Politics, Music and Brands at eurobest

Germany lead the shortlist rankings 

2 December 2015 - The European Festival of Creativity, eurobest, is now fully underway with over 1,500 delegates from across 39 countries gathering in Antwerp to hear from 108 speakers as they deliver more than 60 hours of content.

Alongside the Festival, 122 jurors are currently viewing and deliberating over 4,494 pieces of work. The juries have released 16 shortlists which show that Germany currently lead, followed by France, the UK and Belgium. Jens Mortier, Partner & Creative Director, mortierbrigade, is presiding over the Outdoor and Radio jury and said of the work, “In Radio we have shortlisted something we've never heard before. And in Outdoor a few have been shortlisted which are for things we haven't seen before - in traditional outdoor and in new ways. That's what we were looking for and I think our jury found it.”

Buzzwords from the Festival include talent, art, making, breaking and music, which, according to Walter Werzowa and Stefan Oerti of Musikvergnuegen, ‘holds great power in the branding experience as well as medical and psychological benefits’.

On the Inspiration Stage, themes including politics, people and persuasion have been tackled. In New Moment’s seminar Dušan Drakalski focused on the political system in the Baltics and the rising use of propaganda, claiming that after communism, politics and advertising came at the same time, adding that ‘advertising is a responsibility, not something that should just be done to sell.’ Focusing on Ukraine, Oleksandr Smirnov from Tabasco supported this viewpoint in his session, saying that the truth does not matter at all in propaganda and ‘the real power of media and communications is not about selling goods, it’s about changing minds and souls’.

Other themes coming from the stages have included creativity in business, with the Pop Up Agency exploring the need for creativity to be seen and used as a key business attribute. Elsewhere, brands have had a big presence on the stage with Facebook, Orangina Schweppes, Ferrero, Procter & Gamble and Heineken all speaking today.

Tonight, delegates will enjoy parties from Brandhome and the Founding Partners, ahead of the final day tomorrow. The much anticipated awards ceremony will see the jury presidents take to the stage to reveal and honour the winners of this year’s eurobest.

Shortlists, photos from the event and the content programme can all be found online at www.eurobest.com.