We received 11,468 entries to this year’s Advertising Annual, a slight drop from last year. When looking over the winning entries, the most notable creative concepts were based on unusual media buys. “It was interesting to see some of the non-traditional ideas entered,” said Joanne Kim of Marcus Thomas in Cleveland, Ohio. “Agencies seem to be trying to reach consumers in new places, but I wonder how much of that will turn the consumer off, or worse, make them more numb.” “It was great to see, firsthand, the intelligent rule-breaking from agencies like Crispin Porter + Bogusky,” said Mary Knight from FCB, Seattle, Washington. “We can all learn a lot about their willingness to do what has not been done, all while being perfectly appropriate to the brand idea.” Of course, once a trend is identified it doesn’t take long for the backlash to begin. “Everyone’s rushing to imitate the media freshness of the first MINI campaign, but the results are blatant gimmickry,” said Greg Bell of Venables, Bell & Partners in San Francisco, California. “Clever media doesn’t equal good ideas.” Shari Hindman of Siddall, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia, was disappointed with the self-consciousness of some of the entries. “People feel like they have to try so hard to get noticed in the shows instead of just doing good solid advertising. It’s like wanting to be Pamela Anderson when you can get as much (better) attention being Audrey Hepburn.”