Reklamcupen: In the Name of Creativity

Since 2004, Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter has given an award for the most creative advertisement for a particular brand with a special kind of competition. The contest, called Reklamcupen, is designed like an athletic tournament, with the first round finishing today, July 21. Two ads compete against each other in a total of 10 matches, then it's time for the next round, then the quarter finals, the semifinals and the final. This year for the first time a competing ad can be from a campaign that is currently underway, but the actual entry must be new and have not been published earlier.

"We want to strike a blow for creative brand advertising in the newspaper. Simply put, we want to raise the creativity level of advertising," says Henrik Stangel, advertising manager for Dagens Nyheter, who works with the Reklamcupen. "There's been a hunger for this kind of competition, which gives advertising agencies a chance to challenge their customers - and since it isn't an entire campaign, they can be a bit daring. And it's been easy to get good entries."

The Reklamcupen takes place during a time of year in Sweden when advertising tends to be on vacation like the rest of the country. The contest is a way of making room for creativity while also bringing in advertisers to Dagens Nyheter. The entry fee is SEK 90,000, which is paid by the customer, with the advertising agencies offering their services for free.

"We get a lot of attention in the trade newspapers Resumé and Dagens Media," says Stangel.

Stangel is part of the jury, along with Dagens Nyheter's Editor-in-Chief Gunilla Herlitz and representatives from ad agencies. The jury decides the winners up until the final, when instead Dagens Nyheter readers get to vote in the winner. The final will be held August 22.

The number of entires have increased for each tournament, and this year 32 ads are competing - the maximum possible. "Earlier we have had 24-28 entries but this year we had to say no to four ads that wanted to compete," says Stangel.

During Stangel's four years at Dagens Nyheter, he has had a chance to develop the concept further. "In January we had a digital Reklamcup for the first time," he says. "For the web, January is comparable to summertime for printed daily newspapers in having fewer ads."

New for this year, the competition will include a bigger event for when the prize is awarded at the Fotografiska photography museum, which will include as well seminars about creative photography. The winning entry will receive up to five insertions on page three, five or seven in the newspaper. Also this year the winning agency will receive a trip to New York for a seminar in New York together with the client and respresentatives from Dagens Nyheter.