News
7 March 2017
LAUNCHING THE SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH JURY MEMBERS AND SPEAKERS OF THE FESTIVAL!IX White Square will be held in Minsk less than in 2 months. It’s high time to start introducing jury members and headliners of the festival!
Please welcome! Bo Hellberg, Executive Creative Director at Edelman, United Kingdom, member of Digital jury.
What ideas appear on your mind when you hear about Belarus?
Ice-hockey - since I’m Swedish (living in the UK), I always follow the international tournaments. Belarus to me is a slightly mythical country, when I grew up it was called White Russia which sounded pretty cool. To be honest, I’m not very familiar with Minsk (which is also an awesome name) nor the country.
What is creativity for you and why does creativity win?
Creativity is the executive power of imagination. A lot of people have imagination, which is lovely, but turning the ideas and concepts into something real is true test of the idea and of how much you want to it come to life. The combination of idea, passion and energy.
Creativity and storytelling wins because it is ultimately what makes us human. Creative ideas has the magical power of making something out of nothing. Finding connections where there are none. Solving problems that can’t be solved.
The super power of creative in business is that we understand how to connect with people emotionally - which is a becoming more important than ever as we become more tech-dependent.
How to develop creativity and what you get inspiration from?
I think there are three things
- You have to find a way to feel free and safe. Find people and places you can share your ideas with. Become confident in your gut instincts. This takes a lot of time and a lot of practice.
- Learn a creative craft. Properly. Writing. Design. Photography. Animation. A craft gives you a baseline, a starting point for problem solving.
Go for walks. Moving and thinking is a great way to come up with new ideas.
I get inspired from everything! Sure, I look at work from award shows. But I also look at art. I listen to music. I read lyrics. I read poetry. I watch people and how they behave.
I get inspired from people who always do things in a new way. But also those who stick to the same formula for 50 years!
Why do ad festivals exist? What are they for?
Creative Festivals exists to showcase and share the best work. To agree as an industry the difference between what is good and what is amazing. It’s also a time to for us who work long days and don’t have time to reflect, to really think about what we do and how to do it better. And to award the efforts of those who have done an amazing job.
What would you like to wish the participants of the festival?
I hope you enjoy a wonderful couple of days, see as much amazing creative work and get truly inspired by all the participants, speakers and each other.
Reminding that the call for entries is open on adfest.by. There are 5 contests – creative, branding, digital, marketing, social advertising – that will be evaluated by 5 international jury categories. Deadline – April 7. Detailed information is provided on adfest.by or via konkurs@adfest.by.
