Bidding to be reborn as a concept "hothouse," ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi today announced an open competition for a US$100,000 Innovation in Communication award in the hopes of rubbing elbows - or, one assumes, signing contracts - with fresh-faced multimedia artists, visionaries, and plain old tinkerers. In testament to its new experimental esprit de corps (and the density of its Rolodexes), the company has rounded up a stellar crew of judges for the competition - including performance artist Laurie Anderson, astronaut and inventor Buzz Aldrin, author William Gibson, and information architect Richard Saul Wurman.
The New York open house was also thrown to herald a semantic shift in the company's identity: "Today, Saatchi & Saatchi officially drops the words 'advertising agency' from our name," said CEO Roberts said. "We're now an ideas company." (By whatever name, Saatchi & Saatchi is one of the world's biggest global agencies, with billings of $7 billion and 147 offices in 87 countries.)
The award, half in cash and half in S&S "consultancy" and marketing value, is described by S&S CEO Kevin Roberts as an intent to "lead communications between individuals, business and customers, between nations, and, as Buzz keeps telling me, between planets." The deadline for submissions is 1 May, and the award will be announced in September.
Saatchi & Saatchi casts a wide net when providing examples for successful "communications" projects, using the concert series Live Aid, a wind-up radio, or noise-control technologies as models. All submissions must be patented or patent-pending. (How exactly patenting will work with ideas like Live Aid remains to be seen.)
For Anderson, the award helps to push the boundaries of the art world out "into the hinterland" by endorsing the experimentation of young artists across the country. "Before, we only had art 'centers' - LA, New York, San Francisco, Austin. But suddenly, the so-called 'art world' is everywhere. A guy in Michigan - he's part of the art scene."
As submissions roll in, the Web site will become a revolving exhibit of entries. "We imagined the site as a magazine with no back cover that would be endless," said S&S creative director Bob Isherwood. Applicants for the award, however, must submit their entries through traditional mail. The competition presents another obstacle for young (and poor) innovators - a $200 entry fee. Saatchi & Saatchi says the costs are intended to defray "administration and production costs," and that the contest is not a profit-making venture.
In the feeding frenzy of new media, it's not clear why entrepreneurs with new products would go first to Saatchi & Saatchi rather than venture capitalists. "Ideas" have already been on the market, and companies like IdeaLab have already run with their fair share (though IdeaLab is no longer accepting proposals).
The Saatchi & Saatchi award also joins a fairly competitive market for interactive accolades, including Communications Art, Graphis Magazine, or the One Show awards, says Peter Seidler, creative director at New York's online ad agency Avalanche. Seidler says new ideas are constantly surfacing at the frontlines of new media: in production. "In the 100 different authoring environments, there are constantly new issues ... in a constant conversation around the globe," Seidler says. Nearly everyone becomes an innovator when constant adaptations of interface and techniques "become the driving force," says Seidler.
From the Wired News New York Bureau at FEED magazine.
