Patrick Low, Executive Creative Director, Y&R – Cyber Lions

What does it feel like to have been chosen to form part of such a prestigious jury at the Cannes Lion Festival?
To be honest, when I was invited to judge the Cyber Lions, I was a little apprehensive at first, because I've never judged a Cyber ad before and the internet and I are as compatible as chicken and duck.

But at the end of the day, when we strip away the bytes, the htmls and other digital mumbo jumbo, it's the idea we're awarding. And a good idea in any
category isn't hard to find.

Because it's one of the biggest shows in advertising was there lots of pressure?
For me it was quite daunting especially during the first couple of hours. I had expected to work off a Mac but to my surprise, we were given PCs instead. So the first day of judging turned out to be one of the longest days of my life. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one struggling with technology. When I left the building for the night, there were still some judges deep in cyberspace. I guess the biggest pressure for all of us was completing 400 entries in 3 days.

How was the judging done?
The judging was done over a period of 6 days, including a Sunday. In the first stage, the 24 judges were divided into five sub-juries. Each sub-jury judged and voted on a fifth of the entries entered. And there were about 2,700 entries in total. On the fourth day, the judging went into the second stage. Here 11% of each category were selected to be judged again for a final shortlist. The difference this time was that all the judges worked as a team and judged all the shortlisted entries for all categories. On day five, the selected entries went into the third stage which was the discussion stage. Here the jury got to see the individual scores of each entry and based on these scores, voted to award them either a gold, silver, bronze or just remain on the shortlist. To get a metal, the entry had to garner a minimum of 16 votes out of 24. After the metals were awarded, the jury then deliberated on which gold winner deserved a Grand Prix. Three Grand Prix were awarded in the Cyber Lions. They were for, Websites and Microsites, Other Online Advertising and Innovative Ideas, and Viral Advertising.

What kind of work did the Cyber jury look for?
Besides the usual great idea and great execution, the jury was briefed by Tom Eslinger, the jury president, to look out for work that truly 'breaks out and won't ever fit into a box'. Which resulted in us voting for the groundbreaking campaigns – Diesel's 'Heidies'. Nike's 'Nike+' and Dove's 'Evolution' to win Grand Prix.

Singapore has traditionally been very strong in print. What do you think is the reason there still isn't a creative takeoff in the film or DM category in our country and what can be done to address it?
Unlike producing a print ad, film involves a lot more disciplines. This means that one tiny wrong call in the whole process could negatively impact the entire TV ad. Today, a great TV idea doesn't guarantee a medal. Everyone from Director, to DOP, to Editor, to Sound Designer /Composer must ensure that he/she performs at his/her best. And even if they do, you would most likely be let down by bad casting, which in my opinion, is our biggest stumbling block. If you watch local television ads today, you can't help feeling that clients are responsible for casting the talents. On TV we regularly see only beautiful people drink beer, watch sports, use mobile phones and buy bank products.
Just look at the award winning stuff from Thailand and you'll know what I mean. The Thais are not afraid to cast real people in their ads. The Thais are also not afraid to laugh at themselves, another important ingredient in a successful TV ad. Almost 70% of award-winning films make you laugh. Watching the stuff from Singapore on Youtube however, gave me hope. There's clearly no shortage of talented comedy writers from our country. Why then, we ask, is it so hard to sell a funny script? Perhaps the buyers of advertising can shed some light on this phenomena.

As to why we are not good at DM? Well, historically DM has always played poor cousin to Print and TV because of its below the line tag. Now with digital media gaining popularity and recognition, my advice is to concentrate all our direct marketing knowhow and talent into this category. That's where, I believe, direct marketing can really take off.

How would you describe Singapore 's performance at Cannes this year?
For a small country, Singapore did rather well at Cannes this year, which we should all be proud of. Hopefully, we'll see more agencies participating and winning next year.

Who were your jury members?
The jury members were made up of thirteen Europeans, four Asians. three South Americans, three North Americans and two from Australia and New Zealand . One of them, Nick Law from R/GA New York, won a Grand Prix for his work on Nike+ which also picked up the coveted Titanium Lion.

How would you describe your personal experience at Cannes ?
Personally, I've learnt a lot from Cannes . Most importantly, that Adland's newest frontier – Cyberspace – is where our future beckons.

Tay Guan Hin, Regional Executive Creative Director, South East Asia , JWT – Outdoor Lions

What does it feel like to have been chosen to form part of such a prestigious jury at the Cannes Lion Festival?
Being a judge in any advertising show is a privilege and I count myself lucky to be chosen to represent Singapore in the biggest award show on earth. There was a certain pride for the country too because we were represented in 5 different categories this year.

How would you describe your personal experience at Cannes ?
I've been to Cannes several times now. It's a very big place and the crowd can be very overwhelming. So overwhelming that if you don't know anybody, it can get quite lonely. However, being in the jury allowed me get closer to the work and even closer to creatives from around the world that I have not met. A very special bond between the jury members was formed after 4-5 intense days of judging.

Because it's one of the biggest shows in advertising was there lots of pressure?
Unlike other international shows, there's a time pressure to complete the judging in time for the show. The pressure intensified as all our countries were represented. However, through out the judging, I didn't feel anyone was pushing hard for his or her respective work or country. Work that was awarded couldn't be pushed down but we can push it up. Most of the work brought back had a very slim chance of getting any Lions.

How was the judging done?
The judging started on Friday 15th June. 13 of us were divided into 2 teams to view almost 6,000 pieces of work and later worked together as a team to view all the short-list. This first stage was probably the most grueling as we voted silently through the PDA. Most nights we didn't finish till 9-10pm. Approximately the top 9% in each category was the short-list. After the short-list selection, we met as one team to judge. Before any lion discussion, we received a list in descending mark order of the top half of the ads in each category. A minimum of 8 votes out of 12 to award any lions. We discussed the golds first.

What kind of work did the Outdoor jury look for?
Jean Remy von Matt, outdoor jury president, was keen to award an outdoor piece that was not out-dated. Traditional one-dimensional work that got a gold was not considered. In the end, BBC World sms Billboard from BBDO, New York and solar powered billboard for Nedbank from Network BBDO Johannesburg were the center of debate.

At first, BBC got the most votes, however, jury members decided to award a work that really benefited the community and its also world changing. A corporate clinch message “power to the people” takes a whole new meaning when the solar panel literally does power kitchens to feed 1100 kids. The theme of this year's Cannes seem to touch on Global warming so it seems fitting to give it to the biggest bank in South Africa -a billboard that doesn't use any electricity.

Singapore has traditionally been very strong in print. What do you think is the reason there still isn't a creative takeoff in the film or DM category in our country and what can be done to address it?
We are good in print because we have more practice at our craft. It's probably easier to execute since our photographers and retouchers are also world class. I believe we also have good design, interactive and DM work. Take for instance, JWT Singapore, who recently received a DM silver nomination at his year's D&AD. And Kinetic have been putting Singapore on the map with their award winning work for cyber.

We can always start to address why we don't do well in the other categories but I guess it really comes down to what each agency would like to focus on. Design is going to be a new category next year so it'll be a good opportunity for us to win more lions.

How would you describe Singapore 's performance at Cannes this year?
3 Golds, 7 Silvers, 8 Bronzes and 1 Promo Lion makes Singapore the second best performing country in South East Asia . Bangkok managed to overtake us by one gold. It's been a great year for us considering the size of our country. While I was judging, Singapore had been spoken very often as a place where they admire. O&M Singapore has led the way in this success so it comes to no surprise that they are the 3rd most awarded agency in the world. Something as a country we should take all take pride in.

Who were your jury members?
They came from USA , Bangkok , South Africa , Spain , Sweden , France , New Zealand , Argentina , Brazil and Finland . Malcom Duffy, who stared his own shop Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy in London , was an outspoken man who believed the outdoor work should not be a press ad blown up. The other fellow Asian judge came from BBDO Bangkok, Weerachon Weeraworawit. Since I had seen some terrific winners in Adfest and Spikes I had the opportunity to explain the cultural background, which helped the others make a better decision. (I hope).

How did you get along? Or didn't get along?
There were 2-4 very opinionated judges that commanded the room. However, the rest were mature enough to stand for they liked. At the end of the day, their hands did all the talking. It's interesting to see how different creatives directors from different cultures interpret ads. What I learned was most of the work were judged emotionally and conceptually. Just because they didn't like handguns, they didn't vote for it.
Some had elephant's memory for work done before.