Leo Burnett WW and Contagious Tell Wildfire Stories

Leo Burnett WW and Contagious Tell Wildfire Stories

CANNES, France, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Leo Burnett Worldwide and Contagious packed the house at their fourth annual Wildfire seminar today at the Cannes International Advertising Festival. "Wildfire Stories: Pass it On" examined how for years, ancient narrative techniques from cave paintings to Confucian sayings have inspired the advertising industry, and concluded that at heart - we're all storytellers. The team also explained how seven different types of narrative - seven basic plot types - have influenced today's advertising. The team made their annual list of Wildfire Brands based on this list, to demonstrate how these narrative formats play out in today's hyper-connected, always-on, non-linear world.

The seven narrative formats as identified by British journalist Christopher Booker are: Comedy, Tragedy, Overcoming the Monster, Voyage and Return, Quest, Rags to Riches and Rebirth. The Wildfire Brands associated with each were: CompareTheMarket.com "Compare the Meerkat," (VCCP London); The Dark Knight "Why So Serious?" (42 Entertainment Los Angeles); Doritos "Slow Dance" (BBDO Argentina); Sagami Condoms "Love Distance" (GT Tokyo); Adidas "Every Team Needs" (180 Amsterdam); James Ready Beer "Keep James Ready a Buck" (Leo Burnett Toronto) and Yellow "Treehouse" (Aim Proximity New Zealand), respective to each category.

Wildfire Stories: Pass it On

"The Wildfire Brands we saw this year engaged the audience from multiple degrees and most importantly, took chances that prove we're still developing some of the 'tried and true' narrative formats," commented Mark Tutssel, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide. "Today's seminar demonstrated how digital technology allows for more immersive, textured stories than ever before - while proving that since the beginning of civilization, people have always loved passing along great content."

Presenting were Paul Kemp-Robertson, Editorial Director and Co-founder, Contagious magazine; Kevin Flatt, EVP, Executive Creative Director of the Digital Practice, Leo Burnett USA and Marc Giusti, Group Chief Digital Officer, Leo Burnett London. In an interactive twist, the three speakers practiced what they preached, encouraging the audience to vote via text messages and Twitter on the brand with the best story ever. An online vote prior to the seminar constructed a shortlist of six brands - Coca-Cola, MINI, McDonald's, Guinness, Virgin Atlantic and Apple. Almost 10 votes per minute in what was a tight race. The ultimate winner, according to the assembled audience of global advertising professionals, was Apple.

About Wildfire -- http://wildfire09.tumblr.com/

'Wildfire' was first co-presented by Burnett and Contagious magazine in 2006, at Cannes. Since then, the industry has been exposed to the notion of 'Ideas that Spread and Sell,' in hundreds of venues worldwide.

About Leo Burnett Worldwide - www.leoburnett.com

Leo Burnett Company, Inc., comprising the Leo Burnett brand agency and marketing partner Arc Worldwide, is one of the world's largest agency networks and a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe (www.publicisgroupe.com), the world's fourth-largest communications company. Leo Burnett holds people at the center of its strategic thinking, technological innovation and creative ideas, focusing first and foremost on human behavior before attempting to tell a brand's story.

With this approach, Leo Burnett ensures that people who buy into client brands believe in them all the more. With expertise in mass advertising and digital, promotional and retail marketing, Leo Burnett partners with blue-chip clients such as The Coca-Cola Company, Diageo, Kellogg, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Samsung. The company has won more advertising awards for campaign effectiveness than any other agency in the last six years in the U.S., has been heralded as a "pioneer on the frontier of marketing" and continues to be ranked as one of the world's top five creatively awarded networks worldwide.

About Contagious - www.contagiousmagazine.com

Contagious is a quarterly magazine and DVD, a weekly newsletter, an information feed, an events organiser and a brand consultancy investigating the latest and most innovative exercises in branding, design, technology and popular culture. It is widely regarded as a leading authority in non-traditional marketing exercises, and the Contagious team has a genuine passion and enthusiasm for tracking the changes in today's diverse media climate. Contagious is published by Xtreme Information.

Source: Leo Burnett Worldwide

CONTACT: Abby Lovett of Leo Burnett Worldwide, Cannes, +1-773-957-6043,
Chicago, +1-312-220-4182, Abby.Lovett@leoburnett.com

Web Site: http://www.leoburnett.com/
http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/
http://wildfire09.tumblr.com/

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