Copywriter Andrei Chahine and art director Ryan Stotts of Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, have won Optimus’ second annual One Shot contest. The up-and-coming agency team garners two major prizes. For starters, their winning concept designed to promote disaster relief nonprofit foundation ShelterBox will be produced from beginning to end by Optimus, Chicago, and its in-house production arm ONE. Furthermore, Optimus will then buy local airtime for the finished commercial, giving meaningful marketplace exposure to the work.
Though only in year two, One Shot already has a tradition to live up to based on the inaugural competition’s winning spot–an Optimus promo entitled “Done”–which went on to not only gain inclusion in SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery but also a slot for its helmer, ONE’s Alex Anderson, in SHOOT’s 2009 New Directors Showcase.
Production/post house Optimus and its marketing agency Scott & Victor, Chicago, devised and developed “One Shot” which recognizes promising Chicago advertising creative talent with five years or less experience. A One Shot call went out again this year to up-and-coming, Chicago-based creatives to elicit their concepts based on a creative brief.
This time around the client is ShelterBox, an organization which since its inception in 2001 has provided aid to more than 800,000 people worldwide in response to earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, wars, volcano eruptions and other critical emergency situations. That aid comes in the form of a sturdy, green plastic box containing a 10-person tent and ancillary equipment enabling a family to survive for at least six months.
Chahine and Stotts submitted a concept based on various other uses for the box after its initial deployment is wrapped and its purpose fulfilled.
“The concept for our script was based on the idea that most charity organizations wish that they didn’t have to exist,” related Chahine. “We thought that, for the people at ShelterBox, what’s really rewarding is when they are no longer needed. Also, we knew we wanted to use the actual ShelterBox in the script, as it is an icon for this organization.”
Stotts explained, “Once we started discussing the concept of ‘getting back to normal,’ we knew we were onto something. The ShelterBox becomes just another box in our script, as places affected by disasters have returned to normalcy.”
Chahine and Stotts’ entry was selected by judges from Optimus, Scott & Victor, and ShelterBox. The Cramer-Krasselt duo’s win is all the more impressive in light of One Shot receiving twice as many submissions in ’09 as compared to the prior year.
Tom Duff, president of Optimus, noted that the increase in entries was due to several factors, including momentum carrying over from year one, and a push to encourage ad agencies to seek out not just their own artisans, including junior staffers, but also freelancers they collaborate with. Duff noted that a conscious decision was made to reach out to freelance creatives in the Windy City.
“The quality of the submitted concepts was excellent,” said Duff, “and they came from a wide range of talent.” Ultimately, though, continued Duff, Chahine and Stotts’ well-crafted message won out. “The copy was excellent, describing the reach and volume of ShelterBox in so few words,” assessed Duff. “And the visuals to accompany it were ingenious, showcasing the resilience of people who are victims of disasters.”
ONE’s Mehdi Zollo is slated to direct the ShelterBox spot. Shooting should get underway sometime in October, with editorial and post the following month, and hopefully an on-air debut by the end of ’09.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More