Title	BORN TO SELL
Brand	IN THE COMPANY OF HUSKIES
Product/Service	SELF PROMOTION
Category	B04. Self-promotion
Entrant	IN THE COMPANY OF HUSKIES Dublin, IRELAND
Idea Creation	IN THE COMPANY OF HUSKIES Dublin, IRELAND
PR	IN THE COMPANY OF HUSKIES Dublin, IRELAND
Production	NEIL MCDOUGALD PHOTOGRAPHY Dublin, IRELAND

Name	Company	Position
Jonathan Forrest	In the company of huskies	CEO
Jane Fortune	in the company of huskies	Head of PR
damian Hanley	in the company of huskies	Creative Director
Greg McGloughlan	in the company of huskies	Copywriter

Background

The Irish advertising industry was feeling under attack. Leading national and International publications were reporting that the industry was broken and the traditional agency model was obsolete. At the same time, creatives were being recruited away from the industry by consultancies and “progressive” businesses, tempted by the promise of higher salaries. Then in a shocking development, one of the best and most awarded Irish creative agency, reluctantly closed its doors because it couldn’t make a profit anymore. This was an article about encouraging clients to believe in the power of the idea and to trust creative agencies to come up with them. Ad agencies and the people in them are still the best people to fight for the idea and win.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Ad agencies felt devalued and under-appreciated. In an effort to promote the industry as well as the agency, Huskies approached the Irish marketing bible ‘Marketing’ magazine. Thought leadership contributions are designed to build positive coverage but can often go unnoticed, especially by busy clients. It is hard to differentiate yourself by talking about creativity, so we decided to demonstrate it. We needed to be inspiring to restore confidence in the industry and remind everyone about the value of creativity. The idea was to position creativity as one of the most powerful weapons in the world and show that creativity is the one area where a single person can slay an army or change a business’s future. Knowing both visual and copy are key, as is commitment to a consistent them, our ECD, dressed up in army gear for the photo, and wrote a battle ode to a disheartened industry!

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

A picture speaks a thousand words. We wanted to get across the character and passion of those who work in creative agencies in one shot. We know many clients don't have time to read an article so it was critical that the image communicated the message of creativity as a powerful weapon while positioning Huskies as a leading agency and our ECD as a creative spokesperson for the industry. Swopping bullets for sharpies, the theme was carried through to the article which was an ode to the soldiers of adland, that could be dropped deep into any territory, undertake any mission and make their way out armed with just a sheet of paper and pencil. The article also referred to brave clients who are prepared to fight alongside agencies for great work that had to power to change society.

List the results (20% of vote)

The photo was chosen for the front cover and it was immediately noticed, shared, and commented on making it one of Marketing magazine’s most popular cover stories in its history. Clients admired it, Creative Directors of competing ad agencies loved it and publicly supported it, making the story a fitting tribute to a disheartened industry. It profiled Huskies Creative Director as THE industry spokesperson at the same time as positioning Huskies as one of the top Irish creative agency. Nearly ten months later and our ECD still gets asked by clients where his helmet is when he making presentations! The photo contained all the words we needed to say.