHARLEVILLE, Campaign, McCann Erickson
• 2nd - TG4, Seven Signatures Campaign, Publicis QMP
• 3rd - NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND, Campaign, Ogilvy

RADIO:

• 1st - NONONSENSE.IE, Campaign, Publicis QMP
• 2nd - EIRCOM MUSICHUB, ‘Tainted Love’, Chemistry
• 3rd - CHARLEVILLE, ‘Town Meeting’, McCann Erickson

DIGITAL:

• 1st - NONONSENSE.IE, (online portion of campaign), Publicis QMP
• 2nd - TG4, ‘Magners League’, Publicis QMP
• 3rd - TG4, ‘Hector Canada’, Publicis QMP

DESIGN: No awards were given this month.

CRAFT AWARDS:

• Writing: Des Creedon - Meteor Campaign
• Cinematography - Ruairi O'Brien - Road Safety Authority - 'Loaded Weapon'

Jury

Shay Madden Creative Director McCann Erickson

Emmet Wright Creative Director Chemistry

Ger Roe Creative Director Publicis QMP

Dylan Cotter Deputy Creative Director II BBDO

Richard Chaney Director The POOL (Jury Chairman)