At last, a show to celebrate excellence in children’s advertising

The first time I thought about an award show devoted to children’s advertising I was looking at a director’s reel when up came this delightful ‘Got Milk’ commercial. The one where a guy buys a box of Trix, takes it home, unzips his face and body to reveal – the Trix Rabbit. Now everybody knows ‘Trix are for kids,’ especially the ‘silly rabbit.’ The ‘Got Milk’ was an award-winning commercial, but it suddenly occurred to me that long after this commercial is forgotten, the ‘silly rabbit’ would keep on selling Trix. Why not, he’s been doing it since 1959.

Then I thought, the creators of the Trix rabbit never won an award, I wonder if the ‘Got Milk’ team would consider sharing their many trophies with them. (Yeah, sure.)

The second epiphany happened last year.

It was at the New York Addy Awards. I was chief judge. (An honor bestowed on anyone willing to offer up a venue and having the largesse to pay for the judges lunch.)

I digress.

I’m in one of the judging rooms and a commercial for a chocolate bar was being judged. Moments later a spot for a fruit snack appeared. It was a terrific idea, cleverly written and art directed, produced using state of the art computer graphics, and, I know for a fact, it led to some very impressive sales. So what were the judges doing while this commercial appeared? They were not paying attention. In fact, two of them were discussing their careers. Know why? Because they recognized the commercial as one directed at children. How could something like that possibly win an award? I have judged in dozens of awards shows and it occurred to me that maybe I was just as guilty of ignoring this incredible category of advertising. A category that has given us icons that we carry with us for a lifetime. Barbie and Ken, GI Joe, Hot Wheels, Cap’n Crunch and, well, add your own memories. That evening I was determined to set into motion an award show honoring all the people who create the words, pictures and ideas directed at children, the people who create the advertising that endures long after the target audience leaves their childhood and brings their own children into the marketplace. We needed a show that would respect and reward this creativity and longevity.

From an economic standpoint alone, this category deserves a show. Do you know how many dollars are spent in advertising to children? Over $1,000,000,000. Count the zeros, nine of them. (More than one source has told me that that’s a conservative number.) Do you know what the sneaker people, er, athletic shoe people spend? Less than a quarter of that amount. Not exactly a chopped liver category, more like pate de fois gras.

And it’s a category fraught with responsibilities. Important responsibilities, responsibilities that should be there. Guidelines that have been set up by clients, networks, stations, publications, advocacy groups, and, most importantly, by each individual’s moral obligation. An obligation to sell not deceive, to explain not exaggerate, to fill a need not create a want. Okay, enough soap box. Point is, it’s one tough creative environment.

We are going to award and reward outstanding examples of advertising to children, in 46 categories. You may not agree with all of our selections, but, hey, that means we are a legitimate creative award show.

Finally, I would like to thank the people at KidScreen magazine, BrunicoEvents and the founding agencies for having the vision and know-how to make this idea become a reality. It was a long time coming, but now its time has come.

Stan Becker is vice-chairman chief creative officer emeritus of the New York office of Saatchi & Saatchi.

The Golden Marble Awards – Welcome to the first awards show dedicated exclusively to children’s advertising.

For the first time, people involved in creating and producing advertising for children have an opportunity to have their work celebrated in a show designed specially for them. It’s the Golden Marble Awards.

The purpose of this awards show is to celebrate the best in children’s advertising throughout all media.

The idea of establishing a children’s advertising awards show came from the advertising agency community. Seven of the top ad agencies specializing in children’s advertising committed to make this show a reality by supporting it as Founding Patrons. They are: Foote, Cone & Belding; Grey Advertising; Griffin Bacal; J. Walter Thompson; Leo Burnett; Ogilvy & Mather; and Saatchi & Saatchi.

The Golden Marble Awards are sponsored by KidScreen magazine, the leading international trade publication about communicating to children. The competition and awards gala are being organized and produced by BrunicoEvents, a division of Brunico Marketing Inc.

Awards Categories

Awards will be presented in a variety of categories that reflect the way products are marketed to kids.

Eligibility

Any advertising targeted primarily to kids aged six to 13 years.

The judges’ decision will be final in determining that submitted entries were primarily targeted towards this age group.

The advertising must have appeared in accredited media within the United States or Canada between April 15, 1997 and April 15, 1998. Advertising that was created prior to April 15, 1997 is eligible so long as it appeared at least once between April 15, 1997 and April 15, 1998.

ENTRY DEADLINE: 5 p.m. June 19, 1998.

Fee is $250.00 per entry.

Judging

All entries will be judged by a panel of senior marketing and creative professionals from ad agencies and the children’s entertainment industry.

Criteria

Judges will judge the awards on the basis of demonstrated creative excellence. Creative excellence is defined as advertising that communicates to children in a manner that informs, educates and entertains.

All decisions by the judges regarding eligibility and awards are final. Judges also reserve the right not to give awards.

Awards Ceremony

The Golden Marble Awards will be presented at a gala dinner and awards show at the newly refurbished Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers in New York City on September 10, 1998. Finalists will be notified in early August. All finalist and award winning work will be featured in a commemorative issue of KidScreen.

The awards ceremony will celebrate excellence in children’s advertising and pay special tribute to all those involved in children’s advertising, including clients, agencies, the media and creative services suppliers.

The gala dinner will also feature a special ‘Best of Show’ award selected by a panel of kids. These kids will select the award from among all the Golden Marble Award winners.

Tickets to the awards gala are $200.00 each.

Brunico Marketing Inc. reserves the right to change the date and venue of the awards gala and assumes no liability for the changes. Notice will be supplied in the event of such changes.

Summary

Entry Deadline: June 19, 1998. Fee: $250.00 per entry.

Entries and fees must be received on or before June 19, 1998. Send entries, forms and fees to:

BrunicoEvents

366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 500

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9

Please make cheque payable to

Brunico Marketing Inc.

Awards Show Ceremony:

September 10, 1998

Chelsea Piers, Pier 60,

from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Single tickets $200.00

Table of 10 $1900.00

(NY sales tax included)

Contact: Sharon Malone or Mark Smyka BrunicoEvents, Toronto 1 877 MARBLES (phone)

416 408 2300 (phone)

416 408 0870 (fax)

email: smalone@brunico.com

smyka@brunico.com

Web Site: www.brunico.com/goldenmarbles

BrunicoEvents

Kimbirly Orr

Los Angeles

888 543 7624 (phone)

213 852 0223 (fax)

email: korr@brunico.com

Television Entries:

Submit on digital Betacam, Betacam SP or 3/4-inch cassette tape. A separate tape for each submission is preferred. Label each cassette and its container, showing: title of entry, category and contact name. Cue each cassette with 10 seconds of black before start of entry.

Radio Entries:

Submit on audio cassette tape. A separate cassette for each entry is preferred. Label each cassette and its container, showing: title of entry, category and contact name. Cue start of entries with 10 seconds of lead.

Print Entries and Out-of-Home Entries:

Mount advertising on a poster board no bigger than 20′ x 30′ with a border that does not exceed 2′. Banners, posters and outdoor boards should be reduced to fit poster board.

Advertising on the Web:

Submit as an HTML file viewable by Netscape software browser.

(Entries may also include a brief description of the advertising concept, explaining the intent and the scope of the advertising, whether it is restricted to one banner, for instance, or whether it consists of multiple linked pages.)

Fees:

Make cheques payable to: Brunico Marketing Inc.

All amounts are payable in U.S. dollars.

Entry fees are non-refundable, except in the case of cancellation of the awards competition. The Golden Marble Awards judges reserve the right to transfer incorrectly submitted entries to correct categories. Brunico Marketing Inc. will not pay freight or brokerage charges and is not responsible for loss or damage to entries. Entries will not be returned, and will become the property of Brunico Marketing Inc. Illustrations may be used at the Awards ceremony and in KidScreen and other publications.

BOOK EARLY

The Golden Marble Awards dinner will have a limited number of tickets. A significant number have been pre-sold, so book your tickets early.

To order gala tickets, contact: Sharon Malone, Event Co-ordinator, Toronto

1 877 MARBLES

tel: 416 408 2300 Kimbirly Orr Single ticket $200.00

fax: 416 408 0870 Los Angeles: 888 543 7624 Table of 10 $1900.00 email: smalone@brunico.com www.brunico.com/goldenmarbles (NY sales tax included)

Award Categories

Television Commercial Product Categories

1. Best Electronic/Video Game Commercial

2. Best Doll Commercial

3. Best Action Figure Commercial

4. Best Game Commercial (non-electronic/video game)

5. Best Creative Play Commercial

(This category is an award opportunity for all creative craft and play activities such as drawing and construction.)

6. Best Toy Commercial, General

(This category is an award opportunity for those commercials not included in the other categories, including such playthings as water-toys, jump ropes and foam toys.)

7. Best Breakfast Food Commercial

8. Best Restaurant Commercial

9. Best Commercial by a Kid-Targeted Retailer

10. Best Salty Snack Food Commercial

11. Best Sweet Snack Food Commercial

12. Best Beverage Commercial

13. Best Food Commercial, General

(This category is an award opportunity for those food commercials not included in the other categories, including lunches, dinners, microwaveable meals, spreads and desserts.)

14. Best Clothing/Apparel/Accessories Commercial

15. Best Personal Hygiene Commercial

16. Best Sporting Goods Commercial

17. Best Television Program Commercial

18. Best Commercial for a Television Network or Kid Programming Block

19. Best Commercial for a Movie or Home Video

20. Best Entertainment Venue Commercial

(‘Entertainment Venue’ refers to all kid-targeted entertainment destinations such as theme parks, fun centers, museums and zoos.)

Print Advertising

21. Best Toy Advertisement

22. Best Food/Beverage Advertisement

23. Best Clothing/Apparel/Accessories Advertisement

24. Best Sporting Goods Advertisement

25. Best Personal Hygiene Advertisement

26. Best Collectables Advertisement

27. Best Electronic/Video Game Commercial

28. Best Advertisement for a Kid-Targeted Retailer

29. Best Entertainment Advertisement

(‘Entertainment’ refers to all entertainment, including entertainment venues, comic books and other published products, as well as film, video and television entertainment.)

Other Media Categories

30. Best Overall Radio Commercial

31. Best Overall Out-Of-Home Advertising

32. Best Cinema Advertising

33. Best On-Line Advertising

(‘On-Line Advertising’ refers to banners, Web sites or any other form of product or service advertising that appears on the Web.)

Technique/Craft Categories

(Public Service advertising is not eligible for Technique/Craft Awards)

34. Best Performance in a Television Commercial

35. Best Direction

36. Best Cinematography

37. Best Art Direction

38. Best Copywriting/Dialogue

39. Best Computer Animation

40. Best Cel Animation

41. Best Overall Special Effects

42. Best Editing

43. Best Music in a Television Commercial

44. Best Music in a Radio Commercial

Special Awards

45. Best Overall Campaign

(Entrants to this category must submit four elements of an advertising campaign. The elements must be different, but they can come from the same medium, i.e. two or more TV commercials from the same campaign.)

46. Best Public Service Advertising (single or campaign).

(Note: Public service advertising is not eligible for awards in the Technique/Craft categories.)

Kids will choose

The Best of Show

All Golden Marble Award winners (as selected by our panel of professionals) will be reviewed by a cross-section of kids, who will be asked to select their favorite. The advertising that scores highest will be presented at the awards gala as The Best of Show.

The animation and special effects for The Golden Marble Awards gala will be produced by TOPIX/Mad Dog. Film production and editing will be produced by Generator Video.

For an entry form either contact Sharon Malone or Mark Smyka,

or visit the Golden Marble website at: www.brunico.com/goldenmarbles

Please make sure that your entries are properly categorized, as explained within the contest rules above. If you have any concern that the judges may question whether your entry was targeted primarily to the 6-13 year age group please attach an explanation supporting your claim.