>From Over Here, To Over There

Editor’s Note: On assignment last month to Brussels to meet PRO Awards media partners and supervise the European Region judging of the 1999 World PRO Awards of Excellence, then to London to cover the APMA Worldwide’s spring meeting and conference, former PROMO editor and publisher Kerry E. Smith filed the following report.

BRUSSELS: Paris without the attitude. A cultural crossroads where bureaucracy (the EC, NATO) is what’s happening and consumers are remarkably world- and brand-aware; a place where Flemish efficiency meets Gallic savoir-faire. Where taxi drivers speak Dutch, French, and whatever you do, the better to explain that Rue de Royale and Koenigstrasse remain one and the same street.

Here Belgium-based agency Karamba runs away with Best of Europe, Best Concept, Best Art Direction and best in Category, from a record (European) field of 144 entries, for an account-specific promo on behalf of client Interbrew for (would you believe it?) Rolling Rock beer. This in the country of an excellent brew or two of its own, like Stella Artois and Jupiler.

Here too, Karamba’s Marc Frederix and Magnesium’s Pierre Portevin draw top honors in Belgian association wards, the latter for a Dutch brand of coffee. Five golds go to Spanish and five to British (Scots and English, that is) shops, one to Magnesium and one to Israel’s Promarket – which makes all of them finalists for World PRO awards in Chicago.

SPECIAL NOTE: France, staunch ally in one U.S. revolution and two wars, with a burgeoning national economy, thriving marketing disciplines, a nationwide professional association, and no less than four (4) strong and longstanding APMA Worldwide members (and therefore NO EXCUSE), was conspicuous by its total absence from this year’s roster of European entries. Al ors, mes amis – more about this later.

LONDON: Classy, sassy, pricey, and as on the go as ever. City parks and more city parks, bathed this time in an uncharacteristic glow (was it really sunshine?) with flowers absolutely everywhere. Castles in the countryside, palaces in the suburbs, meetings in Mayfair, munchies at Harrod’s where exotic foods themselves hold court.

Here a dicey place these days, with racist nail bombs in Brixton and an authentic New York “edge” exquisitely displayed above the din by the waitstaff of a glassy-brassy, upmarket Soho restaurant called Mezzo. And lo, in the pubs, the Brits have dropped their darts and discovered food – and brought in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian chefs to prepare it!

Here too, for PRO awards judging and coverage of the APMA Worldwide Spring Meeting (report coming in your July issue), we sipped champagne of an evening atop the Tower Bridge (the one that’s not in Arizona); danced away another under the watchful visages of a king and seven former PMs in the hall of Lincoln’s Inn; then joined an all-APMA dinner party followed by cigars, port, and billiards at the Surrey estate of (Marketing Perspectives, Ltd.) John and Susan Williams. Ah, sweet decadence.

IRELAND as craggy, boggy, foggy and dotty as ever, but the home sod is oh so green and comfortable. Doing brilliantly these days, the Irish are, with their economy humming and in-migration on the rise. Still an enchanted place of wandering spirits and ruined castles, it’s good to see that blarney continues as a national pastime – one that warms the soul by keeping the prides of presumption and pretension at bay.

Here some much-needed personal time was taken, to shirt the Kerry coast and locate and reclaim the family estate: a square foot or two at the bar of a dirt-floor pub on the Ballinskellig ring road. Except for the occasional Guinness or Paddy’s football (soccer) campaign, there’s not much promotion activity hereabouts, or surely we would have heard something about them by now, or wouldn’t we not.

NEW BUSINESS: Contrary to what you may have heard to the contrary, promo and APMA Worldwide have decided to continue their joint sponsorship – that is, to join forces and work together rather than go their separate ways – to continue producing the world’s only truly worldwide professional recognition program for promotion marketers in the year 2000 and beyond.

Details will be forthcoming in the July issue of promo, but this much we can say for sure: (1) The jointly operated program will tie in with existing in-country competitions where they exist; (2) promo media partners will play a more active role, and (3) the entry, judging, and participation processes will be far simpler than they are now.

Meanwhile, with entries totaling 450+, (last year’s number was 353), the 1999 World PRO Awards of Excellence have one again reached an all-time high. Regional judgings yet to go: Sydney (Asia-Pacific) and Buenos Aires (Latin America) late June, North America mid-July. More about it all next month!