Martin Beauvais
VP, creative director
BBDO Montreal
Martin Beauvais joined BBDO Montreal in 1997 and was named VP and creative director in 2000. One of Canada's leading creative talents, he has spearheaded the development of outstanding campaigns, winning numerous awards in Canada and internationally. He is responsible for the group's creative standards across all marketing communications disciplines and is a member of the executive committee of BBDO Montreal. He is also a member of BBDO Canada's National Creative Council.

Favourite advertising
Panasonic "Recital" from PJDDB
Toronto Short Film Festival print work from Taxi
Rethink Breast Cancer campaign from Zig

Impressions of the work
Tough choice but only one agency seems to have best overall performance. I did this seven years ago and the work is much better, more insightful and beautifully executed. I think there should be a couple of Agencies of the Year - the work is strong enough.

Joan Fedoruk
president
Big House Communications
Vancouver, B.C.
At independent Vancouver agency Big House, Fedoruk has worked with clients including Pepsi, AKA Rhino, Ballard Power Systems, Edie Hats, Science World, B.C. Ministry of Health, B.C. Ministry of Attorney General, B.C. Ministry of Environment, and Family Services of Greater Vancouver. She was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year by Business Success Teams in 1997 and has been a guest speaker for various marketing events. Fedoruk is a member of the B.C. Chapter of the American Marketing Association and sits on the executive board of directors managing the advertising education portfolio for the AAABC.

Favourite advertising
W "Sex with Stu" from Zig
Bell ExpressVu work from Cossette
Viagra "Good Morning" from Taxi

Impressions of the work
It was evident that all entrants were of equal calibre on quality of execution, connecting with the target audience and increasing sales/market share. In my selection, I was looking for ads that not only resonated with the target audience, but were also considerate enough to provide entertainment for the rest of the viewing audience. Ads like "Good Morning," "Sex with Stu," and campaigns for Lavalife and Mini left a positive brand experience with all viewers. I think as communicators these agencies have identified an obligation to ensure that the entire viewing audience sees their clients' brands kindly.

Dave Bell
joint creative director
KesselsKramer
Amsterdam
Born in Scotland, Dave Bell went from London's School of Communication Arts to Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe. After some assorted placements and freelance work he wound up at KesselsKramer in Amsterdam as a senior copywriter. He is now joint creative director, working with some 30 other people in a 19th-century church for clients like Diesel, Ben (a Dutch mobile phone network) and Fila. He won the coveted Dutch Gouden Kaas (Golden Cheese) Award in 2001 and the (arguably more significant) Public prize, which awarded him a full-sized sculpture of his head made out of cheese. It has since been eaten by the KesselsKramer collective.

Favourite advertising
Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation work from PJDDB
Sleeman "Label Free Music" from Zig
Toronto Short Film Festival print work from Taxi

Impressions of the work
Sorry. I'm a really bad judge. I really don't understand advertising a lot of the time.
But then, maybe this will be a plus when it comes to judging Agency of the Year. Right now, my naivety tells me that because this is the country that can arguably be seen as the underdog when compared to U.S. advertising, and because this is the country that produced Adbusters and No Logo, I can expect a seething mass of radical, edgy work.
Advertising is usually accused, often by the aforementioned, of one of the following: being innocuous or being intrusive. But which is the more dangerous? And what is effective? I guess that's where the word communication comes in again. It suggests a two-way dialogue. Something on a more human scale. This is at least something to ponder when looking at Agencies of the Year.
I wanted to look at the work so I ignored the words that preceded the campaigns, which told me about household penetration and hard-to-reach, fickle audiences, but I did like to hear from Cossette that Bison was the most requested Halloween costume in 2000.
I liked very much the nature of the Rick Hansen campaign from PJDDB; it stuck in my head the most and was easily my favourite campaign. I was taken by the old-fashioned-ness of Rethink's MJB coffee, and couldn't help myself laughing at Viagra (Taxi) and Molson and CFL (Bensimon). I admired the simplicity and the simple, strong strategy in the TV/cinema work of Taxi's Toronto Short Film Festival (but wondered where the strategy disappeared to on the press work).
I was sometimes surprised at what constituted a campaign (one TV commercial) and that a broad-range of media meant using fly posters. And I was puzzled that the Agency of the Year submissions for Strategy magazine seemed to show surprisingly few risky or thought-provoking strategies.
But that's my ignorance playing up again. In total, there was a sure lightness of touch and confident attitude in a lot of the work that was good to see. And it was nicely refreshing to see work from another part of the world. My only hope was to have that world turned upside down a bit more.

Linus Karlsson and Paul Malmstrom
creative team
Fallon, Minn.
Minneapolis and New York
Just two years after joining Fallon, Minneapolis from Stockholm's Paradiset DDB Needham, USA Today declared the creative team one of the fastest rising stars in American advertising. In Sweden the duo gained international recognition for work on Diesel Jeans and Bjorn Borg Underwear. At Fallon, the pair now works on Starbucks, United Airlines, And1, BMW, Lee Jeans, Rolling Stone and SoBe beverages. Karlsson and Malmstrom served as guest speakers at the 1998 AICP show at New York's Museum of Modern Art, and have been featured in pop culture mag Raygun. Together, the pair has won more Cannes Gold, Silver and Grand Prix awards than they can carry in their backpacks.

Favourite advertising
Covenant House print work from Taxi ¥ Mini TV work from Taxi
Telus TV work from Taxi

Impressions of the work
Some work created the same high as when Sweden beat Canada 5 - 3 in the opening game of the Olympics, while other ads recalled that sinking feeling of losing to Belarus.

Alvin Wasserman
president
Wasserman & Partners
Vancouver, B.C.
Alvin Wasserman has been behind a number of B.C.'s most famous branding campaigns, including "Super, Natural British Columbia," "Chevron. Your Town Pump," and "Whistler Blackcomb. Go to Heaven. Ski like Hell." His social marketing work includes many years on the Drinking Driving CounterAttack program, a national anti-racism campaign, the launch of the federal government's familiar Eco-logo, and campaigns on behalf of British Columbia's registered nurses. Alvin has served as a judge at Cannes, and now heads up Vancouver's largest full-service independent communications agency.

Favourite advertising
Frisk work from Bensimon
W "Sex with Stu" from Zig
Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation work by PJDDB

Impressions of the work
Call me naive, but I feel the work of the top agencies in a year of nervous clients and a backdrop of turmoil was very sharp. The powerhouse production spots for big brands were still there, heavy artillery in place and done very well, but overall there was less of the "outspend" and more of the "out-think" work going on. Insights like targeting a sports lottery to a non-hardcore sports audience were fresh, fun and relevant (bonus: they seemed to get real results). Small production gems like Rick Hansen's Man in Motion street stickers and simple posters turned attitudes as well as heads. Having just looked at another batch of Cannes winners it's refreshing to see that we Canadians can use sexuality and still be Canadian about it. Rethink's Bootlegger print work, W's "Sex with Stu" and Taxi's "Good Morning" all deliver the goods without being exploitative or peep showy. Do tough times equal advertising? I'd say yes. Pass the Frisk mints, I'm feeling dangerous.

Doug Robinson
president
Doug
Toronto
In the past 20 years Robinson has worked at the top creative shops of the day. The '80s saw him at both Ambrose Carr Deforest Linton and Carder Gray where he worked on Honda, the Toronto Sun, Heinz, Nabisco, the Bank of Montreal and Shell. Robinson spent the early '90s at Young & Rubicam with Hostess Frito-Lay, Kodak, DuPont and Cadbury-Schweppes. Next, he became a partner at Ammirati Puris, eventually becoming chairman and chief creative officer with clients such as Labatt, Unilever, Clarica, Compaq, UPS, President's Choice and Burger King. He has won hundreds of awards, including two Cannes Lions. He now runs his own agency in Toronto.

Favourite advertising
Covenant House print work from Taxi
Viagra "Good Morning" from Taxi
Playland print work from Rethink

Impressions of the work
I applaud those who did great work this year (a year full of distractions) and there is great work. The print work being done in Canada is inspiring - from Covenant House to Playland's "Cork Screw" and the distilled discipline of pots calling out for S.O.S. from PJDDB. TV, on the other hand, had few bright spots. Viagra outperformed most (literally) while making us smile - a special merit should go to the actor here. Panasonic's "Recital" spot is based on a very clever idea. Sleeman's "Label Free Music" is one of the better examples of a client's partner thinking in broader terms and bringing extended value to a brand. Congratulations to all the agencies making it here for the first time. Well-deserved.

Sebastian Wilhelm
copywriter
Mother
London, U.K.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1972, Sebastian started as a junior copywriter in 1992 in what later became Bates, Argentina. In 1994 he moved to agulla&baccetti to work for two former Bates creatives where he later became creative director, supervising up to 10 teams while continuing to work as a copywriter. He moved to London to join Mother in October of 2001. Over the years, he has worked on Telecom, Renault, HSBC, and Coca-Cola. In London, he's worked for The Observer, several Coca-Cola brands and Fray Bentos pies. Sebastian has won five Cannes lions, three One Show pencils, five Clios, two Grand Prix from Fiap (the largest "Iberoamerican" ad festival, held in Argentina), and many, many more. He also published a book of short stories in December of 2000.

Favourite advertising
Panasonic "Recital" from PJDDB
ProLine TV work from Bensimon
Playland work from Rethink

Impressions of the work
Overall, I think Bensimon had the most consistent work with ProLine being the highlight. Other agencies had one or two good things but there was a huge gap between the good and the not so good.