The room is quiet and all eyes in the room are set on the upcoming player as he approaches the pool table.

He stands still to cast his eye across the pool-ball covered velvet.

The player leans over the table to get into position.

He takes aim for a moment and proceeds to make the shot.

In a blink of an eye, the pool-ball lands in its intended pocket; the 90-people strong crowd roars and soon returns to its casual chatting and drinking.

Being the Adelaide Advertising & Design Club’s (AADC) Pool Night, most people in attendance are either from the advertising or design industry.

The room is buzzing with the sound of people discussing the latest in industry news, innovation or creativity.

AADC Events Committee member and Creative Services Manager & Producer at Jamshop Advertising, Ms Anna Bardsley-Jones, said the Pool Night was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to mingle and we were fortunate to see so many people attend and support us.

“To build on the hype and excitement of the event last year, we created an ad campaign in order to continue to excite current members while also informing the industry about the event.”

‘What would you do to win?’ was the theme of the campaign in question and featured pool players or specifically ‘pool sharks’ working in an advertising agency in a very pool player-like manner.

Jamshop Advertising, one of Adelaide’s top advertising agencies and AADC platinum sponsor, was the creative brain behind the campaign.

The creative team was made up of Jamshop’s Art Director Kent O’Halloran and Copywriter Chris Plummer with KOJO’s Creative Director Mike Wilson a contributing member too.

The creative team recruited highly touted director Richard Coburn and award winning cinematographer Aaron Gully to shot one teaser and one full-length ad with RMT providing professional talent and Colour Cosmetica responsible for hair and makeup – professional stills were shot at KOJO and Lane Print.

According Ms Bardsley-Jones, the ad campaign turned was a massive success:

“We pulled together three still shots and one video and sent them via eDM to members and potential members from the advertising and design industry,” Ms Bardsley-Jones said.

“When we released the Pool Night teaser video [insert link] in the week of the event, our records indicated we had an increase in ticket purchases of more than eighty per cent,” she said.

Given the increase in ticket sales for the Pool Night, there seems to be a definite interest among industry members and affiliates for these type of events and at our core we, as advertisers, appreciate quality advertising.

Michael Rogers, AADC Co-President and Cutler Innovative Print Solutions General Manager, concedes that an ad campaign like for the pool night has been a long time coming and admits that these sort of events are not only beneficial but necessary for the Club and the local industry itself.

“We follow the mantra that the club is shifting to meet industry and market needs but there definitely is room for social events,” Mr Rogers said.

“We see these as a creative space where like-minded people can get together and share ideas in a relaxed environment.

“These events benefit the state overall so members can network and build support,” he said.

Be sure to be on the look out for the next series of ads to be released for the AADC Annual Awards, to be held on Thursday 18 September. Ms Bardsley-Jones states that the campaign will be even,”bigger and better”, with the same creative team working on the project.