Creative egos on line at Axis awards

By IRENE CHAPPLE

It won a coveted Grand Prix at the international doyen of advertising awards, the Cannes Advertising Festival, but whether the Bug Bomb campaign created by Grey Worldwide will make a dent at the local equivalent tonight is questionable.

The campaign's creator doesn't think it has much chance at the AXIS Awards.

Grey Worldwide creative director Todd McCracken says he's grateful for the Bug Bomb's success at Cannes, but is "baffled by it".

It was a win tempered somewhat by the Bug Bomb's similarity to a Gary Larson cartoon.

McCracken agrees the ideas are the same, but says such coincidences occur frequently in advertising.

The advertisement uses the image of a man spraying a Bug Bomb replicated as if seen through the multi-faceted eyes of a fly.

The tagline: The last thing a fly ever sees.

Bug Bomb is a finalist in the magazine and outdoor AXIS categories.

Its up against such competitors as Clemenger BBDO's LTSA Braille campaign and GeneratorBates' Sony campaign.

The LTSA magazine advertisement features the now well-known tagline "The Faster You Go the Bigger the Mess" but, in a compelling twist, it's written in braille dots.

The Sony campaign, advertising the world's smallest camcorder, uses magazine advertisements to portray neighbourhood scenes in vibrant colour.

They all look normal until, on closer inspection, the scenes are seen to be entirely made from miniatures, and feature a mini person holding the tiny camcorder.

These are creative advertising highlights in a year where television campaigns stole the limelight and print, particularly newspapers, was the poor second cousin.

Television was a dominant force last year.

It is a boom that has carried on through this year and has seen advertisers pay extraordinary prices for airtime.

Newspapers became the domain for retail sales and in-your-face cheap campaigns, advertising which had this year's AXIS judges bemoaning the state of print.

That worries some creatives, who believe newspapers are a valuable medium, particularly as they give readers the chance to reread an advertisement.

Philip Andrew, creative director at Clemenger BBDO, said the key discipline for advertising - good timing - was the same in print and television.

He said newspaper were seen as expensive, and their audiences, while broad, were getting smaller.

Agencies were turning instead toward niche advertising in magazines targeted to interest particular audiences.

Newspapers also were considered a conservative medium for which some cutting-edge work, including that done for LTSA, could be deemed unacceptable.

And reproduction levels also were lower than those of magazines.

Andrew said it was unfortunate newspapers had been deserted in favour of other mediums and he hoped there would be a newsprint renaissance.

Newspapers could help the situation by opening their arms to more inventive advertising, he said.

But such concerns will be put aside tonight. It is the advertising industry's biggest night of the year and is famed for its alcoholic indulgence and eye-goggling outfits.

The EFFIE Awards, which celebrate effectiveness, are assuming a greater importance in these times of accountability, but it is the AXIS Awards which tickle the ego of the advertising creative.

And, in a gentle boost to their hopes for tonight, the Herald can report there are fewer entries than last year - but more winners.

* The Herald has sponsored the AXIS Awards newspaper categories, the international print prize and the Grande AXIS Print.