Caxtons challenge Aussie creatives

The Chairman of Judges for the 2010 Caxton Awards threw a no-holds-barred challenge to Australian creatives to stop neglecting print advertising, lift their game in the medium, and enter the Caxton Awards to show their creative mettle.

Justin Drape, co-founder of Three Drunk Monkeys, said press advertising was still one of the most powerful mediums available to Australian creatives, but they had neglected it because of their preoccupation with other channels.

"Of all the media available to us now, press advertising is still one of the most powerful we have to make an intelligent and emotive connection with an audience, and the work that does this is what'll be recognised and rewarded at this year's Caxtons," Drape said.

"The Caxtons will also be a great forum for debate, so I'll start now by saying that I feel -- as an industry -- we've been so busy hanging out with the cool kids in digital and integrated that we've neglected the potential of press advertising," Drape said.

Drape's comments came as the Caxton Committee confirmed his appointment as Chairman of Judges for the 2010 Caxtons, and just a few days after his stint as the Australian member of the Press and Print Jury at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

"In Cannes I joined 17 other jurors to judge the best press from all over the world, and unfortunately no Australian work was deemed worthy of an award. This is a wake-up call to raise our creative standards in this category - we're certainly kicking ass in others -- and a great opportunity to start creating print ads that are clever and imaginative enough to both move readers, and to stand out on the world stage," Drape said.

Creatives can take up Drape's challenge immediately. The Caxton Committee today also issued its Call for Entries into the 2010 Caxton Awards, which will remain open until August 6.

Caxton Awards judging panel:
Rowan Dean - Euro RSCG
Dejan Rasic - Colman Rasic
Pete Bake - The Glue Society
Andy Dilallo - Leo Burnett
Christian Finucane - 12:20
Vince Lagana - Saatchi & Saatchi
Jim Ingram - GPYR Melbourne

An important addition to the Awards this year is the new "Best Multi-Media Campaign".

To qualify in this category, a campaign must have appeared across at least three media channels, one of which must include an eligible newspaper asset (print, website, newspaper inserted magazine).

Quay West Noosa is the venue for this year's Caxton Seminar and Awards, to be held from October 22 to 24.

www.thecaxtonawards.com.au