Cannes Perspectives
Issue 36 | September 2015
No two Cannes Lions Festivals are the same.
My experience was totally different to anyone else's. Some people went to meetings, some people went to the Palais, some people went to the Google Sandbox, some people went to the beach.
At some stage, almost everyone went to the Gutter Bar.
One thing was for sure. Cannes Lions is less about advertising than ever. Of course, the festival organisers have been encouraging this migration of identity, first renaming it a Festival of Creativity before arriving at a Festival of Ideas.
Ideas about what, exactly?
And in that question lies the answer to how Cannes has now become the melting pot of the modern media world.
Ideas about pretty much everything.
A Lion went to one agency for its invention of a device that reads the DNA of crop samples.
Another went to Google for its invention of Cardboard, a low-cost way of getting everyone to experience video in 3D. A Grand Prix went to a start-up company who has found a way of mapping the entire world with words.
The internet of things, robots and AI all got a look in.
And there were some advertising ideas too. Many set out to change behaviour, some to open wallets. There were fewer
laughs than usual in the TV and Branded Content categories but there was much to pluck the heart-strings.
By my calculations, awarding 4 points to a Grand Prix, 3 to a Gold, 2 to a Silver and 1 for Bronze, the top winners of the week were:
1.Grey New York – States United to Prevent Gun Violence – The Gun Shop
7 Golds, 7 Silvers = 35 points
2.Leo Burnett Toronto/London/Chicago – P&G Always - #likeagirl
1 Titanium, 6 Golds, 2 Silvers, 2 Bronzes = 34 points
3.ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Grand Prix for Good, 10 Golds = 34 points
4.DDB Madrid – No Somos Delito – Holograms for Freedom
6 Golds, 6 Silvers, 3 Bronzes = 33 points
5.The Martin Agency – GEICO – Unskippable
1 Grand Prix, 6 Golds, 2 Silvers, 5 Bronzes = 31 points
To try to give some sense of the diversity of people, trades, preoccupations and interests that swirled around the week, we asked five different people to give an account of their festival. Over the next few pages, you can share their experiences.
