Cristal Festival Europe

Originally taking place in Méribel, the Cristal Festival (formerly known as the Meribel Ad Festival, created in 2001) moved to Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps, in 2009.[4]

Since 2004 the Festival has opened up to the world with an increasing number of participants and visitors. More than 1000 delegates attended the 2008 edition, with a large number of clients (160).[5] In 10 years, the Festival has become an important event for the communication world at the end of the year.[6]

The ambition of the Festival is to promote advertising creativity, and to showcase a variety of work from the industry[7] by means of a diverse range of creative competitions and through the sharing of knowledge. The competitions in December close the creative year and announce the broad tendencies of the coming international Prizes.[8]

The Cristal Lab, created since the beginning, is the moment to get an overview of the latest trends and developments in the industry,[9] and is a meeting place for the European and international specialists.[10] It consists of debates, Keynote speaker conferences and workshops.[11] The Cristal Lab is also a place used for business and creative exchanges.[12]

Throughout the year, the partners share their knowledge and experience with the organization of the Festival. In 2010 the Media Cristal Academy was created in France, and is being developed in other European countries. In 2011 there was the creation of the Production Cristal Academy. For the Cristal Festival, it's a way to continue its expansion and offer all year round networking.

The Cristal Festival is a 5-day competition where creativity of the advertising world is rewarded & highlighted. A President of the Festival is appointed every year.

Here are some of the previous presidents:
– 2010 : Mark Tutssel,[13] Chief Creative Officer – Leo Burnett Worldwide
– 2009 : David Jones,[14] Global CEO – Havas Worldwide
– 2007 : Howard Draft – Chairman & CEO – Draftfcb Worldwide
– 2006 : Kevin Roberts – CEO – Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide

11 Prizes are awarded by several juries composed of advertising professionals and advertisers. Prizes are awarded to advertising agencies, producers and advertisers.[15] They have to come from European countries.

Each of the following prizes includes a Cristal by product category, and a Grand Cristal, which does not take into account the category.

The Film and Radio Cristals.[16] In 2010 the Jury President of both prizes was Olivier Altmann, Chief Creative Officier at Publicis Worldwide

The International Production Cristal.[17] In 2010 the President of the jury was James Covill, Executive Producer at Grey London.

The Outdoor, Press and Print Craft Cristals.[18] In 2010 the Jury President was Paul Smith, Regional Creative Director EAME at Ogilvy & Mather

The Media Cristal awards the success of a media strategy.[19] In 2010, the Jury President was Mauricio Sabogal, Worldwide managing director at Initiative, and President at Mediabrands Latin America

The Integrated[20] and Brand Content[21] Cristals. In 2010, the jury president was Tom O’Keefe, Executive Creative Director at Draftfcb North America

The Consumer Marketing Cristal Prize involves different product categories, such as Client Loyalty, Marketing Action to Premium Client, and Technologic Innovation. In 2010, the jury president was Daniel Morel, Chairman & CEO at Wunderman

The Digital & Mobile Cristal rewards creativity in online campaigns.[22][23] Indeed, this prize rewards 25 categories[24] such as Home Page Customization or Viral Film.[25][26] In 2010, the Jury President was Fernanda Romano, Global Creative Director of Digital & Experiential at Euro RSCG

Each year, several people have been awarded by the Cristal of Honor[27] during the latest festival such as Bryan Buckley, director at Hungry Man USA,[28] who is particularly known for creating Super Bowl classics.

At the same time European Journalists are invited to the Festival to judge the most exciting and best marked ads according to them. This competition gives another viewpoint within the festival.

Cristal Rankings:[29] At the closure of the festival a ranking is established to reward agencies that obtained the best results in the Cristal Festival competition.

The Festival gives a critical place to exchanges and networking during the Cristal Lab. This is the moment to get a good overview of the latest trends and developments in the industry, and is a meeting place for the biggest European and international specialists through prestigious debates, Magister Conferences and workshops.

Since 2001 numerous influent speakers have been invited to express themselves about current issues. They have come from very different companies such as Havas Media, Orange, Le Figaro, AlloCiné, Yahoo!, Facebook, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Universal Music Group, Cadbury, Naked, Dailymotion, GiacomettiPéron&Associés, Euro RSCG, Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland ...

In 2010, our participants had the opportunity to attend several conferences hold for instance by Axel Dauchez (general manager, Deezer), Olivier Altmann, (Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Worldwide), Florence Sarfati, (Acquisitions and Coproductions Manager, Canalplus.fr), Mark Tutssel, (Chief Creative Officer – Leo Burnett Worldwide), Georges-Edouard Dias, (Senior Vice-President e-Business, L’Oréal), Jacques Séguela, (Executive Vice president and Chief Creative Officer, Havas), Howard Draft (Executive chairman, Draftfcb Worldwide)...

Since its creation, the Cristal Festival Europe has also created competitions for the Young Talents. They are free and open to all European young talents.

– Poster Contest : The aim is to create the poster for the next edition.

– Young Directors Forum : A short film competition, where the 10 finalists are invited to the festival, and the winner is rewarded by a Short Film Cristal.[31] Each year, the president of the jury is a famous director.[32]

– Photographer & Illustrator. Launched in 2011. The jury selects 10 talents.

– Creatives & Soundtrack Contest. Launched in 2011.

• Advertising
• Branded content
• Coolhunting
• Communication design
• Performance-based advertising
• Public relations
• Virtual advertising
• Viral marketing