Cannes Lions day 1

My first day at the Cannes Lions festival was nothing short of inspirational. From the hustle and bustle of the festival to the plethora of branded content to the various seminars I attended, I've already learned more than I could ever imagine about the creative world surrounding me. 

The first session that I attended was "Fighting For Your Creative Life", featuring former NASA astronaut "Astro" Mike Massimo and creative director Jonty Toosey. Massimo spoke of his long journey to becoming an astronaut and the subsequent challenges that he faced. He applied to NASA four separate times over the course of many years, and each time he was rejected he'd find a creative solution to overcome whatever had hindered his acceptance; for example, when NASA medically disqualified him from reapplying due to his poor eyesight, Massimo sought out an optometrist that would provide him with extensive vision training. One of my favorite takeaways from his talk was that as a creative, it's important to "know the difference between the impossible and the unlikely," and that most things that we think are impossible are simply just unlikely. Hearing Massimo put this into perspective was very much needed, especially as a future member of the creative industry. I will definitely revert back to this talk in the future when creative ideas seem as if they're impossible to execute. 

The second session I attended was "How Collaboration Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary" featuring the two founders of Syn Music: Nick Wood and Simon LeBon, lead singer of Duran Duran. They elaborated on how collaboration in any aspect can be beautiful because it helps to bring in new points of view, which is a lesson that could help to freshen up any campaign that I pursue in my future career. 

My third session was called "If You Love Something, Set It Free" with executives from AIB Bank and Rothco. They talked about AIB Bank's struggle with their reputation in Ireland, which scored a measly 6% on Edelman's "trust scale" (the lowest score ever reported). After their creative department decided to throw process and structure out the window, they came up with a way to boost AIB's brand reputation through sponsorship of Ireland's largest club football tournament. Through their commercial spots and YouTube ads they were able to create ads that sentiment throughout the community towards the club tournament and, indirectly, towards AIB. This seminar taught me the extreme importance that sponsorships and celebrity endorsements have in the world of branding; as an aspiring brand manager, I will be sure to keep these techniques in mind. 

The last session I went to was "Mentalism for Marketers," which was by far one of the most entertaining talks I've seen. The talk featured Keith Barry, one of the most famous mentalists in the world. Through various audience experiments (including calling on one of my friends and saying her mother's maiden name without skipping a beat) and viewing advertisements he's helped to develop, Barry taught us about how an audience can be predispositions to feel, believe, and want certain things from a simple advertisement if it's done the right way. 

Overall, my first day at the Cannes Lions festival was overwhelming in the best way possible. I can't wait to see what I get to see and who I get to meet throughout this week!