ANDYs Blog: Malcolm Poynton, Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro

Part 2 of our ANDY Awards blog series featuring the jury’s real time thoughts and insights from final judging in Shanghai. 

February 20, 2014 

By Malcolm Poynton, Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro

In recent press coverage of Meta’s $19Bn purchase of WhatsApp, founder Jan Koum said WhatsApp’s success was due to respecting that “No one wakes up excited to see more advertising, no one goes to sleep thinking about the ads they’ll see tomorrow.” Apparently a hand-written note on the his desk reads: “No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!”

Bring it on! That’s exactly why we’re here in Shanghai to judge the 50th ANDYs. To find and celebrate the ads, events, digital experiences and mobile apps that bring a little surprise, that make life a little easier, that move us from our everyday slumber in some way or other, and stay with us that little bit longer.

While staring at a 30-foot screen for hours on end today, we found some great work that sticks two fingers up at the consumer reality Koum called out earlier. And despite the familiar sunlight and oxygen starved basement room that is the domain of judging, none of us actually fell asleep! And before we do, we’re off to dinner where there will likely be chatter about this year’s wearable technology sensation, aging action flick guys making a comeback in online ads, and the insane number of ‘long form web film’ entries. C’mon folks, people are watching real TV shows and using WhatsApp, WeChat or that old fashioned thing called Twitter. They’re not watching your 15 minutes of brand indulgence passing off as ‘content.’

Now that’s all behind us, here’s to the days ahead where we’ll be diving into discussions about what’s what for #andy50.

Cheers for now.