Young talent competition best YET 2011: Creative in the land of ties

In Zadar, Croatia, 43 young creatives from all over Europe are now working on a newspaper campaign to promote ties - because the long tie was once invented in Croatia, this year's best YET host country. The young creative talents not only need good ideas to solve this task, but also nimble fingers. Because the designs have to be on the table within 24 hours. Tomorrow, Friday, May 13 (! = lucky day!), from 4.30 pm, the 22 teams will have to present their work in English to the high-caliber international jury and media representatives from the eleven participating countries.

The young creatives are allowed to use computers or smartphones to research and plan the campaign. Only paper, scissors, glue and a few pens are allowed for the design of the subject(s) - a real challenge for the digital natives.

The task
The task that the young creatives have to solve this year can literally choke the throat: they have to design a print campaign that positions the Croata tie brand as a premium brand for the more or less popular men's ties and makes ties an indispensable styling element for every man again - regardless of whether it's the seasoned businessman or the green-eared newcomer in business. A tie is simply a must.

In Croatia and the surrounding countries, the Croata brand is synonymous with "tie". The Croata is part of the daily wardrobe of businessmen, diplomats, statesmen and celebrities. The brand is also known worldwide for its unique design, finest silk and high quality workmanship, but the company wants to further strengthen its position as a premium brand in the international market and make the tie an indispensable part of men's business wardrobes worldwide once again. All of this is to be conveyed by the print campaign that now needs to be designed.

The history of the tie's development is closely linked to the company's brand message - after all, the long tie was invented, believe it or not, in Croatia. The name "tie" is derived from the French "à la croate", which means "in the Croatian style".

Get to work
While the jury and the delegates from the countries are now taking a coffee break, the heads and pencils of the 43 up-and-coming creatives are already burning over the tie designs.

Of course, winning the best YET is also worthwhile: the subject of the best YET winning team will be published throughout Europe. In addition, the winners can travel for four days to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, which takes place in the French metropolis from June 19 to 25 this year.

The participants
Two more countries and seven more creatives are taking part in best YET 2011 than in best YET 2010. The two participating teams for each country in the competition were previously selected in country-specific creative competitions. The two Swiss teams qualified for participation in the best YET 2011 by winning first and second place in the Swiss Media Association's "Only an advertisement can do that" competition.

And these are the people who only have ties on their minds at the moment:

for Belgium
Team 1: Dries Debruyn & Dennis Vandewalle
Team 2: Jolien Tuyteleers & Kate Bellefroid

for Germany
Team 1: Sabine Stromsky & Emilie K. Olsson, Miami Ad School Berlin
Team 2: Dennis Galle, University of Applied Sciences, Aachen

for England
Team 1: Ed Redgrave & David Wigglesworth
Team 2: Poulami Chakraborty & Julia Earthrowl

for France
Team 1: Anthony Clouet, LEG & Daniel Jacob, LEG
Team 2: Marion Andre, BETC Euro RSCG & Sandra Mac Millan, Publicis Conseil

for Ireland
Team 1: Jody Monaghan & Joanne McLaughlin
Team 2: David Bowen & Ross Hardiman

for Croatia
Team 1: Martina Brkić & Ana Zidar
Team 2: Filip Korić & Ivan Žanetić

for the Netherlands
Team 1: Oscar Flinterman, Ogilvy & Joost van Nistelrooij, Ogilvy
Team 2: Celis Jansen & Joey Boeters

for Norway
Team 1: Henrik Berg, Slang Suburbia Advertising Agency & Inge Kvivik, Oktan Apropos
Team 2: Runde Woldsnes, Tropenatt & Eva Wiken, Westerdals School of Communication

for Austria
Team 1: Anna Beimel & Roman Beck
Team 2: Philipp Röhrich & Marius Grocholewski

for Sweden
Team 1: Hanna Samara & Tommi Lindholm
Team 2: Elisabeth Fischer & Anders Nyberg

for Switzerland
Team 1: Manuela Aggeler, miux & Isabelle Meyer, Umantis
Team 2: Patrick Ryffel, Contexta AG & Manuel Rohrer, Contexta AG

One jury member from each country also traveled to Zadar. All jury members are professionals from the media, advertising and PR sectors. Andreas Prokesch is on the jury for Switzerland. He has been part of the competition for many years.

All judges are allowed to advise all teams during their work and give them tips on how to implement the campaign and how to present their ideas tomorrow. However, influencing the creative idea is strictly prohibited.

The jury
Belgium Frank Marinus, Creative Director TBWA Brussels
Germany Daniel Bödeker, DDB Tribal Berlin
England Stef Jones, owner of Big Al's Creative Emporium
France Jean Francois Sacco, CLM / BBDO
Ireland Martin Wright, Gospel TM
Croatia Darko Bosnar, Večernji list, Chairman of the jury
Netherlands Arjen de Jong, Animal farm
Norway Lin Berge-Stromsheim, BATES
Austria Vinzenz Stimpfl-Abele
Sweden Cecilia Kusoffsky
Switzerland Andreas Prokesch, owner of Andreas Prokesch Konzepte & Texte

Tomorrow at around 9 p.m., the winner of the international creative competition best YET 2011 will be announced. The winner will be announced at a dinner for all participants.

At www.twitter.com/Werbewoche and www.werbewoche.ch you will be the first to read the names of the best young creatives from all over Europe.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich

The two Swiss teams at the first meeting after the briefing: Manuel Rohrer, Patrick Ryffel, juror Andreas Prokesch, Manuela Aggeler and Isabelle Meyer (from left to right)

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