Paul Silburn

Londoners use to say their city is the greatest in the world. And, let´s be reasonable, when it comes to advertising, they are right. Just check out Paul Silburn curriculum. In any other place in the world, he would be the best advertiser ever, but in UK he is just, let´s say, in the top 20. He has won over 20 lions, including legendary campaigns like "No nonsense" or John West Salmon´s "Bear Fight" and, more recently, "Life´s for Sharing" for T-Mobile.

Paul has worked in a row of agencies that include Lowe, TBWA Leo Burnett, BBH and Saatchi & Saatchi, we could say, half of the best London agencies. He has also made a small adventure at Fallon Minneapolis, but it didn´t last long. Pat Fallon fired him and, since them, things haven't been working at the classic agency.

Different of other creatives, its hard to identify his strong point. He has done funny physical comedy, sensitive subjects and down-to-earth advertising. He has been awarded in alternative media, film, print and outdoor. One thing, although, it´s easy to notice. His ads all look real. If he had done any scams, we don´t know, but their biggest award campaigns are pretty real.

Ad Genius 17: Paul Silburn.
Countries: UK, USA.
Agencies: Lowe, TBWA, Leo Burnett, BBH, Fallon, Saatchi.
At Cannes: Over 20 lions, 7 Gold.
Strong Points: Versatility.

Antonio Montero

It´s not possible to determine how responsible Antonio Montero López is for the success of Contrapunto in the last eight years he has been there. The only thing we know is that he has won, during that period, over 20 lions. We are not considering the other 3 lions Antonio has won in his previous agency, "AVA".

The true thing is that, more than a homage to Antonio himself, this post would like to highlight Contrapunto and Spain in this post. The country is always between the ten most awarded in the world, but it has a lack of big stars, different than its latin counterparts, Argentina and Brazil. Rafa Antón, the most well-known Spanish star, for example, has won "only" eight lions. Few, considered to the dozens each Brazilian or Argentinean star has won.

For 35 years, Contrapunto has been consistently, the most (or between the most) awarded and respected creative agencies in Spain. It has so much strength that it has not been sold to any multionational yet. It is probably the most successful agency in Europe to promote Smart, the small car and it reached the new century making great things for web too. Here, we will show some of the work Montero has done in Contrapunto.

Ad Genius 12: Antonio Montero López.

Country: Spain.

Agencies: McCann, Almeida Vaqueiro e Associados, Contrapunto.

At Cannes: About 25 lions, more than 20 in Contrapunto.

Strong points: Enviroment and social work.

Kaliber Beer - Celebrity bloopers here

Bernhard Lukas & Arno Lindemann

It may not be fair to put two creatives as one genius, but some minds simply work better together. After cyber revolution, integrated campaign + stunt era, the creative team is something that still survives and works very well. In this German case, it works amazingly.

Before forming a team in 2007, Bernhard Lukas had won "only" one Gold Lion and Arno Lindemann "only" one silver and one bronze. Than, after Lukas and Lindemann met in Jung von Matt everything simply started to work smoothly. In three years, they have collected 13 lions, most of them in their new Hamburg-based agency, Lukas Lindemann Rosinski.

Contrary to Amir Kassaei´s DDB or Scholz & Friends and, maybe, even Jung von Matt, Lukas & Lindemann try to make great things in real work. Sure, they have made some success with scams too (who hasn´t?), but we can notice in their last Lions for Lego, Mercedes-Benz and Germanwings that everything seemed pretty real and in the client´s strategy.

Ad Genius 9: Lukas & Lindemann.

Country: Germany.

Agencies: Springer & Jacoby, Oysterbay (Lindemann) Jung von Matt, Lukas Lindemann Rosinski (both).

At Cannes: 16 lions, 1 from Lukas, 2 from Lindemann, 13 together.

Strong Points: Low cost stunts.