Press / Releases

Gideon Amichay named PIAF 2012 Jury Chairman

11/01/2012

Prague, January 11^th,2012 - Gideon Amichay to preside over the jury of Prague’s International Advertising Festival PIAF 2012. The winner of many international competitions and one of the most well-respected creatives in the world appreciates PIAF’s innovative approach to communication campaigns. As a member of the jury at last year’s PIAF, he had an opportunity to learn about the evaluation system.

After several years, Gideon Amichay left the agency Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R, which he founded and through which he won 17 Cannes Lions awards. He published a book called „No, No, No, No, No, No, No Yes“, in which he summarizes his experience and views on constant curiosity and creativity.

LuizSanches, the Creative Director at Almap BBDO Brazil will also be on this year’s PIAF jury. Luiz Sanches was named the world’s most successful creative of 2011 by global rating PIAFYS. This will be his first time in Prague.

PIAFwill also host important marketing professionals. One of these marketing professionals is AdamKakembo, Vicepresident of Marketing and Products of Wrangler for EMEA. Wrangler is a brand that regularly places well in creative competitions – Wrangler’s latest campaign was interesting due toits connection between fashion and clever stunt men.

The PIAF jury will consist of 14 members, withone spot being held by a Czech representative. The full jury will be announced by the end of January.

The international jury will judge 12 basic categories in two rounds. Special categories are beer advertisements and advertisements entered into by the State and its institutions. Applications for the competition will be accepted at the beginning of February. Shortlists will be announced by mid-April and the overall winner willbe announced by PIAF at the „Best of…“ evening on 26 April.

Asidefrom the competition, the festival will also host an international conference presenting the best from the world of advertising and marketing. PIAF jurors and others, namely international hosts will present and hold workshops during the festival. PIAF is the most exceptional event of its kind in central Europe and lends a forum for the gain and exchange of experiences for marketing and advertising professionals.

Out of the box thinkers welcome

15/12/2011

Prague 15.12.2011 – The Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) will be held on the 25th and 26th of April 2012.  The organizers just launched the new website for this next project with the author of this year’s creative concept being the advertising agency VCCP.  The slogan „Out of the box thinkers welcome“ in addition to the campaign’s visuals confirm the fact that PIAF is different than those other advertising festivals.

The festival’s international jury will evaluate twelve categories of work, interestingly enough not divided into the usual media types such as television, print, outdoor advertising, etc.  The usual classifications have been replaced by categories aimed at general communication principles and not on which medium was used or how creatively it was marketed and sold.  Special categories are the beer advertisements and advertisements where the advertiser is the state or a state institution.

The ability to go above and beyond the norm is typical for this competition and for the festival’s program which is what brings the inspiration and confidence for unexpected marketing concepts to our professional attendees.  In the past years, Czech advertising has not been particularly competitive internationally.

„The view on advertising current fifty years ago is no longer valid today. There was a revolutionary change in advertising and marketing and creative competitions must also always be representative of the current situation,“ explains Marek Hlavica, managing director of PIAF.

The new website launches next year’s creative festival image.  The origami bird mascot of the festival is being freed from its usual placement in the PIAF logo.  We also expect prints, internet advertising and interactive applications.  Every year of PIAF has a different style.  This year’s is the work of the Prague offices of the British agency VCCP.

PIAF will open its competition at the beginning of February. During the first weeks of April, the international jury will choose its shortlists and will decide on its winners in Prague at the festival.  Jurors are creative and marketing professionals from the entire world.  Many of the jurors will also discuss their most successful work here in Prague.  The competition winners will be announced at the gala evening on 26 April.  The winners of PIAF bronze, silver and gold will earn points toward PIAFYS, the global rating of creatives.  PIAFYS is run by PIAF as of last year and represents the most complex ladder of its kind in the world.  Last year about three thousand of the best creative executives in the world were represented.  The top spaces were held by Americans and Brazilians, of which a few could even show their faces in Prague at next year’s PIAF.

PIAF 2012 to be held in late April

28/11/2011

Prague, September 19, 2011 – Next year's PIAF, Prague International Advertising Festival, will be held a little earlier than before – on April 25 and 26, 2012. The international jury will vote a day earlier. Once again, the two-day conference will welcome mostly foreign experts in the field of marketing and communication from all over the world.

The PIAF festival has already started working on its third year. The innovative competition categories, introduced in May of this year, have proven to be useful, and thus will continue to be the pillar of the festival. 

"We are currently starting to address potential members of the jury. For PIAF, we want to get both excellent creatives from all over the world and marketers from companies whose success is based on creativity," says Marek Hlavica, PIAF's Managing Director.

A great help in looking for jurors is last year's innovation of the festival – the worldwide rating of creative professionals – PIAFYS (PIAFind YourSelf). This year's PIAFYS (individual years being divided by the PIAF festival) has just published its results. The title of Creative Professional of the Year went to Luiz Sanches, Creative Director of the Brazilian agency ALMAP BBDO. At this time, the current results cover international festivals, including the Cannes Lions. The complete ratings are available at www.piafawards.com.

For more information please contact:

Donald Gunn on PIAF Festival: very promising

17/05/2011Prague, May 17th 2011 – In its second year, Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) approved itself as the major event for advertising and marketing in Central Europe. With high profile speakers at the conference and international contest with a new way of judging creativity, PIAF brings together clients and advertising agencies. The first ever Grand Prix at PIAF was awarded to the Get Tested Project made by Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R. The new festival conception including new categories and venue, was welcomed by Donald Gunn, founder of the global Gunn Report.

From May 10hto 12th, Prague hosted PIAF, the biggest advertising festival in the region. For the very first time, PIAF introduced new categories in its international contest, which fully respect the complexity of contemporary advertising. The categories follow the logic of brand building regardless the media in use. Personalities such as Donald Gunn and Michael Conrad fully appreciated the new system.

„I am pretty impressed about beeing here, the festival is very promising. PIAF will become a very good festival. The strategy of categories is very good, and it will interest agencies in South America, USA, Great Britain or Asia. They solved very well the problem how to judge. It combines the online judging with Jury meeting personally,“ explained Donald Gunn, the founder of the most prestigeous creative ranking Gunn Report. „In its categories, PIAF has also shown a real understanding of advertising and the way it is made. The venue is very nice and the organisation has been excellent,“ noted Donald Gunn during the final Award ceremony in Prague, May 12th.

The first ever Grand Prix was awarded to the inovative Get Tested Project made by Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R for AIDS Awareness. Anchors from all radio stations in Israel were invited to take HIV tests live, and they got the results in 30 minutes also live. The „open idea platform“ let the anchors make the campaign of their own. The Grand Prix winner Gideon Amichay moved currently in the global ranking of creative directors PIAFYS to the 9th place.

„PIAF is at the beginning. It has a wonderful focus on brands and growing of brands in all aspects. It differentiates PIAF from other festivals. This kind of show should bring more attention. We had afantastic jury and made some very good choices. I was happy that I was here, congratulations to PIAF,“ said Michael Conrad, head of the PIAF Jury and President of Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

„We managed to fullfill the idea, that creativity is an universal working principle. Our well attended conference has a potential to attract people from many countries, not just the Czech Republic. Thec ompetition it an alternative to all festivals, which build their categories according to the 50 years old rules of advertising. There is still a lot of work in front of us, but PIAF 2011 has shown the direction,“ comments Marek Hlavica, managing director PIAF. Marek was probably the first director of any advertising festival, who composed and performed a rock hymn for the event during the final ceremony.

PIAF in numbers:

2 days of conference program with 30 speakers

350 visitors of the conference

18 members of international Jury from 14 countries

361 entries to the PIAF Awards

92 agencies from 33 countries entered works to PIAF Awards

57 awards, including 1 Grand Prix and 6 Gold medals

For more information and photos see www.piaf.cz or contact

Jan Patera
Spokesman PIAF

Email:jan.patera@piaf.cz

Tel: +420 731 421 751

Note for editors:

The Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) is a top event in the field of marketing and commercial communication in Central Europe. It was first held in May 2010.

The Jury of PIAF advertising contest is led by Michael Conrad, one of the most awarded authorities in the field of advertising. The entries in theinternational PIAF contest are judged in 14 categories.

In 2011, PIAF launched a unique system of categories and published new global ranking on creative directors PIAFYS.   

The conference on May 11th and 12th with 30 international speakers was followed by Award Ceremony and Roofparty. 

In the first year of the festival, an international jury reviewed over 400 entries from 29 countries. The 2010 PIAF jury was chaired by Tim Delaney – founder of the international agency Leagas Delaney.

PIAF is organized in cooperation with the Czech Association of Communications Agencies and the Czech Association of Branded Products.

The Finalists of PIAF Awards 2011 Announced

02/05/2011Prague, May 2nd 2011 – The Prague International Advertising Festival published the first results of  its contest. Agencies have been competing in new categories reflecting the contemporary forms of advertising. After the first round of Jury judging, the shortlists are available at www.piaf.cz. Altogether 92 agencies from 33 countries sent entries to PIAF Awards. The final results will be announced at the PIAF award ceremony on May 12th, together with annual results of global creative directors ranking.

This year, PIAF took the role of an innovator among advertising festivals and changed completely the contest categories. The international Jury led by Michael Conrad, president of Berlin School of Creative Leadership, will meet in Prague and select the winners in 14 categories. The categories with the highest number of finalist are “Flash impact”, “Creating the media”, and “Storytelling”. While the first year of PIAF Awards was domińated by Czech agencies, this year the agencies from abroad sent 58% of all entries – led by agencies from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Israel, Russia and Italy. This year, more agencies from more countries are competing in PIAF Awards.
The entries, which received at least the same number of votes for and against, proceed to the final judging. The award ceremony takes place in the National Gallery venue Veletržní palác as the highlight of the PIAF Conference on May 12th. During the evening, the annual ranking of world´s creative directors “PIAFYS” will be announced. You can follow the development of the ranks all year long on the www.piaf.cz.
“We took the challenge and created the revolutionary concept of categories. We believe they are more relevant to the contemporary advertising and reflect the evolution of media consumption. In the same time, the creative concept of each entered work must be specified, which might be a challenge for agencies,“ claims Marek Hlavica, managing director of PIAF.  “Comparing to the last year we received five procent less entries, similar to other world´s contests in the field of advertising,“ added Hlavica.

For more information contact :
Jan Patera
Spokesman PIAF
Email: jan.patera@piaf.cz
Tel:  +420 731 421 751

Note for editors:
The Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) is a top event in the field of marketing and commercial communication in Central Europe. It was first held in May 2010.

The Jury of PIAF advertising contest is led by Michael Conrad, one of the most awarded authorities in the field of advertising. The entries in the international PIAF contest are judged in 14 categories.

In 2011, PIAF launched a unique system of categories and published new global ranking on creative directors PIAFYS.   

The conference on May 11th and 12th with 30 international speakers is followed by Award Ceremony and Roofparty. 

In the first year of the festival, an international jury reviewed over 400 entries from 29 countries. The 2010 PIAF jury was chaired by Tim Delaney – founder of the international agency Leagas Delaney.

PIAF is organized in cooperation with the Czech Association of Communications Agencies and the Czech Association of Branded Products.

The new festival redefines categories for judging ideas

28/02/2011Prague, 21th of February 2011 – The Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) is taking a fresh new look at the way ideas are judged and completely redefined the categories of its ad contest. Today, most of the advertising is no longer bound to a single medium. Yet, advertising festivals still recognize categories based on print, film, outdoor as relevant in the time of integrated communication. Some of the main Czech agencies have already welcomed the concept, which is now for the first time being presented on the international field. The call for entries starts on March 1st, 2011.

On May 10th to 12th 2011, the international jury will judge brands and their communication in a new kind of competition. For agencies and clients it is a unique chance to participate to a festival, which is going to change the way we think about judging advertising now. Twelve basic categories reflect crucial aspects of communication, which brands nowadays should master - such as creative sales support, creative use of technologies or audience engagement, to name just a few.
„PIAF will be dedicated to excellence in creative and innovative communication establishing, building and growing brands. The reason to bundle all media categories makes all sense to have a holistic look at the architecture of a brand's communication and to judge it's qualities,“ explained Michal Conrad, Jury Chairman and President of the „Berlin School of Creative Leadership“.
The entries will be awarded with Gold, Silver and Bronze. Categories are sorted into three groups „Creative Branding, Marketing & Sales”, “Art of Delivery” and “Idea – strong, brilliant, working”. The Grand Prix can be awarded to entries that score highly in at least two category groups. Each discipline will find its place in the new categories. A campaign with a great story, brilliantly executed, which gains spontaneous attraction of the media and the target group, could possibly score in four different categories. The entered works must be launched in the market between the 1st of April 2010 and the 1st of May 2011.

Creative Branding, Marketing & Sales
Looking at the brand from its very beginning, PIAF awards the ability to capture a current trend or social reality, as well as finding a niche in the market, launching a brand (1) and giving unique features to the brand through creative branding or design (2). These categories apply also for corporate or packaging design and will look closely at the sales results, too. Brilliant examples of famous works fitting into this category group are Repositioning of Škoda Auto in Great Britain, or the most awarded Toyota IQ Font. We also look at the creative achievement of in-store marketing and promotion in the final step of purchasing the product or service (3).

Art of Delivery
The jury will look at the way, or technique, in which the content is delivered to the target group. This includes creative media planning, creating content or new media (4), as well as expanding the possibility of classic media such as TV or print (5). PR campaigns might score in the category awarding creative media engagement (6). We recognize the campaigns Heineken: Auditorium, The Zimbabwean Newspaper or T-Mobile:Dance as examples of campaigns suitable for these categories. The category group also covers the creative use of technology (7) such as Volkswagen: The Fun Theory. In the category for brilliant executions, all great examples of craft and production might score (8).

Idea – briliant, strong, working
Strong, brilliant and working content will be awarded. The jury will also look at how the content is able to address the target group, to make a flash impact (9), tell a story (10) or involve the audience (11) or even initiate a playful interaction with the content (12). In this group of categories, campaigns such as Canal+:Wardrobe, Evian: Girl–Jeans, Tide Dirt Magnets or Canon Photochains form a serious benchmark.

In addition, PIAF will award entries in two special categories. The Category „State as an advertiser“ looks at the communication done by the State and its institutions including municipalities, regions, EU campaigns or police recruitment. The typically Czech category „Best Beer Ad“, introduced last year, brings once again originality and fun to the festival.

For more information contact  
Jan Patera
Spokesman PIAF
Email: jan.patera@piaf.cz
Tel:  +420 731 421 751

Note for editors:

• The Prague International Advertising Festival is a top event in the field of marketing and commercial communication in Central Europe. It was first held in May of 2010. An international jury reviewed over 400 entries from 29 countries. The 2010 PIAF jury was chaired by Tim Delaney – founder of the international agency Leagas Delaney.

• More than 30 international experts spoke at PIAF last year. PIAF is organized in cooperation with the Czech Association of Communications Agencies and the Czech Association of Branded Products.

Jury of the PIAF Festival is complete and prepared to find the best brands

28/02/2011Prague, 14th February 2011 - the Prague International Advertising Festival (PIAF) presents its complete Jury, made up of 20 top professionals including Daryl Fielding, who led the famous Dove Real Beauty Campaign. After its pioneering first year, the Festival brings a key new element to the competition. Categories are not formed according to traditional media use, from film to outdoor or digital, but all follow the process of brand building.  PIAF will announce the categories and call for entries till the end of February, and will accept entries till the end of March.

Respected personalities in the PIAF jury will search for creativity in the whole marketing process, from positioning, product launch to creative means of sales promotions. Therefore, the Jury is made up of people who have gained an international reputation in recent years, including those who are shaping the new ways the advertising industry is taking in the 21st century. Daryl Fielding (Kraft Foods) and Ian Armstrong (Honda) represent innovative marketers. Another client in the Jury is Sandrine Huijgen responsibility for Heineken communication in developed markets.  Besides Jury president Michael Conrad, till 2003 the global creative head of Leo Burnett, the current Chief Creative Officer of the agency for USA, Susan Credle, will be joining the Jury in Prague. Other top Chief Creative Officers follow, such as the winners of last year's PIAF, Pete Favat (Arnold Worldwide, USA), Gideon Amichay (SAA/Y&R, Izrael) and from Germany, Ralf Heuel (Grabarz & Partner). Another German in our Jury, Guido Heffels, will be representing Heimat, the most effective agency in Europe according to Euro Effie 2010. The winner of two Grand Prix awards at last year's Eurobest, Pablo Peréz Solero (Bungalow 25), strenghtens the overall media competence of our Jury. „Our competition and the whole festival addresses all types of agencies, from PR, full service to specialists in digital or design,“ said Marek Hlavica, managing director of PIAF. „All Jury members have confirmed they are coming, but in any case, some slight changes are not excluded due to unexpected assignments,“ mentioned Hlavica. You can follow the showcase of work of our Jury members and more information on Facebook and www.piaf.cz.
For more information, please contact:
Jan Patera, Spokesman PIAF
Email: jan.patera@piaf.cz                               
Tel: + 420 731 421 751   

Note for editors:

• The Prague International Advertising Festival is a top event in the field of marketing and commercial communication in Central Europe. It was first held in May of 2010. An international jury reviewed over 400 entries from 29 countries. The 2010 PIAF jury was chaired by Tim Delaney – founder of the international agency Leagas Delaney.

• More than 30 international experts spoke at PIAF last year. PIAF is organized in cooperation with the Czech Association of Communications Agencies and the Czech Association of Branded Products.

PIAF jury to be chaired by Michael Conrad

download full size image

PIAF advertising festival to make revolutionary changes to the competition

28/11/2010

Prague International Advertising Festival, first held on Žofín Island in May of this year, has announced the date and venue of its second year. For two days, the most prominent event of its kind in the Czech Republic will be held in the underground section of the National Gallery in Prague. The former movie theater in the subterranean part of the Veletržní Palace is the exact opposite of the luxurious Žofín. This time, the festival will be a two-day event held on May 11 and 12; the conference will conclude with a stylish party on the roof of this significant functionalist monument.

"I think that holding an advertising festival in a concealed, concrete underground part of a building which is home to works of so-called high art is symbolic, just like a boisterous party next to the works of Picasso, Braque, Miró and other greats is," says festival director Marek Hlavica.

Next year's PIAF will bring a revolutionary innovation to its competition categories. Three groups of competition categories will assess not only the ideas of creative minds, but also the ingenuity with which the advertised message gets to the target group and the reaction it elicits. The categories also include creative marketing with an outreach to the phase of sales support. Apart from advertising agencies, PIAF will also more intensively address clients and the media. Furthermore, one advertising project or campaign may score in several categories at once.

"Many experts have confirmed our opinion that the present division of competition categories based on media types is outdated. Today's advertising combines various approaches and requires even the client to be creative. Coming up with a new viewpoint is risky and no established festival has yet dared make such a move. Who else but a brand new enterprise has the chance to push a new, more current point of view?" adds Hlavica. The fine-tuning of the individual categories is yet to be done. Everything needs to be finalized by the end of February 2011, when PIAF starts accepting competition entries.

PIAF is to keep the typical Czech category of beer ads. Moreover, it will add a special competition for advertising ordered by the state and its institutions.

Advertising projects will be assessed by an international jury in two rounds. Gold, silver and bronze trophies will be handed out to the best on the shortlist of finalists. Entries awarded in several categories will have the greatest chance of winning the Grand Prix award.

Note for editors:

• The Prague International Advertising Festival is an international advertising festival which was first held in Prague in May 2010.
• The Festival's partners were the Czech Association of Communications Agencies and the Czech Association for Branded Products.
• In 2010, the PIAF Jury assessed a total of 400 entries from 29 countries.
• During the three-day conference, more than 20 experts from abroad gave their presentations.
• The final awards night was broadcast by Czech Television.