Helsinki Holiday

First of all, if you're ever in a karaoke bar in Helsinki at 2 am in the depths of December, Duran Duran's "Rio" is a huge crowd-pleaser. Second, if you're slated to sing gentle Oreo songs in front of 250 people at 2 pm the next day, belting out 80's tracks at the top of your lungs the night before is hugely stupid. Fortunately for me, a good portion of the audience at my Eurobest session seemed to have been in that karaoke bar with me, so when my voice cracked like a boy in the throes of puberty, it was met with sympathy. Maybe even approval. If there's one thing the Finns admire, it's the ability to drink whatever's put in front of you.

But if there's another thing they admire, it's creativity. Finland—and really, the whole Nordic / Scandinavian region that includes Norway, Sweden, and Denmark too—is, at the moment, probably the most design-savvy, teched-up, dialed-in place in the universe, which made Helsinki an ideal place for a conference dedicated to showcasing the coolest work coming out of Europe. Held in the Aalto-designed Finlandia Hall, Eurobest was four solid days of meeting people with names that had no vowels (i.e., "Pyry") and seeing work that I wish I'd done. Simple, elegant, brilliantly executed stuff that reminded me of why we do what we do.

There was the "direct mail" campaign for Audi that sent mysterious cubes to prospects. Push a button, and a timer starts counting down from 90 minutes. When it hits zero, an Audi A8 arrives in your driveway and it's yours for 24 hours (18% of prospects bought the $100,000+ car).

There was the Google stadium wrap for Manchester United that used webcams to broadcast the cheers of fans in distant lands directly to players on the pitch.

There was the branded content series out of Spain in which a fictional ad agency makes ads for real brands, who essentially bankroll the production—ads that are far more creative and edgy than the brands would normally be able to do.

And then, there were a couple old-school TV spots that were simply stunning. A spot called "The Leap" for Lacoste, out of Paris, brilliantly dramatized the inner struggle of a guy as he decides to tell a woman he loves her; it was simultaneously ultra-stylish and emotionally moving. Yep, a heartwarming fashion ad. That can happen.

Of course, since I was showing work, Eurobest was also a chance for me and Dean to see how the rest of the world reacts to the work we make here at Martin. I wish everyone could have seen the smiles on people's faces when they saw the Oreo work animated down at Hue & Cry, or the new Walmart holiday spot that Deb Hagan CD'd (although, Finland being the birthplace of the Santa Claus legend, a good Christmas spot was bound to go over big). It's always been a strength of Martin to make work that speaks to a broad audience, but you realize just how broad that audience really is when you're making Estonians giggle.

Sadly, I didn't make it to an authentic Finnish sauna. I didn't eat reindeer meat, although we saw it on a menu or two. And while I did catch a glimpse of Santa—he was hanging out near a big H&M store—I can't say with certainly that he wasn't an imposter.

But I can say that inspiring, surprising, brave, innovative and delightful ideas are alive and well in the frozen north. And thankfully, back here at home too.