To celebrate the first birthday of Stimulantonline.ca back in April, we decided to bring our online formula of curating the best ad ideas coming out of Canada (as well as collecting all manner of random creative fodder from the world at large) into a more physical space this year.
We kicked things off with a unique Toronto event that brought ‘Shift Disturbers’ from the U.S. and Europe to the stage – from book designer Chip Kidd to ad guru Erik Kessels – for a chain of conversations between top creatives. The feedback was pretty spectacular, so we’re now stepping out even further afield.
To celebrate some of the big ideas coming out of Canada with the rest of the ad universe, both at home and abroad, we decided to share the stimulant experience with all of strategy’s readers and the Cannes International Advertising Festival crowd. For its debut in the physical magazine space, stimulant staffers compiled a retrospective of Canada’s best campaigns over the year since the last pride of Lions were doled out. In a nod to Cannes, we’re adjudicating the work along Lions lines, from the newest category – PR – on through to Titanium.
The selection process entailed divvying up media/discipline categories among the stimulant curators, soliciting suggestions from Canada’s creative community, then panning for gold in our own archives as well as keeping tabs on award show hauls, and lots of debate. Followed by lots more debate. We couldn’t include all the brilliant work that surfaced, so stealing a page from Noah’s Ark, we opted for pairs. Hopefully our natural selection process, which includes everything from a brainstorming-in-the-dark session for WWF to a social media-only auto launch for Nissan, provides some insight and perspective on where the future of advertising and marketing is headed.
Of course, in true stimulant style, we’ve throw in a few of our favourite Randoms, which loyal readers may recognize – nifty ideas from the worlds beyond advertising – ideal for filling airport downtime or your dock reading pleasure, depending on how you’re kicking off the summer.
Enjoy!
Cheers, mm
Mary Maddever / executive editrix, stimulant
P.S. You’re all invited to check out what inspires the industry’s ‘Shift Disturbers’ in our video gallery, see more of Canada’s best ad work, and find out what Canada’s adverati are into these days on Stimulantonline.ca.
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