If Don Draper were alive, the fictional hero of 'Mad Men' would be in Cannes this week for the annual Cannes Lions Festival. This is the world''s largest party (ahem…'festival') for the advertising industry. So what if the European Union teeters on the verge of collapse? 'Faisons la fete' everybody…Let''s Party!! Explosive growth in emerging markets and digital, not to mention the surprisingly robust US advertising market (+3.1% last year with 2.2% growth forecast for 2012- Magna Global) means that creative talent is scarce. Slowly, Creative Directors at Israeli agencies have begun to win global prizes, including 4 Golden Lions this week for the cross-media 'Blood' campaign (see below). Now the major conglomerates, WPP, Publicis, Omnicom and IPG, are looking to Israel for creative hires. This week Pulicis Groupe acquired Israeli advertising and communications firm BBR, with a visit by Publicis Chairman, Maurice Levy. Care for hummus and shakshuka, Mr. Draper? Below are some great recent digital and cross-platform ad campaigns from Israel, courtesy of Meirav Oz. Digital Campaigns: McCann Erickson, 'The Anti-Drugs Timeline' (the first Facebook Timeline ad) If you can not view the video, please click here Grey Israel, Creative Machine, 'Get Rid of That Brief' If you can not view the video, please click here Y&R Israel, 'Lost Soldiers' If you can not view the video, please click here Cross-Media Campaigns: Y&R Israel, The SDIA Project If you can not view the video, please click here Grey Israel EMDA, Israel Alzheimer Organization If you can not view the video, please click here Publicis Ideologic: Coca Cola Village If you can not view the video, please click here Saatchi & Saatchi Blood Relations If you can not view the video, please click here Y&R Israel Women To Go If you can not view the video, please click here Y&R Israel Get Tested If you can not view the video, please click here
