Brief 5 – Pensions (Oct–Nov 2005)
Just under a thousand entries were submitted, making this the biggest tough pitch to date. Entries flooded in from individuals from all over the world and from all walks of life: students, creative directors, freelancers, agencies and enthusiastic amateurs.
This time round the judging panel included: Diane Thompson, chief executive of Camelot; Greg Delaney, chairman of Delaney Lund Knox Warren & Partners; Tim Ashton, creative director of Antidote; Peter Spiers of FilmFour; Peter Lewis, marketing director of the FT; Ford Ennals, chief executive of SwitchCo; and Gautam Malkani, editor of FT Creative Business.
Winners of the GBP 1,000 first prize were freelance creatives Hermeti Balarin and Ana Brando, previously runners-up in the National Lottery pitch. Their entry featured a poster campaign with the simple line 'The best is yet to come', preceded by boldly written examples of future comforts such as hair-straightening pills, housekeeping robots, human memory upgrades and flying trainers.
The judges felt the message could cut through the target market's apparent immunity to scaremongering, and were impressed by the simplicity of the winning idea. 'It's good to focus on the good things that will happen in the future as opposed to the bad things that might happen if you don't have a pension,' said Greg Delaney. 'To do it this well this simply is tough.'
Two other teams ran Balarin and Brando close: Lucy Clark and Maxine Hodgson, currently on placement in London; and Simon Briscoe and Orlando Warner, with their first collaboration.
Winner
Hermeti Balarin and Ana Brando
Hermeti and Ana have known each other for 13 years but teamed up officially only recently. After working for a couple of above-the-line ad agencies in Brazil, Hermeti moved to London in 2003, completing placements at CHI and Saatchi & Saatchi. Ana, a physiotherapist currently working for the NHS, took her first steps in ad land with the 'National Lottery' pitch.
'It's not everyday we are able to crack one of the world's toughest briefs, win a thousand pounds, appear in the FT and get judged by the industry's top people. We would like to thank OpenAd for this great opportunity.'
Runner-up
Lucy Clark and Maxine Hodgson
Lucy is an art director and Maxine a copywriter. Joining forces on the Watford Art Direction and Copywriting course in 2004, they have since had placements at a variety of agencies, including DDB London, WCRS, WTCS and JWT, where they shot a Crunchy Nut Cornflakes ad. They've had a recent run of luck in competitions, winning the latest Creative Circle workshop series.
'OpenAd was a bit of a technological adventure for us, and we enjoyed the challenging brief. We tried to do something a bit different and we're glad the judges liked it. Unfortunately our own pensions growth will have to remain stunted for now.'
Runner-up
Simon Briscoe and Orlando Warner
Copywriter Orlando graduated from Watford with merit, going on to work at St Luke's for four years and Partners BDDH for two. Simon, an art director, has just made the move from Sydney to London, having worked for a variety of agencies, including DDB, Clemenger BBDO and Ogilvy & Mather, for nearly a decade. Both are currently freelancing.
'Having just met, the OpenAd brief was a great opportunity to see if we worked well together. I guess this means we do!'
