Taxi Montréal and Bombardier win the Grand Créa 2011 for Ad of the Year!

To view the Social Media Release, click here: http://smr.newswire.ca/en/les-editions-infopresse/grand-crea-2011

MONTREAL, March 31 /PRNewswire/ - This year's Grand Créa, presented in recognition of the best Quebec-made ad of the year, has been awarded to the Taxi Montréal agency, in collaboration with Media Experts and their client, Bombardier, for the Olympic torch design; the Coup de cœur award goes to Cossette for the La Korrigane beer campaign. 

Bombardier: holding high the torch!

In connection with the Vancouver Olympics, Bombardier designed a torch capable of withstanding the full range of Canadian weather on the cross-country torch relay, staying lit in all conditions. Taxi and Media Experts sold Bombardier on the idea of the company designing and manufacturing the official torch for the Games, allowing Canadians to get a full sense of the company's involvement with the event. "This case combines strategy and creativity. It breaks traditional advertising codes and the way a brief is seen. In my view, it's the future of communication," said jury president Michel De Lauw.

La Korrigane

Illustrators, comic book artists and artists of all kinds, along with the graduating class in graphic design at Cégep Ste-Foy were invited to La Korrigane brewery to hand-draw the advertisements in the pages of an already printed issue of the Montreal entertainment weekly Voir. Led by Cossette's art directors, the young talents produced more than 800 custom copies of the paper, which were distributed the next morning at 8 a.m. The artists had only a single evening and an arsenal of coloured pencils with which to create the 800 original concepts. Participants had to include the same tagline: une pub faite à la main pour des bières faites à la main ("a handmade ad for handmade beers"), along with the brewery's logo and URL. Everything else was left to their imagination.

Campaigns that stand out!

For this sixth edition of the Créa awards, 22 Grand Prix and 61 Prix were awarded. In all, 36 advertisers and 15 agencies received awards. The big winner was lg2, with a total of 8 Grand Prix and 14 Prix, including two Grand Prix for the Sears Optical campaign.

Other standout agencies were Sid Lee with 3 Grand Prix and 11 Prix. In addition to its Coup de cœur, Cossette ranked third among agencies with 2 Grand Prix, including one for La Korrigane and one for the Canadian Red Cross, for a total of 3 Grand Prix and 5 Prix. Taxi Montréal, with 2 Grand Prix and 1 Prix, ranked fourth. Bos, Bleublancrouge and Cartier each won one Grand Prix along with several Prix.

More than 1,500 people attended the sixth annual Créa awards gala, held at the Taz. The competition recognizes Quebec's best advertisements of the year. This annual communications and advertising industry gathering, organized by Infopresse, brought together major industry players to celebrate and recognize creativity in communications.

Advertising pros recognized

The jury also awarded four Grand Prix Créa to creatives who distinguished themselves this year.

• Art direction: Simon Beaudry, Karim Charlebois-Zariffa and Philippe Aubin-Dionne (Fête Nationale des Québécois), Agence Bos
• Production: Yvan Grbovic (Rona; Gallon) Agence Bos
• Production: Yves-Christian Fournier (Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada; One Life - Take Action) Agence Bleublancrouge
• Illustrator: Patrick Seymour (Bouquinerie L'Échange; Contraception) Agence Brad

The Créa 2011 jury

President

• Michel De Lauw, creative director

Members

• Anne-Marie Leclair, VP strategy, Lg2
• Carl Robichaud, art director, Publicis Montréal
• Martin Bernier, copywriter, Bos
• Eva Van Der Bulcke, art director, Sid Lee
• Gaétan Namouric, executive VP, creative director, Bleublancrouge
• Stuart Macmillan, creative director, Palm+Havas
• Tony Hird, art director, Nolin BBDO
• Patrick Chaubet, creative director

The April issue of Infopresse magazine, featuring all the award-winning ads, hits newsstands on April 1. Full results are also available online at concourscrea.com

The Créa competition is organized by Infopresse, in association with the Association des agences de publicité du Québec (AAPQ), and in collaboration with Astral Affichage, Astral Radio, L'Entremetteuse and Publisac, with the participation of Pascal Blais Studio, Perrier and Vision Globale. Cossette produced the event's advertising campaign in collaboration with Shoot Studio.

Éditions Infopresse is a specialized media group located in Montreal. Since 1985 we have produced a wide range of trade publications (including magazines, directories, guides and newsletters). Our major clients are in Quebec's communications and graphic design fields. Our publications cover marketing, advertising, communications, media, graphics, commercial design, photography and film production. We also organize a variety of events, awards competitions and conferences that promote interaction, exchange and the sharing of information among industry professionals.

/NOTE TO EDITORS: Media Assets accompanying this story are available as follows:

Photo:  http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1193/couverture.jpg

Photo: http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1193/HR_Flamme_Flag_MAG_OK.jpg

Photo : http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1193/Korrigane_01_OK.jpg

SOURCE Editions Infopresse Inc