The Intercontinental Advertising Cup will start its third judging circle

Prominent leaders of advertising industry will choose the winners of 38 Cups and one Grand Cup. The jury members have to judge 906 entries of intercontinental finalists organized in 3 groups: Best of Products & Services, Best of Media, and Best of Ad-making.

The mission of The CUP is affirmation of locally inspired creativity. The CUP is a global festival embracing local culture. The purpose of The CUP is not competition with other advertising award shows, but a very new international concept that makes it possible for local creativity to be judged on a global scale by its local merit.It is a natural extension of local festivals with regional judges, who recognize the quality of local creativity and bring a fresh perspective to global judging.

The jury President is Milka Pogliani, Chairman of European Creative Council EMEA, Chairman and Executive Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, Italy.

And the members of her jury are:
Michael Conrad, President of Berlin School of Creative Leadership, Switzerland
Akira Kagami, Executive Officer and Global Creative Director at Dentsu Inc., Japan
Jimmy Lam, President of Asia Pacific ADFEST
Celso Loducca, President of Loducca Publicidade, Brazil
Franco Moretti, ADC*E President, Group Chief Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Italy
Jesus Muňoz, Founding Partner at Casadevall y Muňoz and Partner at Casadevall y Quintero, Spain
Johannes Newrkla, ADC*E Board, Founder and CEO, Bluetango, Austria
Serge Fenenko, Managing Director, Novocortex, The Netherlands
Dario Vince, Chief Creative Officer, Digitel&, Croatia.

The CUP trophy is made of stainless steel with engraved names of jury members and also with the name of the winning agency and other nominees.

The finale of the Intercontinental Advertising CUP 2009 with Award Presentation will be held together with No Limit Sarajevo Award Ceremony on March 18, 2010 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Many local ideas have a freshness and uniqueness that can shake the world. Yet these ideas don’t always get the recognition they deserve at global festivals. So in the homogenized world local values are losing ground. And by diminishing their importance for local people, nations lose their identities and as they lose identities, significant part of humanity is lost.”
Michael Conrad, President of Berlin School of Creative Leadership

“The Cup is a terrific idea. The Cup recognizes the creativity and uniqueness of the cultures in three of the most vibrant advertising regions. Great ideas, by definition, should “travel well” across countries. But too often, these ideas are dismissed due to a perceived lack of relevance to a global jury. This Cup allows those great ideas to enjoy the recognition they fully deserve.”
Tham Khai Meng, Co-Chairman, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Asia Pacific - Singapore

“I see the Cup as a refreshing idea in the world of festivals. Praise ideas that work locally or regionally instead of looking only to the ones that work globally.”
Marcello Serpa, Creative Director and Co-CEO, Almap BBDO Sao Paolo, Brasil

About Sarajevo:

The roots of the Ottoman empire were deep inside Asia, but in the late 17th century the Turks pressed all the way to the ramparts of Vienna. They were pushed back by the Slavic armies led by King of Poland Jan Sobieski, but managed to hold on to the Balkans, namely Sarajevo, which was claimed back by the Austrian throneas late as 1878. No wonder the city has been called European Jerusalem, as it is a meeting point of various continents and its histories. Muslim and Slavic mores, Islam, Judaism, Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths have built their shrines, temples, sarays, and necropolae, and carved the city's easy-going spirit of tolerance in times of war and peace, and in egalitarian and competitive economies.

"Merhametluk" is how the "Sarajlija" (Sahrahyleeya), the citizens of Sarajevo, call their special character that never fails to charm the visitors: it is their mellowness, calmness, kindness to strangers and unbeatable wit that is simply irresistible. Everybody who came to the winter Olympics in 1984 still remembers the organizers' mantra "Problema nema!" ("No problem!") Some were terrified, some were charmed, but everything worked out fine in the end. Problema nema. The Sarajevo games are still considered to have been the nicest in recent memory.

Perceived dreaminess of the Sarajevo Bosnians who may be Muslim or Catholic, Orthodox or Jewish, but not necessarily Serb, Croat or Turks at the same time, has bred a very special creative force that gave birth to timeless Yugoslav pop-rock of Indeksi, Bijelo dugme and Plavi Orkestar, and to Oscar and Venetian Golden Palm award-winning films by Emir Kusturica and Danis Tanović.

However, it is still impossible to overlook graves in city parks and football pitches, traces of shelling on walls and ruins scattered across the city. They bear witness to bigotry that couldn't stand the Merhametluk.

* The old part of the city – Baščaršija – is the heartbeat of Sarajevo; every visit to Baščaršija gives you the feeling that you stepped into one of the fairy tales from “1001 Nights.”

Sarajevo offers you serenity, warmth and hospitality. Amidst the rhythms of hectic urban life, people do not fail to miss a morning or afternoon coffee with their friends; it is a ritual they cannot begin or end a day without.

Traditional style of the old trade and craft shops, sweet smell of Turkish delight, fresh-roasted coffee or charcoal grilled ćevapičići, will follow you during your walk through the old part of the city.

The Intercontinental Advertising Cup jury is looking for genius loci, the spirit of the place. It would be difficult to find better proof how a friendly ghost safeguards from Roman mythology express integrity of the local's character as Sarajevo is.

In December 2009, Lonely Planet listed Sarajevo as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2010.

* SOURCE: Tourism Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Brochure: Bosnia and Herzegovina “For All Time“)