Day #3: Today's Creative All-Stars

Joseph Jaffe: Bill Bernbach will be remembered as the spiritual founder of the Creative Revolution. Who are some of the creative all-stars in the space right now? Who are the people rewriting the rules and setting the bar (besides you all, of course).

Mark Silva: Traditional creative shops like Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Deutsch & Fallon are landing the best punches in interactive advertising as we speak. First chapter may have belonged to interactive visionaries, bean-counters and a few odd profiteers masquerading as advertising folks, but round two is decisively the traditional creative shops that get it.

Another agency to keep an eye on: Cole & Weber / Red Cell out of Seattle. They took the discussion of short-form / long-form / digital / analog / traditional /interactive to a new level with their inspired work for Rainier Beer. Through a combination of episodic 30-minute TV shows on local UPN, web, hotline, packaging and experiential marketing, they nailed how integration can work.

The campaign, agency and client deserved the accolades and awards received at the recent Ad Age: Madison and Vine creative shoot-out: not only dead-on relevant for the brand, intelligently insightful to the consumer and damn entertaining, this campaign reversed a steady sales decline and has lit brand sales on fire.

Mike Yapp: I think the user and the developer are still setting the rules.

Four years ago, blogs were the new thing. It wasn't an advertiser or even a media expert who created this medium, it was the user. Although there has been some really interesting work going on with desktop applications and short code / website interaction, it's still being driven by the developer who is willing to exploit and explore the possibilities of the interactive space.

Creatives still hold the key to brand, messaging and design, but their efforts many times do not exploit the technology or show skill when working within the restrictions of the interactive space.

There are some refreshing exceptions to the rule as identified at this year's One Show: NEC's Ecotonoha project, Vodafone's Future Vision website and, in a tribute to the lowly ad unit, Audi's drop down map.

But I still feel the unsung hero in this medium is the creative technologist, people such as Hillmann Curtis or Josh Hart. These guys rewrite rules that creatives can apply to their needs. These are the left/right brain types that create things like Firefox; or Flash scripters who shave virtual pounds off a piece of creative and infuse motion and dynamics never before dreamed of in an IAB ad unit. Many times it is this person who sits at his monitor possessed, who never seems to get a mention when the credits are listed, and who really makes the creatives' dreams come true.

Scott Witt: My shortlist of agencies turning heads includes:

Heavy: I've recently met with this creative agency cum publisher, and producers of branded entertainment. Sitting at the table trying to describe their ability in one word made me feel as uncomfortable as I was enlightened -- a morph niche that's one part chameleon, one part barber shop grade straight-edge.

Taxi: Paul Lavoie literally has 17/17 vision. He sees where the puck is going and is already there. He's very attuned to the creative / media overlap -- and the power within. Watch their NYC office this year. 

Ogilvy: Jan Leth. Enough said.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky: Everything they touch turns to gold. They know their limits, and approach partnership openly. Collaboration will be the nectar of survival for the agency of the future -- and in true form, they are way ahead of the pack.

Joseph Jaffe: Great responses. Very diverse, provocative and informative. We’ll switch gears tomorrow with a discussion about the good, the bad and the downright ugly about the space. Jaffe, Out. (And if you got the Ryan Seacrest reference, I truly do apologize.)

Joseph Jaffe acts as Editor-at-Large for iMedia Communications. He is President & Founder of jaffe, L.L.C. http://www.getthejuice.com/, a new marketing consulting practice. His book “Life after the 30-second spot” will be released on May 27th (Wiley/Adweek).