Eurobest 2015: In Antwerp’s surreal surrounds, Europe’s creative industry shows its fearlessness

Eurobest, for the uninitiated, is the little brother of Cannes Lions. Part conference, part awards show, it moves from city to city each year. So far so typical. But when the organisers chose quaint Antwerp as host venue 12 months ago, they would never have imagined that Belgium would become quite such a newsworthy destination.

With the country placed at the heart of the investigation into last month’s Paris attacks – eight terror suspects have been arrested in Belgium in recent weeks – the timing could not have been worse for a festival attempting to entice the cream of Europe’s creative talent to congregate for three days. Looking around a sparse auditorium as Heylen gave his opening address on Tuesday, it felt like the organisers’ promise of strengthened security had not done enough to steel the industry into making the trip. In reality, and like the placid setting, the event just needed a little time to warm up.

Though Antwerp’s heavy police patrol and the occasional presence of what appeared to be military vehicles were a daily reminder of Belgium’s heightened state of alert, a certain calmness pervaded the city and the event itself. There were schedule changes as some agencies and speakers withdrew – an understandable choice, particularly for those companies touched directly by the dreadful events in Paris – but those that made the journey would be thankful they did.

As interactive and mobile jury president James Kirkham put it: “Eurobest Antwerp was vibrant and exciting but the odds were against it. Biblical sideways rain for the first few days and a tense, fragile European climate meant this was never going to be easy. But instead of buckling under the possible pressure, if anything it excelled more than ever.

“The awards were an exciting blend, with charming campaigns like Nazis against Nazis rightly being crowned amongst some incredible technological feats such as the Imagination Machine. It isn’t Cannes, but it doesn’t try to be. [Eurobest] has a deeply European flavour, capturing our imaginations and reminding us how incredible the depth and mix of talent is across Europe.”

Because of its nomadic nature, and general overriding theme of ‘creativity’, Eurobest does not have an identity as distinct as say New York and London’s Advertising Week or Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress – but some saw that as a virtue.

“Advertising festivals have always been a great source of inspiration for myself, and maybe a bit of soul-searching too at the same time,” said Jeroen Vernelen, account director at Leo Burnett Brussels. “In that light, this edition was the most free-spirited of them all. Almost as if Eurobest was also searching for their real reason of existence. Was it surreal Belgium, the daunting fear of terror, or just the manifestation of an industry feeling a bit lost? Introspection has never been more welcome to the stage as this year.”

Themed around 'makers and breakers', a diverse speaker programme included Instagram, the print innovator Dr Kate Stone and even two adult artists. “Every talk and presentation instilled the notion that there’s nothing more important than actually doing something,” said VML London’s associate creative director Frederico Roberto.

“And for that, sometimes you need to break the mould, not worry that much with coming with completely new and fresh ideas. Meaning that, instead of actually breaking a rule, it can be quite interesting to combine two rules to have a new one. It’s not about breaking Twitter, but how can you put a twist on it, introducing a physical element to it for instance. But again, it’s all about doing, and then constantly correct, enhance, improve. On the fly if needed.”

As Roberto rightly said, the event tapped into the major agenda that we have been – pardon the pun – banging the drum about in recent months: marketing making a positive difference in the world, and getting things done instead of just talking about getting things done. “The common theme that I took from nearly every talk was of an overwhelming desire from our industry to do good, add value and make things that matter,” said Richard Ascott, managing director at Just So.

“Agencies are beginning to move beyond the role of ideas factories to start making and selling our own projects, products and services. We are an industry in flux and the visionaries, many of whom spoke in Antwerp, have recognised the opportunity to pivot and be masters of their own destiny as well as helping brands with theirs.”

And with its cosmopolitan crowd, Eurobest reminded us that those making the biggest difference aren’t always in the most obvious places. “Eurobest this year showed how eastern Europe is beating western Europe on creativity,” said Rogier Vijverberg, founder and creative director of Superheroes in Amsterdam. “It seems that the drive to make a difference wins it from origin.”

Many at Eurobest saw it as an opportune testing ground for Cannes Lions – be that auditioning for the speaker slots or acid testing work that may appeal to international juries (you can see the 2015 winners in full here). But there’s a fearlessness about this event that Cannes can’t match, as Kerrie Finch, who runs PR firm Finch Factor and was responsible for one of the week’s most eye-opening sessions, explained.

“For me, Eurobest has a greater spirit for risk-taking than its bigger sister festival. I can't think of many creative conferences which would allow me to go on stage with a feminist porn director and a sex worker performance artist to discuss maverick porn making. And also show some pretty confrontational clips. Once you've seen the egg scene, you can't un-see it.” Take it from us, she’s right about that.

A personal view is that Eurobest would benefit from settling somewhere – Amsterdam, in this observer's opinion, would be its natural home. But travelling as it does, it will never be the same event twice. So onwards to Rome in 2016. And until it lays its roots, Eurobest will remain on the lookout for what has never been.

Paul Taylor, executive creative director, Brand Opus: "This was my first experience at Eurobest and I found it to be a positive hive of vibrant, energetic and inspiring ideas with a great emphasis on sharing and collaboration. I particularly enjoyed Ben Priest’s refreshing candour regarding the journey his agency has been on through the last six years of John Lewis Christmas ads. I also thoroughly enjoyed the slightly unusual experience of presenting at the 'silent' discovery stage."

Mark Eaves, founder of Gravity Road and branded content and entertainment jury president: “Antwerp was a fitting host city for Eurobest – they share much in common. Both are hidden gems that we Brits have too often overlooked. But this was the year the UK arrived, led by a triumphant Monty. Whilst some work was still doing the post-Cannes rounds, there was some really fresh stuff that will be keeping Cannes juries busy next year. As for my category, its winner proved a basic, age old maxim: nothing, I repeat nothing, beats a hoverboard.”

Miles Kempton and Mike Hill of sound studio GCRS: “The concept of the Discovery Stage with each listener having headphones worked incredibly well, especially for a talk on sound. It enabled the listeners to really focus in on the talk and clearly hear the audio from the different videos played, with no distractions of what was going on around them. It definitely helped get a few people jumping out of their seats during the part where we spoke about sound in horror!"