- Kamau High

NEW YORK As the recently named chair of the Titanium and Integrated jury for Cannes 2008, there is one thing Mark Tutssel is not looking forward to: bad submissions.
 
A veteran of the judging circuit, Tutssel, worldwide CCO, Leo Burnett, Chicago, decries the terrible shape of some of the entries for awards contests. "The worst thing about judging these contests is looking at bad work and having to sit through bad entries," he said. "It's a real skill to put together a story because what you're asked to do is tell a story in three to four minutes that comprehensively gives the whole idea."
 
Dan Wieden created the Titanium Awards in 2003 to recognize groundbreaking and innovative advertising. Last year, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, won the Titanium Grand Prix for its trio of Burger King Xbox 360 games and Leo Burnett, Sydney, Australia, received a Titanium Lion for its Earth Hour, which encouraged an entire city to shut off its lights as a way of raising awareness about global warming.

"Last year was a tipping point at Cannes [for the Titanium and Integrated awards]. It will be remembered as the year that innovative thinking stole the limelight. Not that TV won't be looked to, but the game changed last year," Tutssel said. "The Titanium is the work everyone is talking about."

When Tutssel's appointment was announced last week, Terry Savage, festival chairman, said in a statement, "The category is helping redefine our industry and it is appropriate we have a leader of stature and experience to lead the jury who understands the new space and understands the importance of this elusive metal."
 
Asked what he will be looking for in the entries, Tutssel said, "Titanium for me is something that can not be labeled in a conventional way." As for specific work that has caught his eye over the past year, he cited Cadbury's Gorilla, from Fallon U.K., where a gorilla plays the drum to the tune of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

"You talk about an idea that connects with people in a new way. The fact that it's been seen on YouTube 12 million times, which is three times what Dove 'Evolution,' did. It amplified across contact points by starting on TV and living in people's lives. That's Titanium thinking."

The 55th International Advertising Festival will be held June 15-21, 2008 in Cannes, France.