TED's Ads Worth Spreading Announces Winners

Chrysler, Nokia, Intel, The Savory Institute and Nike Foundation are among the top 10 winners to be showcased at TED2011, on TED.com and YouTube.com

NEW YORK, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, today announces from the TED2011 conference stage the 10 winners of the inaugural Ads Worth Spreading challenge. The winners, selected from more than 1,000 submissions from around the world, represent some of the most creative, compelling and out-of-the-box communications of the past year. They embody a new paradigm for advertising creative, pushing the boundaries on what will move audiences and spur action by embracing longer-form storytelling as advertising.  

The Ads Worth Spreading challenge was designed to solicit the best-in-class ads that raise the bar, elevate the craft and invent new forms of engagement, both online and in general. In an effort to surface this year's most gripping ads, TED asked people to submit videos that would move viewers to laughter, to tears, to take action, to want to watch and, ultimately, to share with friends.

"We're seeking to reverse the trend of ads being aggressively forced on users. We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch -- and share.  On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. As well as avoiding the annoyance of interruption, this positioning means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30-seconds. And that's the key," said TED Curator Chris Anderson. "In 2-3 minutes, there's more time to tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection. These winning ads, many of them long-form, powerfully demonstrate these strengths. We think they represent an exciting new way for companies to engage with the world in the internet age."

TED was supported by YouTube on this challenge to solicit and review submissions, in addition to further showcase the winning ads via YouTube.com. Entrants submitted videos, varying in length from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, within four categories: Social Good, Infectiously Compelling, Industry Impact and Talk (based on the TEDTalks videos).  The winning entries were not ranked or categorized, as TED sought to encourage as much creativity and innovation as possible.

"Ads Worth Spreading was a TED initiative that we felt aligned perfectly with our advertising philosophy -- there should be ads which people seek out, want to watch, and spread more broadly," said Eric Meyerson, YouTube's video business marketing lead. "YouTube and TED both share the same vision of challenging notions of what people want to watch and share online. We're thrilled that TED is thinking of ads as a part of the greater cultural landscape and encouraging creativity within it. TED, and Chris Anderson, are amazing advocates for the power of online video in general."

A unique and diverse judging panel made up of 24 digital video artists, filmmakers, designers, advertising creative chiefs, media agency leaders, journalists, producers, thought leaders and TEDsters reviewed the submissions to cull down the entries to a Top 10 Winners list and 14 Honorable Mentions. The judging system for Ads Worth Spreading was graciously hosted by AICP and Nice Spots. One-third of the entries came from outside of the U.S., across a wide variety of brands and causes.

"Our hope is that TED.com becomes an incubator for new forms of advertising, a beta platform, a world-stage for creatives to push the envelope for meaningful online engagement," said Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED. "We've all come across that one ad that moves us to watch over and over again, to share it with friends. We think every ad should strive for that. We want the industry to tap into and amplify peoples' passions instead of ambushing them -- to create content you can respect -- and that's exactly the type of riveting engagement we found from our winners. It has been truly inspiring, and we look forward to continuing this new dialogue on what advertising can be, and should be, in the future."

The 10 winning Ads Worth Spreading include:

• Chrysler, "Born of Fire" -- Wieden + Kennedy
• The Topsy Foundation: "Selinah" -- Ogilvy Johannesburg
• Target: "Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular" -- Mother NY and Legs Media
• The Nike Foundation: "Girl Effect, The Clock is Ticking" -- Wieden + Kennedy
• Intel: "The Chase" -- Venables Bell & Partners
• Nokia: "The World's Smallest Stop-Motion Character Animation" -- Wieden + Kennedy London
• Dulux: "Dulux Walls" -- Euro RSCG London
• Savory Institute: "Changing Our Future" -- Foresight Multimedia
• Hornbach and HEIMAT Berlin: "Infinite House" -- @radical.media
• Batelco: "Infinity" -- FP7/BAH, Bahrain

The 14 Honorable Mentions include:

• Volkswagen: "The Force" -- Deutsch Inc.
• Google and Arcade Fire: "The Wilderness Downtown" -- @radical.media
• Pepsi: "Pepsi Refresh Project" -- TBWA\Chiat\Day
• Greater Memphis Chamber: "The Soundtrack Project: Movement Four: The Fatted Calf" -- Greater Memphis Chamber  
• Amnesty International: "Tyrannybook" -- Leo Burnett Lisbon
• john st.: "Pink Ponies Case Study" -- john st. toronto
• TomoTherapy: "A Better Way" -- David Nevala Photography, Pauli Design
• Trevor Project: "It Gets Better" -- Google employees
• Honda: "Living with Robots -- Dream the Impossible Documentary Series" -- RPA (Rubin Postaer Associates)
• takepart.org: "sOccket" -- takepart.org/Members Project, American Express
• Sapporo: "Sapporo -- Legendary Biru" -- Dentsu (Canada)
• DB Breweries: "Beer -- The Untold Story" -- Colenso BBDO (New Zealand)
• Microsoft: "Windows Phone 7" -- Crispin Porter + Bogusky
• COMMON/FearLess Revolution: "A COMMON Story" -- m ss ng p eces

To view the complete list of Top 10 winning videos and Honorable Mentions, visit http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws.

Among the many prizes, winners will have their work showcased at TED2011, on TED.com during the week of March 21-27, and via a dedicated page in the online Winners Gallery on TED.com for the year. Winners will also be featured on YouTube's homepage spotlight, a custom channel on YT.com and in the agency-focused YouTube Show & Tell gallery for best examples of creative. TED and YouTube will also honor the winners at a celebration event held at the Art Directors Club in late March in New York City.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

TED2011, "The Rediscovery of Wonder," will be held February 28-March 4, 2011, in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs, California. TEDGlobal 2011, "The Stuff of Life," will be held July 11-15, 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED

SOURCE TED

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