The annual Lunch honours those who laid the foundations of today's Australian advertising industry, which is now one of the most awarded in the world.

This week's guest judge is Joakim Borgstrom, executive creative director at BBH Singapore.

BEST TV
Winner: SpareBank 'Magic Light' This ad is definitely conceived under the nordic lights. There is no secret about that. There is also no secret that I was born in the Nordic. Maybe that's why I like the film, or maybe because the biggest risk is not taking any... what can I say. The future is bright. READ ON...

SXSW 2019 has been and gone. Another five days of trying to drink from a fire hydrant of knowledge, powered by some of the world's most inspiring leaders across tech, design, brand, sports, health and politics.

In the moment, it's a constant frenzy of note scribbling and rushing between sessions. By day five, my memories of individual talks seem to have smushed together into a single mega-presentation of tweetable quotes, beautifully designed slides and standing ovations.

Conversely, in dynamic, highly competitive environments, the people who can have the biggest impact on a company's success are product people. Those obsessed with pushing the boundaries, inventing new things, creating better outcomes for customers. In our world, these are the creatives and strategists, who Law believes should be operating at an agency's highest levels (in contrast to finance or account people), shaping the work, the organisational structure and the processes for bringing greatness to life.

2. Where growth curves intersect: Podcasts and Loneliness

Every year there are unofficial themes that permeate the hundreds of talks across SXSW. In years gone by, it was impossible to go an hour without hearing about virtual reality, diversity and inclusion, Mars or artificial intelligence. This year, it was all about loneliness.

Whether you were in a session about tech trends, the role of brands, the need for courage, our polarised political environment or the inevitability of robot overlords, the rise of loneliness was on the agenda. London has officially been recognised as the loneliest city in the world. I guess it makes sense then, that in January this year Prime Minister Theresa May officially appointed a Minister of Loneliness to help reverse the curve.

Across the pond, we've seen another meteoric rise. Dubbed as the second golden age of audio, podcasts are officially exploding. This year, 90 million Americans will listen to a podcast. That's 20 million more than last year.

Gimlet Media, founded in 2014, has been one of the biggest drivers and beneficiaries of this growth (they were purchased by Spotify for $230m earlier this year). Cofounder Matt Lieber took the stage with leaders from Spotify and Anchor (another recent Spotify acquisition) to talk about the current state of audio.

Within this, he outlined the three reasons people listen to podcasts, at least two of which any new Gimlet show needs to hit;

    For the enjoyment of being told a story
    For the chance to learn something new
    For the companionship that comes from feeling like you're part of the conversation between hosts

While point three has been a truism of radio (especially talkback radio) since the dawn of time, I couldn't help but think that podcasts are helping to scratch a rising loneliness itch that's being felt around the world.

3. The Instagram founders on expediting the inevitable

Sometimes you need to make sacrifices for the greater good. At SXSW, this can mean sitting through a session you have absolutely no interest in, just to ensure you have a seat for the next session happening in the same room. Such was the case as I endured a vacuous one hour interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, eagerly awaiting Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who were doing their first interview since leaving Facebook late last year.

In addition to being equal parts brilliant and humble, the guys left me with plenty to think about. One such pearl was their take on adding advertisements to Instagram following the $1b acquisition by Facebook. They said that while people outside assumed Facebook was pushing their ad model onto the newly purchased (still ad-free) platform, there was, in fact, lots of pull coming from the other side.

For a start, they maintain that they wanted to be able to contribute to the (financial) success of the organisation that had just given them a billion dollars (fair enough).

But more interesting was their view that every person who joined the platform before there were ads, would be an additional person they'd need to introduce ads to at some point down the track. Surely it was better for ads to have always 'just been there', right?

As it turns out, it probably was. While 150 million existing users bitched and moaned about the introduction of ads, almost a billion jumped on since. I found this to be a beautiful lesson in doing the tough things first, especially when it's expediting the inevitable.  Continue reading on LinkedIn...

Promoting the market-leading Sportsbet app, the campaign endorses Australians' right to enjoy the art of doing less, reminding punters that when it comes to getting a bet on, Sportsbet is literally the least you can do.

Says Charles Baylis, creative director, Deloitte Digital: "Someone needed to stand up for our right to sit down. We're just glad Sportsbet are brave enough to do it. In a world full of brands telling you to do stuff, it's good to hear a voice that says Just Do It, Less."

Last held in Brisbane in 2013, the annual awards have grown in stature each year. Entries open on the eve of the release of the first radio survey results for 2019.

A herd of robots is looking me up and down, gossiping about me among themselves in their own bleepy-bloopy language. People around me bend down to stroke robotic dogs which, in turn, wag their tails in euphoric delight.

I'm not riding out a psychedelic high, I'm standing in the middle of Sony's space at SXSW. The length of queues to play with interactive walls and installations easily rivalled the queues to popular talks.

This talk was fitting. I'd jotted down a quote from a previous session which is obvious but often doesn't manifest through the work.

"People don't watch ads, people watch entertainment."

People willing to queue to wave their arms at an interactive wall and affectionately pat robots were being entertained enough to engage with the brand through well-executed experiential marketing.

The talk at Sony opened with the analogy 'technology will do to storytelling what electric pickups did to the guitar.'

It reminded me of old school creatives looking at anything beyond art and copy becoming increasingly pissed off, waving their arms in frustration shouting the equivalent of, 'You call that racket music?', caught between a generational shift in culture. Perhaps millennials and generation X ditching TV's for phones and tablets is as offensive as the rise of Rock 'n' Roll or Dubstep.

Entertainment has exploded beyond the tiny boxes in our living rooms - the video game industry is worth more than the film and music industries combined.

As an industry, we're already starting to use voice, wearables, VR and I.o.T devices as canvases for storytelling. Regardless of the format, art, copy or code -  it was a good reminder that the work must be as entertaining as a gorilla bashing away on the drums, sending fast food into space or, in this case, as fun as petting Boston dynamic-esque miniature cyborg mammals.

The latest campaign will be executed across a range of channels from this week with a 60, 30 and 15 second TVC, backed by cinema, social, inflight TV and Collect and Connect (Airport).  A 30-second radio spot will also run on spotify and digital radio.

- World class sanctuaries

Says Eccles: "This allows the viewers to instantly purchase products, event tickets or unlock further information directly on the video content without having to click through to a website for viewing. This creates an engaging interaction for the viewer. The brand is able to collect high level data from all interactions to ensure their campaigns are continually showcasing what their consumers are interested in, leveraging this to drive sales directly from their content."

 

Says Eccles: "We are thrilled to be ahead of the curve, bringing this new level of interactive branded content to Australia. We are excited to see what brands can achieve with this technology. It will be great for this tech to be finally used in a way in which it enhances the consumer's experience."

CHE Proximity and Ogilvy Sydney have scored four finalists each, whilst AJF Partnership and whiteGREY have scored two apiece.

Aussie agencies scoring one finalist apiece include Clemenger BBDO/TKT Sydney, BMF, MCann Melbourne, Clemenger BBDO and Leo Burnett Melbourne.

The finalists were represented by 14 countries from across the Asia Pacific region. Leading the shortlist is India with 34 finalists followed by Australia and New Zealand with 22 and 21 finalists respectively.

Ogilvy dominates the finalist count for agency network with 31 finalists, followed by McCann Worldgroup with 22 finalists, and BBDO with 21 finalists.

The 2019 Winners of the APAC Effie Awards will be revealed at the Awards Gala held on the 25th of April 2019 at Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore. For more details please visit http://www.apaceffie.com/.

Dorrian was the director's rep at The Sweet Shop London before relocating to Australia last year. Whilst there, she represented the likes of Mark Albiston and Noah Marshall. Now in Sydney, she is excited about the opportunity this new role affords her.

Says Dorrian: "I am delighted to be joining the boys at Mint. They're a highly impressive, dedicated and ambitious team. I feel both relief and pride in their innovation in creating this role for their quickly expanding business and I look forward to making new contacts in the Southern Hemisphere on their behalf."

Adds Samperi: "2019 is all about growth for us, and we're confident that having Abby on board as our new business manager will help us achieve this."

Click here to visit Mint Film's website.

Stefanie DiGianvincenzo, Rare co-founder and strategic director at Google, says the new programs mark an important evolution to the way Rare empowers underrepresented talent.

Says DiGianvincenzo: "The Masterclasses we ran in 2017 and 2018 had massive impact for underrepresented groups across the world. We armed 200 rare minds with invaluable insight and inspiration, raised $300,000 for diversity grants and initiatives, placed Rare interns into top creative businesses, and helped establish new businesses that are dedicated to positive cultural change," she said. "But more than that, the groups we've worked with, and interactions we've had, have sparked new ideas and opportunities for Rare to have broader impact, in ways we never anticipated. It's going to be a big year - watch this space."

Visually stunning and tonally arresting the campaign pushes the idea that all education and testing should be faceless and unbiased. The creatives at Scorch ingeniously conceived of the concept of faceless talent as a way to deliver the core conceit in the most elegant way possible. What resulted is one of the more unique education spots to be conceived in a long time.

Shot on 16mm film, Last Man Standing documents Werner Winkelmann, who, as the last person in Australia to process motion picture film, ponders what his retirement could mean for the future of the medium.

Co-director W.A.M. Bleakley spoke about the remarkable journey Last Man Standing has taken to get on screen at MoMA: "Werner has processed all of our previous short films, and knowing he wishes to retire soon - it's very worrying for the future of celluloid in Australia and New Zealand. The film was born out of this conversation.

View Lucy's work here, and Bill's work here. For bookings, contact Kate Roydhouse, kate@curiousfilm.com.

Winc sources, packages and delivers whatever a workplace needs to work across office essentials, furniture, safety equipment and complex technology solutions. The 'Ticks all your boxes' campaign aims to showcase the breadth of personalised solutions on offer from the B2B retailer.

The business is focused on supporting learners, carers and workers across the corporate, government, education and healthcare sectors.

The 'Ticks all your boxes' campaign will be distributed via Winc's own channel, social media and digital display.

To enquire about Georgi Banks-Davies, contact Adrian Shapiro adrian@scoundrel.co, or Kate Gooden kate@scoundrel.co.

The top five teams in each category will be announced at an intimate invite-only drinks reception at Snapchat's office on 9 May 2019, with the Gold-winning teams earning the opportunity to represent Australia at the global Young Lions competition during Cannes Lions in France in June.

Entries are currently open, with the first round entries due 29 March 2019. For further information on how to enter, please visit www.canneslionsaustralia.com.au/younglions.

Says Alex Lowe, head of brand marketing, Formula 1: "From the outset Graffiti understood Formula 1 is the ultimate sporting and entertainment experience, and have been a great partner on the ground throughout the project.

Graffiti Experiential is part of WPP AUNZ, Australasia's leading creative transformation company.

Graffiti won the project in a competitive pitch last year.

The campaign amplifies the Giants team song and the unique AFL ritual, which sees the song sung with equal gusto by players and fans alike.

The film titled 'Brabham' is a feature length biopic about the legendary racing driver and is produced by Aurora Films in association with Heckler, with its co-founder Will Alexander also serving as an executive producer.

Says Kean: "It has become very evident to me in the past year that many clients are after an agency that can be responsible for all elements of their business from brand development through to consumer strategy and marketing. I am excited to evolve Lacuna's offering to now focus on transforming our clients' vision into reality from the beginning."

Says Bartal: "It is an exciting move to be joining a business that has an ethos of doing things differently and I look forward to bringing my people focus to the agency. I'm really thrilled to be partnering with Natalie and taking Lacuna into its next phase of growth."

Says Kean: "Laura has guided brand and consumer strategies for a number of leading brands. She takes an empirical approach to brands, and consumers, creating work that connects with the right person, with the right product and message in a memorable way. I am delighted to have her join Lacuna and help drive the agenda for this new and exciting chapter."

Additionally, in partnership with Fitness First and Mango PR, Blue Ribbon will be offering its consumers balanced workout classes across the country, allowing them to work off more calories than those contained in a tub of the new ice cream. Fitness First members have been invited to one-hour classes at select locations across the country, involving high-energy aerobics and step moves inspired by exercise championships from the 80s and 90s. Upon completion of a class, participants can legitimately say #TREATYOSELF as they receive a free tub of the new Blue Ribbon range, along with a goodie bag.

The campaign is rolling out across print, digital, OOH and PR. The Department of Family Travel is the perfect platform for Emirates to build rich content and resources to connect with one of its core target demographics - families.

In her new role, Rutherford leads all Expedia global creative work--overseeing creative talent at Team One as well as global teams in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Tokyo. She is responsible for the continuity of the Expedia brand voice, ensuring work is consistent across all continents.

The client wins add to a roster that includes longtime partners Webjet, Catch, Estee Lauder Companies, TAFE NSW and Domino's Pizza.

Sparro will manage inbound marketing for the brands - covering paid search, display, video, onsite optimisation and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

The wins come after a huge 2018 for the independent digital marketing agency, managing $65m in ad spend and picking up a host of awards.

Sparro was a finalist in five of the six Google Premier Partner Awards and won the Search Innovation and Video Innovation awards. The business also won two Premier Partner Awards in 2017, making them Australia's most Google-awarded agency.

The agency was also named in The Australian Financial Review's Top 100 Most Innovative Companies list last year, ranked at no.12.

Says Morris Bryant, co-founder and partner, Sparro: "The market is changing. Inhouse digital teams are more skilled than a few years ago, and they're expecting more from their agencies. They want to be challenged, they want agencies to deliver more than just a channel solution, and they want transparency and value, most of all.

In a new campaign for the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) launching today, Icon Agency aims to drive awareness of the alternatives by encouraging people to visit their nearest after hours medical services using the national Healthdirect app.

Says Bechervaise: "We set out to build a brand for After Hours Care that people will remember. When someone has a medical situation in the anxious hours of the evening, we want them to consider a better option than the emergency department.

"For the campaign to be effective, we needed to cut through and bust the mundane category norm. We wanted to tap into people's anxiety in a provocative way, and help them realise the situation might not be as bad as they think before making the call."

Says Clausen: "Engaging audiences without getting hung up on the seriousness of the subject was a major part of our strategy. The executions hero typical medical conditions that people present with in accident and emergency departments, when they may have visited an after hours clinic instead.

Says Mary-Anne Toy, director strategic relations, NWMPHN: "People often don't realise that there are many after hours medical services, so they automatically default to the emergency department. If we can get people to find their nearest after hours medical services and take some pressure off hospital emergency departments, everyone will feel better."

Says Kenton Elliot, general manager, marketing, Target: "We want women all over the country to reassess Target denim. Because when they do come back in, they'll find on- trend, quality jeans at a great price."

Says Josh Stephens, ECD, AJF Partnership: "As Australians, Denim's part of our DNA, so it's an exciting space to play in with an iconic Australian brand like Target."

Says Mark Jarrett, managing director, PHD: "Stevie has been an incredibly positive influence across a number of our client relationships during the past 3 years, whilst also simultaneously driving a fantastic people development program at PHD. This promotion couldn't be more deserved and I'm excited to have her helping us further develop long-term sustainable client partnerships in the years to come."

The activations made complex concepts accessible to visitors, according to strategic communications consultancy House of Kitch Communications founder Samara Kitchener: "Part of Plan Jericho's vision is about inspiring a whole new generation of talent to be part of creating Australia's aerospace future; and inspiring our existing talent to push the edges of the fifth-generation force. By stretching the boundaries of creativity and technology with these immersive domes, we are able to use 'storytelling on steroids' to convey concepts that would otherwise be very difficult to communicate."

The appointment will see S&E create the overarching communications platform and integrated campaign to inspire the nation in the lead-up to and throughout the Tokyo Games. This will include multi-channel assets across TV, out-of-home, print and online.

Globally, S&E has established a reputation for its Olympic-associated work having delivered communications for Team USA and Coca-Cola at the London 2012 Olympic Games and subsequent games in Rio 2016. Locally, the agency has created work for Olympic and Commonwealth Games partner brands including CommBank in 2012, Woolworths (2016/18) and Optus (2018).

Says Matt Carroll, CEO, of the AOC: "S&E was approached based on the team's proven track record of creating award-winning campaigns centred around the Olympics. We were most impressed by S&E's global Olympic experience and we're looking forward to sharing the journey to the 2020 games with Jamie and the team."

The core of which is understanding that we are all people with more in common than not, and just being present together is a huge step forward. The biggest challenge is speaking truth to bullshit, but being civil. Rather than a divisive 'with us or against us attitude', her call was to be civil and be true to yourself.

With the dominance of big retailers and online stores, small or emerging businesses can find it tough to stand out and grow a customer base. The panel of Lily Kanter (CEO, Boon supply; and co-founder, Serena & Lily) Brian Spaly (Executive Chairman, Tecovas; Founder, Trunk Club; Founder, Bonobos) and Jeff Weiser (Shopify CMO) spoke about trends that can help retailers stand out and win shopper loyalty through providing a better customer experience.

Airing from today onwards, the campaign will showcase a range of stories that demonstrate the AFL's ability to foster moments that prove anything is possible, beginning with chronicling Mason Cox's journey from being a college basketball player in his home country of the US to becoming one of the cult heroes of the 2018 Toyota AFL Finals Series.

View the campaign hub.

Celebrating the competition's emphasis on creativity, AKQA is proud to announce VSCO and WIRED as official partners for Future Lions 2019.

Says Tesa Aragones, CMO, VSCO: "At VSCO, our mission is to help everybody fall in love with their own creativity. This year's Future Lions theme of "Break Through" echoes what we provide for our community members at VSCO. It is an invitation to young creatives to embrace their creative curiosity, create without self-doubt, and along that journey build their creative confidence."

HSE will provide insight, strategy, creative ideation and implementation for live activations, for the following partnerships: NRMA Insurance and the Brisbane Broncos, and CGU Insurance and the Collingwood Women's AFL and Men's AFL teams.

Says Francis Coady, general manager, Havas Sports & Entertainment ANZ: "We are delighted to be working with IAG whose passion for strategic thinking, creativity and collaborative customer focused work is what any good agency ultimately desires in a client."

HSE worked with CGU to develop large format street art mural activations in the greater Collingwood area that represent the perseverance and passion female AFL players possess.

The campaign showcases the ambition these female players have, with many balancing full time jobs with a full time AFL career. Through the campaign, CGU aims to celebrate women's sport, shine a spotlight on the talented and ambitious women that play AFL and visually demonstrate what these players are made of.

Says Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions: "The Lion of St. Mark is a special award that honours those who have made a significant and outstanding contribution to creativity in advertising and communications over a lifelong career. Jeff and Rich have had such a profound influence, not only through their much celebrated and creatively ground-breaking work but also by inspiring others to create great work too. Their legacy is truly remarkable, and we're delighted to celebrate and reward them for their achievements."

Says Lawler: "We have a wealth of deep finance, communications and creative expertise that can deliver real business outcomes through executive coaching and purpose-led frameworks that we know work.

"The banking royal commission has shown us how far people have strayed from the path of purpose-led communications, and we will be part of a new business solution that delivers results and less complexity."

The new association name, Australian Investment Council, and new visual identity will start to be seen across all communications collateral for both internal and external stakeholders.

Says Carolyn Pitt, head of account management, Hulsbosch: "The brand idea 'investing for growth' speaks to what drives both the Council, and its members. The compelling new logo is simple, iconic and communicates the Council's role in both growth and in facilitating stronger conversations throughout the industry."

Australian Investment Council members comprise private equity and venture capital investment firms, as well as institutional investors, who deploy billions of dollars of capital each year into innovative businesses that drive productivity gains, and boost competitiveness and entrepreneurship.

Says Yasser El-Ansary, chief executive, Australian Investment Council: "As the voice of private capital in Australia, this new brand strengthens our leadership role and allows us to amplify our contribution to public policy debate across the economy.

"For more than 25 years, the Council has been an important part of Australia's private capital investment industry, and Hulsbosch has delivered a modern brand identity that will propel us forward for the next phase of our work in a dynamic globalised world."

My initial impression of SXSW is that it's frenetic, friendly and fascinating in equal measures. Having never been to the festival or Austin before, I didn't really know what to expect. After a couple of days it has left me impressed, if a little overwhelmed.

Designed to help creative people achieve their goals, the choice of stimulation is mind-boggling; exhibitions, live music, panel sessions, lectures, networking, film premieres, workshops, book narrations and signings, art programs, mentor sessions, brand experiences, etc. In any given timeslot there can be up to 30 events taking place. It's actually pretty difficult to choose the one for you without suffering FOMO all day. But choose I did. 

Brené was simply brilliant and the peak of my first day, but next was a lecture by Rohit Bhargava, apparently one of the world's most entertaining and original thinkers on marketing disruption. His presentation on the seven non-obvious trends changing the future wasn't all necessarily non-obvious, but thought provoking nonetheless. The key trend that struck a chord with me was 'Enterprise Empathy' - businesses making money out of adopting an empathetic approach. Examples given were Tesco UK's slow checkout for dementia sufferers and braille on shampoo and conditioner bottles so blind people know which one they are using. 

Day two started with a session on behavioural economics and how it can drive effective advertising. Nothing particularly new there, but good to know we are a little bit ahead of the game with the appointment of Behavioural Economist Dr Mark Hurlstone to our team.

Then onto a discussion entitled 'The Next Uncanny Valley: Interaction in XR', about the opportunity to redefine how people engage and interact with machines, and each other. For those of us who don't know what Uncanny Valley is (I didn't know, I'm channeling Brené here!), it is apparently when something is nearly photo realistic in VR, but so close that it doesn't feel quite right - it's a little creepy. Next stop, the Sony WoW Studio, where uncannily the Uncanny Valley theme continued, but this time in a discussion on whether it's silly to care about a robot. The USA is seemingly different to Japan as people are less keen to interact with humanoid robots but happier to do so if they are animal form, as long as they don't look too much like animals.

The day then took a political turn. A great panel discussion between the CMOs of Patagonia, Airbnb and Lyft around how brands have the permission of their consumers to advocate for relevant political policies and change. And are left wondering why, when brands don't. All these organisations have helped bring about change in ways that are authentic to their brand purpose and all of them have their purpose running through the veins of their company. Their collective view was that brands haven't necessarily become more political. But politicians now use the tool of brands to get their message out. The political and business worlds have merged - just look at Trump.

US congressional representative and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aka AOC, wrapped up the day. After queuing for an hour, it felt like waiting for a concert to begin. Politics is now entertainment. She was definitely worth the wait. 

It's really easy to believe when caught up in the SXSW tornado that Austin and the views of the people here reflect the whole country. That's obviously not the case but today at SXSW it felt like it. AOC was on friendly turf and the crowd lapped up her every word. She's a politician with a refreshing personality and the soundbites to match. Whilst I don't pretend to understand all the intricacies of America's political environment, if there had been an AOC flag handy I would have been waving it and leading the chant. She was truly inspirational and as a young (29yrs old), female, Latino politician we can only wish that she inspires more of America's disassociated youth to stand up and bring about change. As AOC said herself when asked what young American women of colour should do to enter politics, "Stop navigating the systems of power, instead build you own power".

Stirring stuff, now on to tomorrow.