#Loeries2017: Graham Lang on Y&R's collaborative year of firsts
This year, Loeries flew home to each of Y&R’s contributing offices: Creative Y&R in Nairobi; Advantage Y&R in Windhoek; Y&R Dubai; both Y&R South Africa’s Cape Town and Johannesburg offices; and to Y&R’s Johannesburg-based shopper marketing business unit, Labstore South Africa – this one in the South African non-English video category.
Kalpesh Patankar, ECD at Y&R Dubai, says of their Print Communication Grand Prix-winning work:
Our brief for The Cartel: Be Seen was to dramatise through a bold new design language. The strategy tasked us to amplify The Cartel’s positioning as a symbiosis of fashion and art, and talk directly to the young, chic and design-conscious target audience, empowering them with new fashion and design possibilities.Adding to their list of firsts, Y&R Cape Town brought home the inaugural SANBS Public Service Award.
Little wonder that Graham Lang, CCO at Y&R South Africa and Africa calls this an exceptional year for Y&R in Africa and the Middle East from a creative point of view.
Congratulations to @AdvantageYR on their win at the Loeries! Your work on the pollution campaign was outstanding - well deserved! pic.twitter.com/Cw5NkbxSNM
— Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeaceafric) August 23, 2017
Congratulations on Y&R’s accolade as the highest number of contributing winning offices for a network at the 2017 Awards. Talk us through the importance of having a connected creative community such as that of Y&R.
Y&R Dubai has been a superb office for the network. They hold their own internationally at all the big festivals. The executive creative director, Kalpesh Patankar, is a dear friend and we both have been on our global board for many years, so it's great for us to share in the success of the Loeries.
It's something we pride ourselves on. A connected creative community is not just about awards, it's about leaning on each other for help and learning from each other for inspiration. If you form part of a big global network, it's crazy not to embrace that collective talent. I have made so many good friends all over the globe through working with different Y&R offices over the years.
You also brought home the first-ever SANBS Public Service Loerie – explain the importance of recognising this type of work.
We are extremely honoured to win this award. It’s a Grand Prix statue that’s handed out to a single idea from all the public service work in the entire show. It’s important to recognise work that adds value to society.
So much of what we do is aimed at impacting bottom line, but I’m proud to be in an industry that also focuses on doing good.
You also brought home your first trio of Golds in Television, Film and Video Communication in a single year – talk us through that work and what it takes to excel in the visual broadcast categories.
Film has never been more important in our industry. To my mind, it is still the most powerful way to tell a story; regardless of whether it’s online or broadcast. Winning three Gold Loeries in one night in this medium is reassuring to me that we are excelling in the right places.
Looking beyond the two award nights, share your Loeries Creative Week experience with us.
I was in Durban for most of the week leading up to the shows as I judged Integrated on the Tuesday, and then print and outdoor on the Wednesday and Thursday. To me, judging work is the ultimate work indulgence. I love it because I learn so much. You get to share the experience of analysing, debating and scoring work with some amazingly talented people.
My eldest son, who is eight years old, joined me for the weekend. Durban is awesome for kids.
'Dad-vertising at its best! Which Loeries win(s) did you personally feel to be most deserving, and why?
The idea called Camel Power for Nissan from TBWA in the Middle East that won a Grand Prix in Integrated. I have worked extensively in the automotive SUV space, and I know how hard it is to be truly original!
The idea is based on creating a new unit of measurement for how capable a vehicle is in the desert, so instead of using horsepower, they flipped it to camelpower. There are so many well-polished ideas that are stuck in an echo chamber and feel similar to things you have seen before, but camelpower introduces a new paradigm into the mix. It’s something totally original.
That’s for sure. What was your main take home message from Loeries 2017?
What I take out of what the Loeries is trying to champion is that the more diverse the festival is, the better it is for our industry. You’d have to be crazy to not agree with it. There is much work still needed to transform the industry and more of a spotlight needs to be put on gender issues, but there are signs of progress. Then the big debate still rages on about whether Loeries should be open to countries north of the border, but I personally don’t have a problem with it. I think that the old Loeries was what it was, and we need to embrace where it is going. Competition is good.
Y&R’s overall success at Loeries 2017 is proof if this. Click here for more on Y&R, here for more on Lang, and follow the main Y&R South Africa Twitter and Facebook accounts for their latest updates.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
