White Square | Белый Квадрат

White Square is one of the international creativity festivals recognised throughout the world, which contests cover the entire spectrum of the communications industry:

CREATIVE
BRANDING
DIGITAL
MEDIA
MARKETING SERVICES
MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS
CRAFT

For more than 15 years White Square Festival has been promoting creativity, supporting fresh ideas and uniting people in the communications industry around the world. Every year agencies and brands from more than 35 countries, including Europe, USA, China, MENA region, CIS countries, Asia, Latin America and others, take part in the Festival, demonstrating innovative solutions and ideas that change the world for the better, in return receiving inspiration for development and professional evaluation by the international jury of the Festival.

The deadline for entries submission is May 3, 2024.

White Square jury is annually represented by professionals with numerous awards for their outstanding projects in the sphere of marketing and communications. White Square jury members are only experienced experts, jurors of prestigious creativity festivals all over the world. In 2024 White Square contest entries will be judged by six main jury line-ups:

CREATIVE JURY is judging CREATIVE contest: Film, Print, Radio & Audio, Outdoor, Integrated, Branded Content & Entertainment, Creative Use of Media.

BRANDING JURY is judging BRANDING contest: Communication Design, Packaging Design, Digital & Interactive Design.

MARKETING & DIGITAL JURY is judging MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS, MARKETING SERVICES, DIGITAL contests: Marketing Effectiveness, Brand Experience & Activation, PR, Direct, Campaigns: Sectors, Innovations, Digital, Mobile, Social & Influencer, Creative Data.

MEDIA JURY is judging MEDIA contest: Channels, Excellence in Media, Media Campaign.

CRAFT JURY is judging CRAFТ contest: Film Craft, Print & Outdoor Craft, Excellence in Radio & Audio.

MASS MEDIA JURY is judging MASS MEDIA contest: Communication, Digital & Mobile, Reach, Integrated Campaigns, Change for Good. Brands, Change for Good. Nonprofit, Charity, Government.

Evaluation of entries is held in two stages: at the first stage jury members evaluate the entries by themselves on the official website of the festival via personal jury member account and the second stage is held in the format of all-hand online meeting of all jury members of the category, with an open discussion of entries and voting for shortlists and awards of the Festival. The entries of participants can be awarded special prizes according to the jury's decision. The main criteria for evaluating entries is the creative idea and its execution. In some contests, one of the key criteria is the effectiveness of creative solutions.

Annually the jury members emphasize the excellence and diversity of White Square entries.

Ali Rez, Executive Creative Director of Impact BBDO MENA, UAE, who was repeatedly a chairman of the White Square Creative jury: "Advertising festivals are extremely useful because they not only promote creativity as an industry, but also inspire and motivate creatives to create all the best projects. This is the wave that lifts all boats. White Square annually demonstrates a collection of the best works that certainly deserve recognition and promotion."

Riccardo Rachello, Senior Art Director of Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdamagency, Netherlands, who was a member of the White Square jury: "In my opinion, festivals are an excellent opportunity to take a break and measure the pulse of the industry. I think in any field of activity there is time for action and time to weigh what has been done in order to evaluate your next steps. For a creative, working in a jury is a great chance to move away from their own evaluation criteria and see what the industry is guided by, drawing a line between outstanding works and not so good ones. A big plus of White Square for me personally is that here you can see works that are not always understood to people from Amsterdam, but are created in and for another culture. For the industry as a whole, festivals are the place where works that will become benchmarks for next year are awarded, the time when the industry is thinking about which direction to go in order to match the time”.

Tommaso Mezzavilla, Executive digital Creative Director of ROBILANT ASSOCIATI, Italy, who was a member of the White Square jury: "For me, participation in the advertising festival means an excellent opportunity to share experiences, establish contacts and develop: this is exactly what happens on White Square. Share experiences on White Square. You see thousands of works, you exchange the vision of the future, the role of creativity, creative ideas with people with representatives of the advertising industry from all over the world. Make contacts on White Square. This is one of the best places I've ever been to expand my network of contacts. Every year I meet wonderful creatives, talented young people, innovative managers here, and some of them become not even connections, but friends!"

Folker Wrage, founder of Wrage / Antwort, Switzerland, who has been a member of the jury of the Festival on several occasions: "White Square is truly dedicated to giving each participant the opportunity to learn as much as possible during three inspiring and insight-filled days. I know of no festival more focused on inspiration and education than White Square. That's why I always try to find a way to be here."

Daniele Fiandaca, founder of Token Man Consulting, Great Britain: "Festivals like White Square are sources of inspiration. And considering that diversity lies at the very heart of creativity, I enjoyed discovering gems there that are sometimes lost at other festivals due to cultural differences."

Fernando Pérez, Senior Designer at Interbrand, Spain: "White Square is a meeting place for minds and creatives, where heads and hearts unite for innovative and bold moves. I hope to convey my vision and experience of combining strategy and creativity from the stage of White Square in order to inspire the participants to take significant steps."

Francesco Guerrera, Chief Creative Director, Different, Italy, who has repeatedly been a member of the jury of White Square Festival: "The presence of festivals is our huge advantage as an industry, because culture is the last barrier against ignorance that we all see on social networks and around us. Festivals are one of our most important values. White Square is vital for the region as a breath of fresh air and a new look from the outside. It was the same in Italy 5 years ago, when we decided to establish the IF! festival, thanks to which the reputation of the industry has grown significantly today."

Christoph Nann, General Creative Director of FCB Hamburg, Germany: "There are places where the concentration of inspiration is off the scale. Where there is so much inspiration that it seems as if you are breathing not air, but ideas. An example of such places are advertising festivals, and especially judging rooms. For the creative, this is the best "food" that can only be. That's why I love working in the jury so much and that's especially why I'm waiting for White Square".

Nikolina Popovic, Creative Director of Grey MENA, UAE: "I believe in the power of creativity. Undoubtedly, he drives business, influences the development of culture and changes the world. Therefore, advertising festivals are a pure concentrate of amazing results in business, culture and the creative industry. It's like continuously injecting first-class creativity intravenously for several days. You increase your ambitions and expand your horizons. This is exactly what happens at White Square, and even more. The festival is organized in such a way that all participants are closely connected with each other throughout the time, whether they are members of the jury or accredited delegates. Today it is priceless. Being a Slavic soul, I enjoyed the festival and bringing cultural values to advertising."

Michelangelo Cianciosi, Executive Creative Director of DigitalGo, Italy: "If it is true that genius is 1% talent and inspiration and 99% hard work, then this one percent is absolutely important! Advertising festivals in general, and such young and innovative ones as White Square in particular, are just the places where I look for inspiration and (why not?) becoming a muse for others!"

Steve Colmar, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Groupe Portugal: "It's easy to forget that advertising festivals are more than just awarding the best entries. Most often we focus on recognizing entries, congratulating their creators, celebrating the contribution of brands and rejoicing in the evolution of our industry. To be honest, I personally see the role of festivals not only in this. Festivals are always an exchange of experience, different points of view, new approaches to work, and, of course, interesting people we meet here. Every meeting is a chance to improve yourself. And thus create the future of the industry. Therefore, it is safe to say that the White Square has a high mission: to build a bridge between advertisers and marketers, to create a space where all of us together can create an open future for brands."

Sergio Spaccavento, Chief Creative Director of Digitouch mkgt agency, Italy, who has repeatedly been a member of the jury of White Square Festival: "Whoever wins - benefits, whoever loses - benefits doubly, because he will work even harder. White Square is an ideal place where you can see creativity, good people, successful ideas, as well as those who are motivated by all this to do a better job in the future."

István Bracsok, Executive Creative Director and founder of White Rabbit Budapest, Hungary: "In a nutshell: if there were no Olympic Games, could someone run 100 meters in less than 10 seconds? In more detail, creative work is the main task of agencies. That is why creativity is the most important criterion for making a decision on choosing an agency. Clients are looking for someone who could offer innovative ideas, impulses and innovative thoughts that they themselves could not come to. Ultimately, prestigious festivals of creativity, such as the White Square, serve as a demonstration of the fulfillment of this main industrial task. Creative awards turn agencies into successful agencies. And they make them more attractive to new creative employees, who in turn will be able to improve the quality of the agencies' work. I know many will disagree. But hey, I'm a CCO! And what would happen to our industry if creative leaders stopped believing in the power of creativity!"

The Gunn Report representatives, who visited White Square, noted the high level of entries, the judging panel and the festival's organization.

White Square Festival is included in the rankings:
global creativity ranking AdForum Business Creative Report;
TopFice ranking;
creativity ranking of Central Asian countries;
ETKAL ranking.

The winners of White Square Festival are published annually on the official website of the Festival and numerous industrial mass media around the world. Publications contribute to the promotion of agencies and the best creative ideas in the international community.

The business and educational program of White Square Festival is full of various master classes, seminars, panel discussions about the latest trends in marketing, branding, digital. The headliners are internationally recognized personalities in the communications industry from different countries, creators of successful brand promotion projects, jury members, participants and mass media representatives.

The participants of the Festival business program are able to gain advanced knowledge and creative solutions to promote their brands and increase business competitiveness. Master classes of the speakers are based on real cases and inspire participants to make new successful projects and achievements in the field of marketing and advertising.

All the participants of the Festival are provided with an opportunity to watch the rubric Education & Inspiration - master classes and lectures of White Square Festival:

DANNY JIA

Secretary General, China Advertising Association Digital Metaverse Committee, CHINA