When it comes to advertising awards, there as many award shows as there are agencies. Every major region aims to celebrate creativity with it’s own set of awards. Among the awards, I have been an avid follower of European advertising awards – be it the Epica Awards or Eurobest.

Compared to advertising from rest of the world, skin show and sexual innuendo is pretty common among award-winning ads from Europe. Most of these countries don’t have the kind of problems developing countries have – population, poverty etc. It is perhaps reflected in the advertising categories (Dairy products, Alcoholic Drinks, Non-Alcoholic Drinks), the sophistication of ads and the kind of brands that resort to advertising (kitchen knives, furnishings, an orchestra) and so on.

Herewith a collection of print ads from European award festivals:

1. Ahlens, a department store in Sweden released vertical strip ads to highlight the various things available at the store. What was charming story of things used to rescue a cat from a tree. Here is the full campaign series:

Agency: King, Stockholm

2. Bazooka: cute little ad to dramatize the bubble-gum as crash protection.

Agency: Duval Guillaume, Brussels

3. Bic: brilliant series to dramatize the proposition: Joy of Writing.

Agency: Jung von Matt, Germany

4. Braun: brings out the human in men

Agency: BBDO, Germany

5. Chupa Chups: sugar free, hence no ants. Copied several times over in other parts of the world.

Agency: DDB ESPANA

6. Colgate Total: ‘prevents discolouration of teeth’ is the proposition.

Agency: Young & Rubicam, Germany

7 & 8. Corail Teoz trains: two ads to promote the comfort of traveling by France’s Teoz trains. The chauffer sitting in front is hilarious.

Agency: TBWA/Paris

9. Dank: this campaign won the Epica d’Or in 2009 at the Epica Awards.

DDB, Istanbul

10. Dextro: brawn for your brain, is the claim.

Agency: Kempertrautmann, Germany

11. Glenfiddich: every year counts

Agency: 180 Amsterdam

12. Halls: brilliant telegraphic ad. Claim: balsamic action.

Agency: JWT, Italy

13. IKEA: your dreams come true, at least as far as home furnishings are concerned.

Agency: DDB Germany/ Düsseldorf

14. Inlingua: your English may make you seem like an alien.

Agency: Kolle Rebbe Werbeagentur, Hamburg, Germany

15. Kodak Chrome camera roll: catches everything in low light is the claim.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Germany

16. Langley Travel agency specializes in ski trips. And they are now in Japan. Racist, perhaps but funny.

Agency: Goss, Sweden

17. Leica dramatized the product attribute of 12x zoom brilliantly in this outdoor campaign.

Agency: Advico Young & Rubicam

18. Lisbon airport has a new look.

Agency: BBDO Portugal

19. McKinsey recruitment ad: brilliant targeting of potential candidates.

Agency: Ruf Lanz Werbeagentur

20. Milko: ‘a near cow experience’ – the claim and the execution may seem bizarre to us in India, but I guess its a quaint way of equating ‘natural’ with the brand.

Agency: Åkestam Holst, Sweden

21. Niedermeyer a consumer goods retail store advertised for its range of digital cameras with super zoom capability.
Agency: TBWA/Vienna

22. Nintendo: several gaming brands have dramatized the addictive nature of the gaming device with the ‘hands so busy’ idea. Here’s one such:
Agency: Lowe Brindfors

23. Nurdie: a print campaign for a brand of stocking saw the funny side of the product feature: opaque stockings.
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Werbeagentur

24. Globus Rutan pet food is so irresistible that inspires ‘others’ to masquerade as cats. The idea has been done by other pet food brands, but this is still funny.
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Germany

25 & 26: Siemens: brilliant series of ads to dramatize the claim ‘the quietest vacuum cleaner in its class’.


Agency: Scholz & Friends, Hamburg, Germany

27. Smint: speak closer is the proposition. The idea of seeing it from the perspective of the user gave the visuals a dramatic twist.

Agency: Leo Burnett, Lisbon

28. Soho – a brilliant series of ads to dramatize the benefit of high heels, ‘walk in the clouds’.

Agency: Agency: Wirz/BBDO, Zurich

29. Sony PSP: one of my favourite ideas in this series – it makes you chuckle and drives home the point of addictive gaming cleverly.

Agency: Agency:TBWA Espana

30. Spontex: ’super absorbent’ is the claim. Brilliant art direction.

Agency: TBWA/Paris

31 & 32: These ads are cool media innovations for Sprite, to drive home the point of ‘No Sugar, No Bull’. The first ad, a double spread presented a pretty picture. The instructions (fold on dotted lines so that A meet B – made famous by MAD Magazine) present a different picture altogether.

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi