Seen and noted

Ross has spent 30 years in advertising trying to perfect the art of persuading consumers to part with their money. Ross started out as an Art Director but soon realized that managing Creative people was his real skill.

14 of those 30 years were spent at the usual gambit of multinational agencies, the last 16 as a founding partner of The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town, Africa's most awarded independent agency. Having judged in France (Cannes Print, Cannes TV), New York (The One Show, Art Directors Club of New York, Clio), Canada, Korea and even Namibia, Ross is a seasoned Creative Director who sometimes fantasizes about being a teacher. Ross loves the way students think. He has willingly been involved with The One Show's annual education Initiative in China for the last 7 years.

Here are my favourites of what I judged this week:

BEST TV
1st. Vodafone This is a highly watch able and interesting way to bring the Vodafone sponsorship alive. Many clients could learn from this. They think it's enough to have their logo pasted on what ever they sponsor. This is smart, memorable and entertaining. Just what our industry should be producing.

2nd. Huggies. Hey, poo jokes always rock. Seriously, they made an icky subject cute, funny and adorable. And like the Vodaphone ad, very memorable. I can imagine sales lifting immediately.

BEST PRINT
1st. Financial Times. It's instant. Smart. Wish I'd done it.

2nd. Scuba Magazine. I'll park my scam radar for the moment; I think this ad is an appealing way to relay content. If I'd been reading a magazine and I came across this ad, it would have certainly caught my eye, made me read it and more importantly, made me want to buy the magazine.

BEST OUTDOOR
1st. John West. In a world of outdoor gimmicks, this one caught my attention. A funny way to talk to a parent without doing the 'holier than though - be a good parent thing' that most food people do. It would be awesome in an actual fence.

2nd. Virgin. Again, parking my scam radar aside for a moment, this is an innovative, interesting and low budget solution. It also fits with the tone of the Virgin brand.

BEST INTERACTIVE
1st. Missing children. To take Facebook (which seems so overtraded and last year) from frivolous usage to serious usage is brilliant. They should have a permanent 'missing' section on Facebook. Well done.

2nd. Tango. Fun, fun and more fun.