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The Best of the Eurobest

By Filipa Pinto, Art Director, Draftfcb Lisbon
My favourite seminar at the Eurobest this year was “It Takes Bravery To Provoke Conversations And Build Social Currency” given by Geoffrey Hantson.
Not only was he a great speaker but he taught us some great tips to spark conversation. Consumers don’t want anymore to have a one-way conversation with brands, but want to engage with them. And provocation and bravery can lead to a successful result that engages a conversation between a brand and its consumers.
Provocation that leads to conversation is the most important thing for brands to follow nowadays. They also want brands to engage and participate actively in the society. Brands have to interact with consumers, giving them the power to answer back, and that's a major step in our industry. It makes brands work harder, and for better causes.
He also said that we have to try to make it 'WOW' at all times. I liked that adjective: 'WOW' is unquestionable.
The top three winning ads I feel embody this are:
1.Mouse Scribbles(Bronze for Design category) by Fitch London. It's a very funny and beautiful way to evaluate the time spent on projects besides time-sheets, and it's a very nice infographic. I also liked the bravery it took to enter a piece like that in the festival, since it is self-promotional.
2.Vivid Memories (Silver for Design category) by Ogilvy Germany. This piece triggers emotions which are the most powerful thing we can work with. It's very touching, since it speaks about the special moments and memories of people with Alzheimer’s. It's not only advertising, it's also art with an important message!  
3.Kill Bill (Bronze for Print category) from Draftfcb Lisbon. I believe this is an engaging way to make people look and have 2 or 3 minutes of entertaining possibilities. It's all in the details.  
Finally, the most important thing I learned at the festival is that new experiences make us stronger and wiser. Even if they don't go exactly the way we expected. We'll always learn something new as long as we push ourselves to new challenges.
I've learned that interacting with people from all over Europe can be a fun and enlightening experience. I’ve met some really great, funny, crazy, smart and even genius people from the network and I think it's important to keep in touch and find a way to maintain that exchange of experiences.
Together we can make it 'WOWer'!