Creative competitions for brands,powered by the most important creative community

powered by

What is TheCreator

TheCreator is the platform for premium creative competitions,the place for user generated content done right.

Here, brands give briefs that are solved by our creative community:professionals in the creative industries, students and aspirants.

We have generated brand engagement in over 20 big creative competitions:design, online, video, short movies and many more.

Not all creative competitions are born equal

Don’t go for small ideas from everyone in your mass audience.Go for the place where the creatives are.Generate strong brand engagement with a big creative competition on IQads.

The new DERO package was born here

The PUMA Jacket by Lana was born here

Many viral ad parodies were born here

20 big creative competitions so farWe generated package designs, product designs, fashion designs, TV ads, online ads, short movies

Case study: see it to believe it

Other case studies1. DERO e al tău, packaging design competition, 2014

DERO, the iconic washing powder of Romania, proved it believes in the freshness of Romania by giving consumers the power to design its packaging. 180 submissions later, the winning design was launched in 2015. - see the DERO submissions- concept and implementation: IQads & Unilever

2. Grand Spoof by Ciuc Premium, video competition, 2013 Ciuc Premium partnered with the ongoing Grand Spoof series for 2 years to prove it’s the only beer brand that laughs of traditional promotions. In 2 months, Ciuc reached 750.000 people online and offline, at ADfel. - watch the making of Ciuc Premium, 4 min. - concept and implementation: IQads & 23

3. Nokia Lumia Design Competition, design challenge, 2013 Nokia Lumia 520 launched in Romania with this creative competition instead of a TV campaign. To demonstrate its colorful product, Nokia turned to creatives to draw on the phone back. 428 creations resulted. - see the Nokia Submissions - concept and implementation: IQads

4. PUMA T7 Creative Factory, fashion design competition, 2011 - 2013PUMA wanted to launch the legendary T7 jacket in a creative way.201 submissions later, one became such a hit it was eventually produced. - see the PUMA submissions- concept and implementation: IQads

ACTIONABLE IDEA CREATIVE CHALLENGE IDEA GENERATION

BRAND ASSETS

VISIBILITY

How we do it: our method in 5 steps

1. We transform the brand message into an actionable and purposeful creative ideaex: DERO brand message: we are DERO, a traditional + modern Romanian brand of washing powder DERO creative idea: present a new design, created by Romanians, about the fresh sides of Romania

B52 brand message: we are B52, a Bucharest club celebrating 10 years of alternative entertainment B52 creative idea: get your excuses ready, you will need them after one night in our club

2. We formulate this idea into a creative challenge: creative brief + visual template + jury + glory + prizesex: DERO creative competition: “DERO Is Yours” Package Design Competition, mixing the retro with the new B52 creative competition: “The Second Day T-shirt” Design Competition, presenting the best excuses

3. We stimulate the idea generation directly from the most important creative communityex: DERO stimulation: interviews with the participants, dedicated Facebook app with the best works

B52 stimulation: guest stars and guest brands solving the brief, interviews with the participants

4. We amplify the visibility to a larger audience via a dedicated campaign, editorials, social media, endorsers:ex: DERO amplification: the biggest national voting of creative works

B52 amplification: the biggest bank of excuses after a wild night in a club ever

5. We generate premium brand assets that can be further used for a long timeex: DERO assets: successful national consumer promo, a fashion series based on the packaging we generated

B52 assets: more traffic to the club to see the winning creations and new merchandising opportunities

Main competition milestones

1. Submission

• Publishing/Activating the online competition platform: TheCreator.ro/CompetitionName

• The necessary materials are online (brief, regulations, templates, other materials). Intensive promo for the competition theme/topic. Publishing the entries, as they are submitted in the competition.

• The entries are validaded online, as they are received, by the IQads and brand team. Only the approved ones are published.

• Recomended periods of time for accepting submission: 4 weeks for design, 6 weeks for video.

2. Voting

• In general, every competition has 2 juries:

• The professional jury: representatives from brand team, IQads team, plus other professionals from relevant fields (advertising, photo, film, fashion, publishing, etc) – 70% of the final grade that each approved creation receives.

• The general public: online votes, through TheCreator platform. Create buzz – 30% of the final grade.

• Recomended period of time for voting: 6 weeks from the competition start.

SUBMISSIONS: 4 weeks

BRAND ASSETS USAGE: unlimited

VOTING: 6 weeks

CAMPAIGN: 8 weeks

Why start a creative competitionWhat’s in it for the brand?Generate brand engagement & valuable assets in a remarkable way. • Brand engagement, quality time with the brand:

people see / vote interesting creations, creatives make them• Brand content created by fans / new consumers:

viral content, you don’t push it, you attract it.• Brand differentiation and activation:

complement your ATL, demonstrate your message.

What’s in it for the consumers?People want brands that will help them be loved and admiredand that will, in some way, enrich or improve their lives.• An opportunity to interact with your brand, to have a say• An occasion to stand out of the crowd, to be noticed,

to be appreciated by their peers and the industry

Word of mouth is still the best medium of all.Augmented by word of Web, it's even better.

Keith Reinhard, DDB Worldwide Chairman

Why start it with IQadsIt just makes sense:You have the consumers, we have the most creative people.Our creatives can work for your brand.x• Reach precisely the right people on IQads: creators + propagators• More submissions on IQads than on a brand site / Facebook• Better submissions, coming from creatives already activated

at 20 previous editions and many new ones• Natural engagement as we activate precisely the creatives• Higher interest as they are featured on IQads, not a brand page• Bigger amplification via editorial content, targeted campaign,

special guests, media partners• Less worries: we manage everything, from brief to results• Better budgets: add all of the above and see

When to start a creative competition• Anytime you need new assets• Generate engagement and spectacular brand creations:

new designs / new packaging / new videos / new online assets

• Anytime you need to activate a campaign / platformDemonstrate and extend your message by using the powerof the most creative people of Romania.

• Product launch / relaunch / prelaunchDon’t just repeat one design, use hundreds of different ones.Or generate a special buzz before the product is available here.Or replace the traditional launch entirely with a competition.

• Brand repositioningDemonstrate the new message with the voice of the creatives.

New brand launchStart your brand with the support of the local creative community.

Some frequent questions• Q: We don’t know what part of our brand can be a pretext for a competition.

A: Most competitions started like this, but we can find good theme together

• Q: We don’t have creative clients. We don’t need a creative competition. A: They don’t need to be creative to be moved by a new packaging / a good design / a smart video.

• Q: We have an agency and many creative friends. They will give us enough creations.• A: We have the whole flow: the experience of 20 competitions from idea to brief to finish,

1.000 verified participants from previous editions, the creative community connected to IQads plus a reach of up to 500.000 people.

• Q: We have a brand site / microsite / Facebook page / tab. We can do it there just fine.A: From a results perspective, creations will be lower in both quality and quantity. From an audience perspective, it will be harder: the creatives are not there. From a budget perspective, it will be more expensive overall: the cost of creative + programming + media + PR + editorial + legal + project will be higher.

• Q: We need sales, not creative competitions. A: Creative competitions generate new brand assets that help sales: B2C (ex: collectibles, volumes, interest) and B2B (a new package will help your retail negotiations)

• Q: It is expensive and unsafe. Plus it’s too much effort for a one time activation.A: The costs cover a big 8-week project: creative, campaign, editorial, project, brief, follow-up. We only publish approved works (you / us / both). Creations are long time brand assets.

• Q: I hate ideasA: Sorry, we cannot help with this

CREATIVES(brand content)

6 weeks, 200 creativeswill submit their works

PROPAGATORS(brand experience)

8 weeks, 15.000 people will vote in the competition,

interact with the creations on social media

MASS AUDIENCE(brand visibility)

8 weeks, 300.000 people reachwill learn about this competition, will see the campaign,

will view the creative results and / or the follow-up

The audiences

How we motivate the audiences

Reach the right people• The creators, the ones that will submit the works

– afficionados: are brand-aware, are interested in / prepare for advertising – professionals: work in creative industries: marcomm, film, video, design, freelance

• The propagators, the ones that will disseminate the works.Follow / admire the creators/works

Pick the right jury• The professionals: 70% of final vote

5-7 chosen respected people, relevant to the topic:brand manager, agency representative, designer / director, editor / blogger, relevant VIP

• The general public: 30% of final voteanyone with an account on TheCreator

How we boost submissions

• We reach and activate the most creatives of Romania solely via IQads:

• core: IQads site + Facebook + newsletter– Direct invitation to participate in the competition:

1.000+ total participants in the previous editions of TheCreator– Direct invitation to endorse the competition brief:

50+ relevant personalities: advertisers, marketers, other creative industries pros– Standard press releases about the competition: 5+ news about the milestones– Standard campaign: site branding, banners, newsletters, social media posts– Custom editorial themes: 10+ materials about the topic

• extended: IQads retargeting– organic: shares from the participants, endorsers, platform votes– paid: Facebook + Google ads, retargeting the IQads community on other sites

Case study: DERO e al tau

• The brandDERO is the iconic washing powder that has a piece of Romania in its name. And DERO believes in the freshness of Romania.It believes in the beauty of places, in the scented memories of people,in the bright thoughts of Romanians.

• The challengeDERO provokes the creatives to bring color and shape to this concept through a design that will become the new DERO package.

• The taskShow us on the DERO packaging how you see thefreshness from Romania's clean heart.

• The rewardDERO will award total prizes of 2.000 EUR and will wear your fresh creation, that will become the new package design for DERO Ozone, all over Romania.

Context

1. We activate the platform, the brief, the template

See the platform

2. We promote the competition

See the platformSee an example

3. The creatives create the creations :)

See the works

4. The jury and the public vote the best works

See the voting app

5. The brand gets engagement, reach…

See the promotion app

…and a powerful brand story.

Read the articles

159 published works, 10 finalists, 1 big winnerNational Consumer Promo, fashion collection, TV ads, more

• Reach: 300.000 people• Creations: 300 submitted, 159 published• Creators: 100• Content: 15 articles on IQads• Votes: 12.000

Results: by vanity numbers

Case study: B52 Club The Next Day T-Shirt

Context

• The brandB52 Club celebrated 10 years of alternative fun in 2014.10 years of the alternative spirit permanently searching for expressionsthrough theatre, concerts and unrivalled parties.

• The challengeAfter 10 years of the alternative spirit, we know how it works:you come to B52, you forget to leave so you end up giving excuses for it. Let’s prevent this by creating the biggest collection of alternative excuses ready to use every time you go to B52.

• The taskGive us the coolest T-shirt with excuses: The next day T-shirt.The shirt that sais sorry with you or instead of you, seriously or jokingly.

• The rewardWe provoke you to find the most creative ways to express yourself through a strictly visual message, through typografy or visual + text.

1. We activated the platform, the brief, the template

Read the newsletter

2. We promoted the competition

3. The magic happened again:)

And again

• Reach: 300.000 people• Creations: 500 submitted, over 200 published• Creators: 200 out of which 70+ professionals• Content: 22 articles on IQads• Votes: 3.000• Likes + shares: 8.000+– 22 IQads articles: 2.000 likes + 1.000 shares– Times New Roman ad + post: 3.000 likes + 2.000 shares– Andrei Lăcătuș post 1 + post 2: 1.100 likes

Results: by vanity numbers

THE GUEST BRANDS:15 more creations from7 guest brandssee the brand creations

THE GUEST STARS:50 more creations from43 guest creativessee the guest creations

THE COMPETITION:211 creations selected from150 participantssee the competing creations

Results: by quality generation

EDITORIAL CAMPAIGN:22 dedicated materials on IQadsabout this competitionread the articles on IQads#tricouldeadouazi

Campaign

MEDIA CAMPAIGN:300.000 people reached from start to finish, via a dedicated media campaign,on IQads, 10 media partners, Google Ads, Facebook Ads

Some big names• Participants: Costina Dinulescu (senior art Geometry Global), Viorel Gheorghiu (art director DDB),

Dragoș Dogaru (art director ex Geometry Global, package designer, product designer), Claudiu Ciofiac (designer & art Springer & Jacoby), Tiberiu Ciucinciu (webdesigner Kubis), Radu Neguț (social media manager, F64), Dragoș Mihăilă (copywriter Intact Media), Șerban Costel (graphic designer, JustAD), Radu Otătărășanu (graphic designer, painter), Ionuț Popescu (designer), Giorge Roman (freelance illustrator), Bianca Urdea + Ionuț Roșca (web designer + hardware developer), Filip Letinu (illustrator), Alin Pătru (senior designer), Adrian Limbășan (senior graphic designer), Radu Perl (print designer, branding), Renate Elges (freelance jewel designer), Cătălina Miciu (editor, communicator), Adina Pițigoi (social media specialist), Radu Drăgan (photographer + designer), Adrian Lupu (designer), Mihai Marin (UX and web designer), Răzvan Vara (3D artist, architect), Silviu Crețu (arhitect & projections), Silviu Șoimu (freelance graphic designer), Ioana Popa (fashion designer), Sorina Voina (web designer), Sebastian Guzu (freelance designer).

• Guest stars: Mandra Chic, Semida Duriga (Freelancer), Matei Psatta (Leo Burnett Group),Sorin Psatta (BBDO), Ana Militaru (Geometry Global), Madalina Gogu (Geometry Global),Dana Pascu & Dragos Musat (Publicis), Alex Zamfir (funvertising), Stefan Voloaca (360 Revolution), Andrei Gurau (JANDL Bratislava), Calin Petrar & Sergiu Vasile (Times New Roman), Lavinia Gliga (Decat o Revista), Printoteca, Barbosi, Alexandru Nimurad, Sebastian Luca (Bast), Elena Manolache & Alina Ene (COOLTA), Iv cel Naiv, Andrei Cismaru (BitDefender), Cristi Florea (Kooperativa 2.0),, Costel Bojog (Costel Haha), Radu Alexandru (Pitici Gratis), Domnul Raul Gheba, Noeyepatch Wear+Teo, Rares Florin Stoica (actor), Ionut Niculae (actor), Bogdan Dumitrache (actor), Ioana Tanase Manufactory, Vali Petridean (illustrator), Hippos, Springer & Jacoby, Andrei Lacatus (Shurubel).

• Brands + agencies: Jagermeister + Next Advertising, AXN + ICON Advertising, Durex + pastel, Skittles + SeniorHyper, Avon + pastel, Jacobs + Cohn and Jansen JWT.

Winners

Radu Otătărășanugraphic designer, paintersee: creation | portfolio

Costina Dinulescusenior art Geometry Globalvezi: creation | portfolio

Ionuț Popescucoder, designersee: creation | portfolio

Giorge Romanfreelance illustratorsee: creation | portfolio

Viorel Gheorghiuart director DDBsee: creation | portfolio

Some creations by prosSee all creations in the competition

Bianca Urdea + Ionuț Roșcaweb designer + hardware developersee: creation | portfolio Bianca, portfolio Ionut

Some creations by pros

Dragoș Dogaruart director ex Geometry Global,package designer, product designersee: creation | portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Claudiu Ciofiacdesigner & art Springer & Jacobysee: creation| portfolio

Renate Elgesfreelance jewel designersee: creation| portfolio

Radu Perlprint designer, brandingsee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Adrian Limbășansenior graphic designersee: creation | portfolio

Some creations by pros

Alin Pătrusenior designersee: creation | portfolio

Filip Letinuillustratorsee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Cătălina Miciueditor, communicatorsee: creation| portfolio

Adina Pițigoisocial media specialistsee: creation| portfolio

Radu Neguțsocial media manager, F64see: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Șerban Costelgraphic designer, JustADsee: creation

Dragoș Mihăilăcopywriter Intact Mediasee: creation| bio

Radu Drăganphotographer + designersee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Răzvan Vara3D artist, architectsee: creation | portfolio

Adrian Lupudesignersee: creation | portfolio Mihai Marin

UX and web designersee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Ioana Popafashion designersee: creation | portfolio

Silviu Șoimufreelance graphic designersee: creation| portfolio

Silviu Crețuarhitect & projectionssee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by pros

Sorina Voinaweb designersee: creation| portfolio

Tiberiu Ciucinciuwebdesigner Kubissee: creation| portfolio

Sebastian Guzufreelance designersee: creation| portfolio

See all creations in the competition

Some creations by guest stars

Dana Pascuhead of strategy, Publicissee: the story

Ana Militarucopywriter, Geometry Globalsee: the story

Mândra Chicfashion designersee: the story

See all creations by the guest stars

Some creations by guest stars

Sebastian LucaIlustratorsee: creation| portfolio

Lavinia Gligaeditor in chief, Decât o revistăsee: creation | article

Raul Ghebastand-up comedian, Sector 7see: creation | story

See all creations by the guest stars

Some creations by brands

AXN Actionby Icon Advertisingsee: the story Jagermeister Party

by Next Advertisingsee: the story

Skittles Excuse by Senior Hypersee: the story

Jacobs Excuse by Cohn & Jansen JWTsee: the story

See all creations by the brands

IQads is the most important platform for creative industries & marcomm.Advertising, marketing and beyond. Online, events, social hub. For professionals and afficionados alike.

About IQads

We are 3 in 1: media brand, event maker and industry hub.

Media brand: We are digital natives, born online in 2002. Our daily content is at the intersection of advertising, marketing, creativity, art and culture.

Event maker: We connect the pros and the aficionados in several iconic series of events. Our 10+ yearly events go from creative competitions to unconventional events to conferences.

Marcomm hub: We gather people working in the industry as well as a general audience interested in creativity. Our connections form the industry’s intranet, helping partners connect to key people: from agency owners, executives and department managers to clients: brand, trade, product

About our activities

MEDIA BRAND EVENT MAKER MARCOMM HUB

Our audiencesWe are connecting, inspiring and entertaining the most creative people of Romania.

Our influential readers are hard to reach and harder to persuade:the first in their social spheres to find, comment and advise others about brands and their messages.

Core target audience:• Creativity enthusiasts: they regard ads as a form of entertainment, ads are conversation topics• Brand-aware: brands are important when making buying decisions• Work in dynamic industries: communication (advertising, PR, digital), marketing, IT, sales, etc.

or they are future professionals of these fields• Core: 18 – 28 years old, Extended: 16 – 35 years old

100.000unique monthly visitors

300.000monthly page views

25.000newsletter subscribers

120.000Facebook fans

Our projects

series of skill competitions for the advertising industry 3 DAYS 300 PARTICIPANTS 6 WEEKS 300.000 REACH

the event of branded entertainment and unconventional advertising 7 DAYS 7.000 PARTICIPANTS 8 WEEKS 500.000 REACH

platform for branded creative competitions: premium user generated content 8 WEEKS up to 200 CREATIONS 8 WEEKS 500.000 REACH

3 6 2 1

10

20

Brands and agencies benefit from partnering with the most authoritative voice for creative industries and marcomm.

Our partners

10

20

Brands and agencies can access the advertising and marketing industries (B2B) or demonstrate their platforms (B2C).

B2B

B2C

Let’s start your competition!

Marin Preda | Business Developer IQads + SMARK | Marin@IQads.ro | 0727842813