Advertising up close
In order to be able to participate in the ADC of Europe as guest jurors, Sandy Pfuhl and Edoardo Moruzzi, junior art directors at Publicis, had a number of brands painted on their skin. The campaign was financed through crowdfunding - and of course Werbewoche was right there.
Sandy Pfuhl and Edoardo Moruzzi, both Junior Art Directors at Publicis, are creative, a super team - and used to fame: Last year, Pfuhl and Moruzzi won gold together at the ADC Young Creatives Award in the Cyber and Film categories and were allowed to attend the Young Lions Competition in Cannes as a reward. Sandy Pfuhl was appointed to the "Werbewoche Advertiser of the Year" jury this year, and the ADC of Europe also invited Pfuhl and Moruzzi to be guest jurors - every year, two young creatives from Switzerland get this chance.
But then it's not that simple. The ADC of Europe imposed a condition: Anyone who wants to compete as a guest juror must first master the Greatness Challenge; Pfuhl and Moruzzi had to crowdfund their trip to the awards show in Barcelona. And of course, that only works with a convincing idea.
This was quickly born: under the claim Brand us to Barcelona (Brandus.ch), Pfuhl and Moruzzi offered their skin for sale. Their bodies could be booked as advertising space and inscribed as desired. All 33 booked designs were tattooed on the two creatives' skin within nine hours in early October - using Jagua tattoo gel, which is made from the Genipa fruit and lasts about two weeks. "After application, the paste had to dry for 2½ hours, which was the hardest challenge, sitting still and not touching anything," Pfuhl says with a laugh. For 14 days, the two walked around Switzerland as walking billboards, taking their donors on their skin all the way to Barcelona for the ADC of Europe.
Private individuals, small and large companies branded Pfuhl and Moruzzi with logos and advertisements: Werbewoche placed its W on Moruzzi's left hand, Serviceplan placed a "cut out" job ad, Zurich jeweler Tenebris promoted its rings, and Publicis marked its territory with Made by Publicis. "The effort was worth it. The tattoos were extremely noticeable," Pfuhl and Moruzzi report. "People on the streetcar stared at us quite strangely; not everyone has logos on their hands," they amuse themselves. "Especially when there were two of us, people wondered what was wrong with us. Everyone thought they were real tattoos, since this technique isn't that common yet." Unfortunately, Pfuhl and Moruzzi didn't win the Greatness Challenge, but they were able to make plenty of new acquaintances in Barcelona - and the pictures of their tattoos were shared x-fold on Facebook and Instagram. Branding at its best.
Anne-Friederike Heinrich
The part-time tattooed: Sandy Pfuhl and Edoardo Moruzzi ...
... work as junior art directors at Publicis. Pfuhl grew up in Saarland and ended up in Zurich after stopovers in Düsseldorf and Hamburg. Moruzzi grew up in South Tyrol. He first moved to Stockholm before his passion for climbing brought him to the land of the Alps.
sandypaw.com; Edoardomoruzzi.com
You can also find this article in the current Werbewoche 18/2016.
