A few days ago I went from the sublime to the ridiculous in a half marathon and from the first kilometer, when I thought it would be a wonderful experience and ended up being the opposite. In the end of course, the satisfaction and accomplishment erased much of the unexpected and became just another experience. At the end of the day, it is often not so much the destination as the journey.
However, in the context of the work we have been doing in ASCAP, the Costa Rican association of advertising agencies, I would say that we have gone from a certain union irrelevance to lead a creative movement in the country that has logically reached those that actively participate, as well as the non-associated agencies and those that are less integrated. With a compact and focused directive, which decided to do less to achieve more, ASCAP has been able to slightly turn some knobs that have detonated in a fruitful, satisfactory and promising process. Our marathon has taken on a tone and a manner that moves from space to relevance.
The creative work and talent belongs to the creative teams in the agencies that are breaking through, confirming scopes and generating spaces. The resources committed have been placed by the agencies of the creative agencies and the final product has been a courageous participation in the most important stages of the world. The creative vision has been shared and the path is intensely transformative, soon to reach the daily lives of our clients, most of whom are still unaware of the importance of daring, of being relevant, of reaching people in an intimate and close way, of moving from one-way communication to two-way dialogue.
However, the direction taken by ASCAP has clearly made a difference, and perhaps this is a good time to remember it, as I am only six months away from handing over the presidency that I have had the honor and privilege of holding for the past few years. In the production of the Volcano alone, three years ago, it was decided to invest three times what was done in the previous year, with the intention of increasing the competitiveness and relevance of the contest. Only a year and a half ago ASCAP achieved the representation of Cannes Lions, organizing two competitions that have already led three couples to fight among the best in the world, with a silver medal recently achieved by one of them in Print.
In just a few years, ASCAP decided to open up and in a few days, after a long process of discussion, approval, reforms and legal issues, it will open its doors to public relations agencies, promotions agencies, media centers, digital communication companies and everything that today makes up the advertising activity, beyond the traditional model. And just a few weeks ago, we decided to move forward with the representation of the Effies and since these days we have assumed the responsibility of organizing the first one in the third quarter of 2010.
The Volcano itself is also a reflection of the focus on creativity, as last year we opened participation to agencies from Central America, investing aggressively in an interactive, digital and web-based solution for entries, the remote judging model and online voting. And for 2009 we decided to move the Festival to February, seek key strategic alliances and focus on raising it to the level that corresponds to a country that has reached Cannes and in just two years has claimed 7 Lions, many finalists and a first metal in the Young Lions.
At the end of November this year, in order not to leave without a relevant advertising event and to start a tradition, we will have the Winners Night, where we will celebrate the awards of the year around the world, although with a special emphasis on Cannes. We will present the finalists with Lions in each category, the Grand Prix and the Lions won in Costa Rica. It will be a great opportunity to celebrate, because what gets celebrated gets repeated. In fact, the most successful marathons in the world are the ones that celebrate the most, the ones that bring the most people to cheer in the streets, because that’s how you get the furthest.
At ASCAP we are truly excited about this opportunity to make a contribution, because certainly the talent in the country has been there for many years, and perhaps it was only up to us to spark a movement and make sure we ignite it every year with a system that provokes new winning habits, new cycles of participation and a focus on more creativity for our brands and clients.
The creative movement led by ASCAP is now a movement of all of us, and today it is surely now being led by the hunger, hunger and desire to win in many of us. ASCAP will have a key role in nurturing the process and keeping the movement alive, and yet, I believe that today the growth, consolidation and drive that will take Costa Rica for more Lions in June 2010 is inevitable.
In 2009, agency participation tripled in Cannes and in 2010 we will have the responsibility to increase entries even more, as well as to repeat the level of effectiveness achieved. It will be important to stay focused on the non-traditional categories and bet on the less traveled avenues. We have accumulated experience and in only three years, the country has a significant number of creative publicists who have attended Cannes, personally understand the challenge and can reach many with their experiences. The work has just begun and the new creative year has just begun, aware that it is up to us to keep up the pace and thus reach long distances in our careers.
Today we are already seen in the world with different eyes. We had not transcended and yet, by achieving it with the extraordinary work of JWT and DDB in this first stage, the country is on its way to more successes and more lions, as well as achieving the attention of regional advertisers, clients with budgets in several countries and the greatest success of the local ones. Thus, the turnaround will make sense and the business will confirm it conclusively: it all makes sense.
The direction taken by ASCAP is shaping an extraordinarily inspiring destiny for everyone in the country. It is time to ensure a steady course in this race of endurance, perseverance, hard work and, at the same time, the deepest and most contagious satisfactions.