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Cannes takeaways: the beach areas got bigger and better… As normal daily life resumes MoreAboutAdvertising spoke to various industry voices about their key insights from visiting Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024. Sophy Vanner Critoph Critoph, Head of Strategy, Culture & Communications, Amplify commented: “Brands stepped it up; the programming was far more interesting, and the experiences more engaging. The focus of the programming has shifted towards people and cultural relevance, prioritising why people care about advertising over mere creativity for its own sake.” MoreAboutAdvertising also heard from Patrick Garvey from WE ARE Pi; Melis Adigüzel-Tripp from Jung von Matt; David Juul Ledstrup from Kubbco - Creative Agency; James Kirkham from ICONIC and Léoda Esteve from Marcel. “The competition is harder than ever.” “The creators are coming.” “If I don’t mention AI, have I even been to Cannes?” Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eV-rZ8zP #creativity | #design | #community | #content | #brandexperience | #experiencedesign | #experientialmarketing | #Cannes | #Canneslions

Cannes takeaways: the beach areas got bigger and better… As normal daily life resumes MoreAboutAdvertising spoke to various industry voices about their key insights from visiting Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024. Sophy Vanner Critoph, Head of Strategy, Culture & Communications, Amplify commented: “Brands stepped it up; the programming was far more interesting, and the experiences more engaging. The focus of the programming has shifted towards people and cultural relevance, prioritising why people care about advertising over mere creativity for its own sake.” More About Advertising also heard from Patrick Garvey from WE ARE Pi; Melis Adigüzel-Tripp from Jung von Matt; David Juul Ledstrup from Kubbco - Creative Agency; James Kirkham from ICONIC and Léoda Esteve from Marcel. “The competition is harder than ever.” “The creators are coming.” “If I don’t mention AI, have I even been to Cannes?” Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e6cvkxEF #creativity | #design | #community | #content | #brandexperience | #experiencedesign | #experientialmarketing | #Cannes | #Canneslions

Topics considered polarizing will likely not find centerstage at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of the 4A's, put it like this: “People like to go [to Cannes] and escape and avoid the realities of what's going on in the world for a few days. There's so much that we're all dealing with as an industry…but if [people] have a glass rosé in their hand, they're really not going to want to get into a serious discussion about it. We're in an industry where it's easy for people to put blinders on and not really think about those things." Read more on Campaign US: https://bit.ly/3zfw8Kc #canneslions #cannes #cannesfilmfestival #cannesfrance #advertising #marketing #cannesisyours #cannesfestival #festivaldecannes #creative #creativity

I don't really care about the Cannes Lions you've won 🦁. Sure, I'm happy for anyone who won a Cannes Lion. My LinkedIn feed is stuffed with people who won one of the prestigious awards at the advertising festival in Cannes. Some are disappointed that they didn't get a nomination. Others proudly post pictures where they show their lion statue. It's just that awards in general have no meaning for me anymore. Here's why: * Most of the work is fake. And you all know it 😂. * Most of the work is formula work. Clichés where social responsibility makes up for the thin creative idea. * The work that really deserved an award, without a social background and that is made for a real client (for example The Bigger Draw made by Jung von Matt SPORTS) already has had such enormous exposure that it doesn't need a Cannes Lion. The common reaction: "You're just being jealous" Well, I've had my fair share of awards, moments in the spotlights and I've been to Cannes numerous times. It's enough. My best idea of my career was to become a freelancer and start living the life that I actually wanted. So this is why I'm in Argentina now. This is why I go out dancing at least 3 times a week. I eat steak in restaurants instead of sushi at my office desk. I can live from the regular income I gain from ghostwriting LinkedIn posts. In fact, my LinkedIn feed gives me more fame and opportunities to make a difference than all my award-winning work combined. I still work for agencies now and then. But only the ones that I like and that value my work. A well-meant congratulations to all the winners. Sometimes this is the only way the ad industry recognizes your hard work. But maybe at some, point you'll start to think bigger. #canneslions #creativity #freelancecopywriter #freelancewriter

"You don't need the ad industry, the ad industry needs you" Last week I had one of the most interesting videocalls ever with multi-award winning Global Creative Director Jeremy Perrott who told me "Cannes is the poor man's Hollywood. All we have is Cannes and the festival is handing out awards like Oprah Winfrey handed out cars in her General Motor promotion." Then I got the result of my poll about the relevance of award shows: * 2% said award shows are good like this. * 67% said they need to improve. * 31% said they need to go. You can't argue about an outcome like this. It seems that award shows as they are now are on the verge of imploding. It might start with creatives rejecting awards and agencies not sending in anymore. But maybe things are not going to change. There's a serious business behind award shows and both agencies and awards festivals sustain it all. I'd say: do what makes you happy. I understand how great it feels to climb up the stage and receive an award for the work you've done. But the revenue of winning an award has decreased, up to a point where it seems to be a bad investment. Especially in a time where there are alternatives to get the attention you need. What about concentrating on a better presence on social media? What about going for an Emmy or a Nobel Prize? Or winning a dancing competition? The quote in the headline also comes from Jeremy. In my own words this would be: You don't need recognition from the ad industry. If you have a true passion for your work, you've got something valuable to offer. #canneslions #creativity #advertising #copywriting #recognition

How do copywriters cool off after a long day at Cannes? They take an ad-break! Here's a "quirk" timeline of the evolution of the festival of creativity: 1954: Some Ad folks got jealous of Cannes Film Festival, so they made their own party in Venice. 187 commercials competed to be the least skippable. Then they picked a lion as a trophy because even in 1954, people would rather watch lions than commercials. 1984: The festival finally settles in Cannes. Apparently, they chose the place with the best beaches for nursing hangovers and egos. 1987: French businessman Roger Hatchuel takes control of the festival aiming to modernize it..by adding seminars and workshops. Nothing says "party in the South of France" like PowerPoint presentations. 1995: Cannes Lions launches Young Creatives competition for under-30s. Finally, a chance for millennials to win something other than participation trophies. 2004: EMAP buys the festival for $52 million. Apparently, overpriced wine and sunburned creatives are a hot commodity. 2011: WPP wins first Holding Company of the Year award. 2013: Festival expands to 130 sessions. "Dumb Ways to Die" campaign wins big, proving that even in advertising, Darwin Awards are achievable. 2017: Big agencies complain festival is too expensive. Organizers respond by cutting days and categories. "Cyber Lions" retired, much to the relief of confused boomers everywhere. 2020: Pandemic hits. Festival goes virtual. Attendees miss out on French beaches but save a fortune on sunscreen. 2022: Festival returns in-person. 11,000 people attend, proving that not even a global pandemic can keep advertisers from maxing out their company credit cards. 2024: Cannes Lions decides saving the world is trendy. Agencies scramble to turn their beer ads into climate change PSAs. And AI wins "Most Human" category. Congrats to the 2024 Lions winners! You've set the bar so high, next year's creatives are already planning their sick days to avoid the pressure. #cannes #festivalofcreativity

There are broadly, two categories of creative people. The Cannes-dissers (who have never won a Lion, but secretly want to) And the Cannes Chasers (who have won, or want to win one) And there are enough in both these categories making poignant arguments about whether the entire thing is a scam, or it's legit. I have no idea. I'm just a guy with a (true) story. I was working at an advertising agency. And Cannes was around the corner. The creative department was tizzy with nervousness because the big boss was going to be doing a creative review and deciding what work would be entered, and what would not. All the work was printed, mounted on white boards and laid out to an OCD-like perfection on the conference room table for the big boss to come and review. Some senior people, including me, were in that room, privy to what was going on, and grateful for the opportunity to watch this happen. The boss came. Did his rounds. Saw the work. Then saw them again. Sticky notes were kept handy for him to mark the ones that would be sent. There was one piece of work in particular, that he was very excited about. On this, he didn't put a sticky note. Instead, he picked it up, and motioned for the team who created it to come into his room, along with their team members. In his room, he laid out the work again, looked at it carefully. Then got out his mobile and called someone. (I was there when this happened). He called a gentleman who was a part of the managing committee at Cannes. He said (and I paraphrase here) "I'm sending you a piece of work. This needs to win." (There was a bit of small talk that happened before and after). At Cannes that year, that campaign won a Gold. Shocked? Don't be, please. Cannes, like every other award show in the world, at the end of the day, is a for-profit business. In 2022 for example, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity generated nearly 43 million British pounds in revenue. 43 MILLION pounds. The agency I was at, was just one branch. Imagine how much they would be spending on entries. And then multiply that by the number of branches there are in India. And then multiply that, by the number of branches there are in the world. That's how much the agency's contribution is to the 43 million. Now, does this story prove that Cannes is a scam? Absolutely not. The world unfortunately isn't black and white. Sure, this particular incident may have been a little scammy. But I know of thousands of other pieces that won because they were so fucking good. Entries from smaller, unheard of agencies. At the end of the day, it really falls on you. If you want to play this game or not. As someone who's won awards, I can tell you that the feeling of being recognized on the global stage is something that's unmatched. (I've never won a Cannes, but I got taken there because of an ad I had written). And if you don't want to play this game, that's fine too. You do you.

Love it or hate it, Cannes Lions is back again. It's been quite a while since I last chatted with friends about this with a glass of rose in my hand at the world's biggest creative advertising festival, but the same old debate persists: is it a blessing for professionals or an evil business venture that misses the mark on real marketing value? I never liked black-and-white arguments, but for me, the most important thing is that this industry treats itself in a way that justifies a festival. Awards are a great motivation for creatives, and I wouldn't take that opportunity away. However, the rules and unspoken agreements on judging criteria could be criticized. First of all, I don't think Cannes should be about effectiveness. It may sound outrageous, but in my opinion, a creative festival should celebrate ideas and craftsmanship. Marketing communication is an applied art form (when done well), but that doesn't mean a beautiful idea can't be awarded if it doesn't dominate the sales metrics. If we only award things that "work better than others," we wouldn't need a festival. We could simply compare excel charts and send a Lion to the campaign with the best numbers. Second, the world is increasingly focused on pure popularity—in social media, politics, and many other fields—and I don't think that's a good thing. Curation by respected creative professionals is what sets a festival apart from an automated dashboard of performance metrics. In fact, the further we move from prioritizing effectiveness, the better we can inspire creatives to come up with fresh ideas that push culture forward, rather than just repeating existing memes or meeting category requirements. I won't go into the topic of scam ads versus "real" campaigns now; maybe next time. What do you think? How much weight should judges give to campaign effectiveness at Cannes?

Day 3 at Cannes Lions has provided some great insights on leveraging systems and tools to scale creativity and innovation. One of the key takeaways is the importance of empowering participation. By shifting roles within brands, we enable everyone to contribute, democratizing creativity and fostering a richer tapestry of ideas and innovation. This may mean designers write copy and copywriters can ideate on designs. And this was really fascinating—a new idea of blending brand consistency with individual creativity. By creating unique versions of a brand while staying true to its core, we can foster a mix of brand and individuality. This approach allows for individual uniqueness while maintaining brand integrity. Finally, the need for careful curation of taste and quality is more important than ever. With the sheer volume of content and visuals being produced, maintaining high standards ensures that quality isn’t sacrificed for quantity. Essentially, moving away from brand standards as a “control mechanism” to creating standards that allow more people to express the brand while maintaining consistency and brand ethos. #CannesLions #CreativityUnleashed #Innovation 💡

I bet you haven’t seen this Latin American campaign yet 🌞 Cool Fresh (Soda brand) “Coolpable” / “Guilty” by Digitas Perú. A courtroom. A young man pleads guilty. To what crime? Who cares? :) What matters is the pun. Guilty in Spanish is “culpable,” which is very close to - surprise -  “COOLpable” (notice the product name?) Then, the ad closes: “The only rule is that you never stop trying, which is why Cool Fresh brings you two new flavors: orange and strawberry. Guilty / ‘Coolpables’ of trying everything with Cool Fresh.”  🤯 Why I love it? 1. Because of the concept - Name of the product? COOL Fresh. Name of the concept? COOLpables (guilty). Simple, dumb, unforgettable. 2. Because of the storytelling - I love how the concept IS a story. Now, every time I see or hear the word “culpable” or even watch a courtroom movie, guess what: I´m gonna think of this Peruvian soda :) 3. Because of the concept’s potential - They basically own the word “guilty” now. Imagine how many other things can be done with that. :) Applause to Digitas Perú for keeping Latin American creativity up in the sky :) PS: Want me to bridge the gap between you and brilliant Latin American campaigns? Let me know in the comments :) #creativity #advertising #werbung #kreativagentur #digitasperu #latintalent #copywriting