New at Eurobest 2012

The Independent Agency of the Year accolade will be presented to the highest-ranked independent agency that has amassed the most points across all the entry sections at the Festival - Branded Content & Entertainment, Craft-Film, Craft-Print & Poster, Design, Direct, Film, Integrated, Interactive, Media, Mobile, Outdoor, PR, Promo & Activation, Print and Radio. Recognising the spirit of creative entrepreneurship, points will accrue on all shortlisted and winning entries by agencies that are not majority owned by a major holding company.

The Golden Palm Award will be presented to the most awarded production company in the Film and Film Craft sections. The award will be calculated on a points basis, with different values attributed to each award and shortlist place: 10 points for a Grand Prix, 7 points for a Gold Eurobest, 5 points for a Silver, 3 for a Bronze, and 1 point for a shortlist entry.

As Eurobest continues to build on its commitment to provide a unique learning and inspirational programme for young talent, this year two new Academies will launch:

The Eurobest Academy for Young Marketers offers young professionals (30 years or younger), working for client companies a unique insight into creativity in communications, a perfect way for the next generation of client marketing talent to genuinely get to grips with the way how creativity can be applied to their marketing strategies. Guided by an industry expert, the three-day course is designed for advertising managers, brand managers, business development managers, communications managers, marketing managers, media managers and sales managers. Some topics covered over the three-day Academy include: Why creativity matters for today's successful brands; Creative effectiveness; The impact of digital; The 'modern' brand; and Managing the creative process and the client-agency relationship.

The Eurobest Young Suits Academy is an exciting programme designed to inspire and equip the continent's young agency account executives (28 years or younger) to lead and achieve ground-breaking creativity for their clients and their companies. Providing the inspiration, insights and hands-on tools of the trade to lead, motivate and sell, the program will cover topics including: Leading the Team - Creating a bravery culture; Digging for the Gold - Unearthing the motivating desire for the brand and client; The Killer Brief - Creating the idea, for the idea; Spotting the Genius - Inspiring idea development; Bringing it Home - Selling your idea to win; and

Making it Great - Executing the "product" as big as the idea.

This new Young Suits academy will be guided by veteran ad man Kevin Allen. Recognised as one of the advertising industry's most accomplished growth professionals, Kevin has spent more than 20 years at McCann Erickson, the Interpublic Group and Lowe Worldwide. Kevin led the creation of the transformative 'Priceless' campaign for MasterCard, alongside efforts for other brands including AT&T, General Electric, JP Morgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, The Ritz-Carlton, Smith Barney and Wendy's.

Commenting on the innovations, Philip Thomas, Festival CEO, says, "As we look to the future, Eurobest not only honours the agencies and production companies that are paving the way forward with their innovative ideas and techniques, but is also fully committed to ensure that the new generation of marketers and account managers benefit from the rich offerings of the event and are wholly integrated into the creative process of brand communications."

To view the complete rules on the Independent Agency of the Year and Golden Palm Awards or to participate in any of the two new Eurobest Academies, please visit www.eurobest.com. Register to attend before 26 October and enjoy an early bird saving of €100 off the full delegate fee. Eurobest will take place from 28-30 November in Lisbon, Portugal.

Key dates:

Delegate registration now open
Entries now open
Entries deadline extended to 19 October
Festival dates: 28-30 November 2012, São Jorge Cinema
Eurobest Awards and After Party: 30 November 2012, Pátio da Galé

For further information, please visit www.eurobest.com.