I don’t know what it is about the Caxton’s but David Droga flew from New York to speak for the weekend. In on Friday – out on Monday! That’s very generous!
Even better, when he did speak, he literally revolutionised advertising as we know it. He gave us a glimpse of the future and clarified the enigma that contemporary marketing has become.
Five case histories of mind blowing ideas and not one media dollar spent on any of them! The lack of pretention and abundance of humility make David a primary example of what the Caxton’s are really all about.
I don’t know why, but in 20 years of attending this unique event, the thing that everyone loves is the lack of “bullshit”.
John Silvester mesmerised the room with his story of writing and researching ‘Underbelly’ (not the screenplay, the real thing).
Renee Nowytarger, the Lara Croft of photojournalism, showed us beautiful photographs taken under appalling conditions. Shot at! Spat at! Guns jabbed into her stomach!
Tears, laughter…….WOW! Renee made advertising photographers look like pansies (I use this word because it is so apt!).
She jumps out of helicopters and takes the shots whilst being shot at, while we spend 3 days in ‘pre-pros’, 3 days on ‘recording’ and 3 days in ‘post’ to produce complete shit…. with notable exceptions of course.
Amanda Johnston from Telstra and Mark Buckman from Commonwealth Bank brought the balanced perspective of big brands attitude to ideas development.
Shaun Branagan taught us about the transition from traditional to digital and Scott Nowell from Three Drunk Monkeys gave us a sobering perspective on content development.
Thank you to Simon Lloyd for kick starting the talent quest with a bang, John Curnow for a “low” point in the talent quest by doing an imitation of me! I presume he hasn’t worked since!
The newspaper business is onto something here, and after 34 years of this unique sharing and learning experience, it shows no sign of abating.
The intimacy and lack of pretension makes the Caxton’s unique. Principals of leading agencies share ideas with junior creatives and clients. Friendships are formed. Relationships are started. Clients are won and lost. Jobs are exchanged.
Importantly the role of newspapers is better understood.
Great advertising is awarded and a great time is had by all.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the speakers and guests.
Rob Belgiovane
17 Caxtons were awarded at the Sea Temple Resort at Port Douglas during the 2008 Caxton Seminar.
Saatchi & Saatchi was awarded the prestigious Quinlivan Black Award for the Foxtel/National Geographic Channel ‘Sir Edmund Hillary’ newspaper campaign.
The 2008 Caxton Awards for excellence in newspaper advertising saw 74 finalists across 26 categories, with the number of entries up by 10 per cent on last year.
» Download the full finalist showcase here.
David Droga, Founder/Creative Chairman. Droga 5 Introduced by Rob Belgiovane, Caxton Chairman
One of the world's most highly awarded creatives, David Droga was the highly anticipated keynote speaker at the 2008 Caxton Weekend.
Watch his full presentation online, or download the video by clicking here.
Other speeches from the Caxton Weekend were:
- Mark Buckman - Chief Marketing Officer, Commonwealth Bank
- Jason Ross - Executive Creative Director, CHE, Melbourne
- John Silvester - Crime Writer, The Age
- Scott Nowell - Creative Director, Three Drunk Monkeys
- Renee Nowytarger - Photojournalist, The Australian
- Shaun Branagan - Executive Creative Director, Love Communications
- Amanda Johnston - Executive Director Brands & Marketing Communications, Telstra
- James Hurman - Planning Director, Colenso BBDO Auckland
