About the motives of agencies’ participation at ad festivals and benefits that ad men get from it, we talked to Oliver Drost, Chief Creative Officer at deepblue networks, Germany: “Always, creative awards and festivals have demonstrated the innovative power of people in the communications industry. Especially award-winning projects show opportunities of how to connect customers and brands in a fascinating and innovative way. In the digital sector, creative festivals set the stage for our agencies to present best practices and prototypes with tremendous innovative power. These projects have the potential to evolve the industry as a whole and show how brands will communicate with their stakeholders in the future.

In addition, awards offer the opportunity to have these innovative key ideas honored by a qualified jury. That is important for us because agencies can only stand out from the fiercely competitive market by their excellent creativity. The stage of a festival motivates all involved parties to get the best out from themselves, develop new ideas and create real added value. Furthermore, the well-known Gunn Report proves that there is a measurable correlation between award-winning campaigns and business success. Does mean that we, agencies through festivals, are given arguments to persuade potential clients to invest in creative campaigns and services.

White Square Festival is particularly interesting for me because it is one of the largest and best creative festivals in Eastern Europe. It offers space for many creative ideas provided by experts out of their individual regions. Like fresh wind, these ideas inspire our agency employees to new creative excellence. It is an honor to be part of this year's high-level jury!”