• Reuters , Monday, June 26, 2006 11:30 AM

And the winner is....Guinness! There are so many award competitions out there that it's hard to keep track of them all. But one of them tends to stand out among its peers, garnering more attention and conveying more prestige than all the others, which is why marketers should take note of it. It's the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France, and it's considered the Oscars of the worldwide advertising industry. Each year, thousands of ad executives from around the world converge on the French Riviera to hold seminars, watch thousands of ads, party hearty into the early morning hours, and present coveted awards called Lions. There are many categories--but only one single TV ad gets the most coveted prize of all, the Grand Prix. This year's winner was a TV spot for Guinness that spins evolution backwards to celebrate the patience needed to enjoy the slow-pouring stout. "It's an ad that celebrates a truth about the beer, it does it in a surprising way, it's entertaining, visually it's outstanding, and it's cheeky," jury president David Droga said. "It was compelling advertising. People thought it was a triumphant return for a great campaign." The Guinness ad was created by the London office of Abbott Mead Vickers. BBDO, a division of Omnicom Group. It shows three men drinking pints of the creamy brew before they back out of a pub and travel through prior millennia until winding up as primordial ooze sipping from the mud--all set to Sammy Davis Jr.'s up-tempo "Rhythm of Life." It ends with the company's renowned tagline, "Good things come to those who wait. "

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