Country Assignment - United Kingdom

Throughout our time at the festival, we observed many things about the agencies that represented the United Kingdom.  adam&eveDDB, Saatchi & Saatchi, and McCann Erikson were three of the major players at the festival this year; McCann Erikson went on to win Agency of the Year at Saturday night’s awards ceremony.  It seemed as if British advertising professionals dominated the festival population.  We also noticed that there is a hotspot of advertising in London, similar to the way that New York and Chicago are considered the advertising hubs of the United States.  The last thing that we observed was that the UK won many awards for work done through advertising and marketing agencies rather than client-side marketing teams for brands, as is the case in the United States.

We expected the UK to resemble American advertising due to the “hotspot” nature of the advertising scene in London, and so we were not surprised when they ended up doing well at the awards shows.  They have been a leading example since the beginnings of the modern advertising industry.  We also expected them to produce similar work to that of the US because it seems that they hold similar values and follow similar trends.

After speaking to several executives from the UK we were surprised to find that most of the people we talked to held a strong sense of pride for their country.  We found their personalities to be blunt and outspoken, always coupled with a dry sense of humor.  Unfortunately, we also noticed that a lot of them were quite full of themselves, not only within their professional lives but in their personal lives as well.

The UK did very well in the awards portion of Cannes Lions.  In total, they ended up winning two Grand Prix awards and fourteen Gold Lion awards.  The Grand Prix awards won in the Digital Craft and Film categories.  The Gold Lions were won in multiple categories, including Film Craft, Entertainment, Integrated, Promo and Activation, Cyber, Media, Product Design, and Design.  Interestingly enough, the majority of these awards were awarded to the “We Are the Superhumans” campaign by the English agency 4Creative.  The UK also took home a little over 50 Bronze and Silver lions. 

Awards Category - Creative Data

The awards category that I chose to analyze was Creative Data.  According to the Cannes Lions official website, a Creative Data Lion symbolizes "the interplay between ideas and information."  The jury for this award were to choose between many entries that use typical consumer data in a creative way.

There were 21 Bronze Lion winners, with the US and Australia tying for the most with 4 each.  There were 11 Silver Lion winners, with Australia dominating at 3 and the US, Japan, and China following close behind with 2 each.  Among these Silver Lion winners was the widely acclaimed "Meet Graham" campaign, which won a Grand Prix in another category and multiple Gold Lions as well.

In total, there were 5 Gold Lions spread out across multiple categories.  The first Gold Lion was presented in the "Creative Data Enhancement" category, which according to the Cannes Lions website are "creative campaigns elevated through their use of data models, including personalization, interactivity, and relevance."  The winner from this category was "Reword" for the National Youth Mental Health Administration, created by the agency Leo Burnett Melbourne in Australia.  Reword is essentially a browser plug-in that detects when a string of words that are being typed could be potentially used to bully; a red line then appears through those words, along with a message prompting the user to think about what he or she is saying to others.

The second Gold Lion was in the "Data Storytelling" category, which consists of work that has contributed to successful stories between the brand and the consumer.  The winner was "Aimen," an advertising campaign for the French TV show "The Young Pope" by the agency BETC Paris.  The agency created a fake Twitter account for the main character of the show, the Pope, and set it to automatically reply to "sinful" tweets with related Bible verses.  The campaign was a huge success, and viewership of the TV show skyrocketed.

The third Gold Lion was in the "Business to Business Data Solution" category, which is for data that is used to solve B2B problems in a creative and unique way.  The winner was "Sberbank Neighborhoods," from Sberbank Small Business Loans in Russia, created by Dentsu Moscow.  The campaign dealt with small business closures in smaller neighborhoods by allowing citizens to vote on what business they thought should go in abandoned lots through the Sberbank app.

The fourth Gold Lion was in the "Social Data" category, consisting of creative interpretation of data derived from social media platforms used to create a relationship with the audience.  The winner of this Gold Lion was Marriott International in the US for their "M Live" campaign.  Marriott used geotagged social media posts at their hotels to interact with their guests; for example, a couple that got engaged at the hotel were immediately sent a bottle of complimentary champagne, and a man posting about cool towel animals was given a free class on how to create them.

The last Gold Lion was in "Data Integration", in which entrants "must clearly demonstrate how disparate data streams were integrated to provide new insights from planning through to delivery of a creative campaign or client strategy."  The winner was AAMI Insurance in Australia for their "AAMI Smartplates" campaign, created by Ogilvy Australia.  They essentially created an app that acted as a social platform for driving; the app's many capabilities included "road block" mode, a leaderboard for logged driving times, real-time data to track how often you're speeding, and many others.

The Grand Prix in Creative Data was awarded in the "Creative Data and Collection Research" category.  The winner of this Grand Prix was the "Care Counts" initiative by Whirlpool in the US, created in collaboration with DigitasLBI and Ketchum in Chicago.  Essentially, Whirlpool put washers and dryers in low income schools across the country in an attempt to boost attendance, because their prior research had found that a lot of kids missed school due to not having clean clothes to wear.  Students simply had to input their student ID numbers into the laundry machines, which aided Whirlpool in aggregating the data.  They noticed a stark, sharp correlation between the kids that used the washers and dryers the most and the kids whose attendance records began to improve dramatically.

While viewing the award winning Creative Data case films, I noticed that a major theme among most of them is that of using data for social good.  Coming into this awards show I was under he impression that Creative Data was really all about personalization and user experience; however, I came out of it knowing that data can really be used to analyze problems in society, and likewise create a solution to alleviate these problems.

Commercial critique 3

The third commercial that I viewed was for KENZO World, a fragrance line.  This was by far one of my favorite advertisements that I viewed this week, and apparently I'm not the only one that thinks so; it ended up winning a Gold Lion in the Film category at the Saturday night awards ceremony.  It is a masterpiece of confusion and creativity wrapped into a simple artistic format that is absolutely captivating.  I originally viewed the made-for-TV 60 second version, but there was also a longer version that made me fall in love with the commercial even more.

The commercial begins with the main character sitting in what seems to be an awards banquet.  Her mind seems to be somewhere else, evident by the distant expression on her face and the increasingly echoed sound of the speech being given.  She eventually gets up and walks slowly into the hallway, her green ballgown swaying back and forth as she looks at the ground and takes deep breaths.  A single tear rolls down her face.

Suddenly, she begins to wink her eyes back and forth and stick her tongue out; she then proceeds to ferociously wave her arms and bend backwards and forwards, reminding me of an exorcism.  Fast techno music plays in the background as she begins to run like an animal around the building, in and out of ballrooms and dancing with her reflection in the mirror.  All of this is done with a crazed expression across her face as opposed to the graceful one I would have expected.  More confusing activities ensue, included the woman shooting lasers out of her hands and flying through an eye made of flowers.  The commercial ends with the woman staring at the screen with the same crazed expression, and then flashes to a simple picture of the perfume bottle and logo.

Reading over my description of the commercial, it sounds absolutely insane, and rightfully so.  The commercial is unlike any perfume advertisement I've ever seen.  It seemingly makes no sense; after all, it follows a woman that is pretty much going insane and the commercial gets  increasingly more absurd as time goes on.  Personally, I found this extremely captivating; however, it could easily be annoying or too absurd for others.  I really like that the creators of this commercial took such a bold risk in creating a main character that dances ungracefully and breaks all of the rules of traditional lady-like norms.  The beauty of this piece comes from its insanity.  I found myself drawn to the increasing absurdity of the woman's actions and I am still wondering what the commercial's intended purpose was.  Is it poking fun at the whimsical irrelevance of the plot of most modern perfume commercials? Or is it telling a story of a young woman tired of pretending to be someone she isn't?

The production elements of this commercial were all surprisingly simple.  There was just one main character and only a handful of supporting actors.  The music used in the background fit the insanity and absurdity of the content of the commercial; I found that the techno overtones and fast beats complemented the storyline and actions of the main character perfectly.  The choreography was most likely the most complicated aspect of this piece, as there were several different elements to it: animal-like movements, acrobatics, ballet, hip hop, and robot-like movements, among countless others.

This was one of the best advertisements I saw because it is unprecedented.  It is weird in a wonderful kind of way, which is extremely refreshing in a world full of serious and scandalous perfume advertisements.

Cannes Lions day 8

The final day of the Cannes Lions festival was a slow one.  With only a few talks sprinkled throughout the once jam-packed schedule and line queues at the Debussy Theatre only barely reaching the top of the stairs (an unthinkably short wait compared to the Wednesday queues that spanned multiple floors and staircases), I thought that the talks I heard today wouldn't be of much interest to me.  However, one in particular turned out to be one of the most thought provoking talks I've heard all week.

"The World's Biggest Asshole."  And insult to some, but for millions, this name is one that inspired a national life saving phenomenon.  Donate Life, an organization dedicated to raising the percentage of those registered to be organ donors, created this absolutely incredible commercial detailing the life (and afterlife) of Colton Sweeney, dubbed the world's biggest asshole.  It was a really funny commercial for such a serious topic as organ donation, but I liked that it broke the mold.  I think that a sad commercial would have been just another one to add to the noise; it takes an unexpected commercial to break through the seas of slow music and sad stories.  Obviously I wasn't the only one that thought this, considering it won multiple Grand Prix awards across many diverse categories.  It was extremely effective as well; the film caused young men to start registering as organ donors in droves.  This session consisted of a panel of the commercial's creators, including executives from Donate Life and the Martin Agency.  They told the story of how the commercial was conceived and created; I was surprised to learn just how much criticism and doubt they received before the commercial even made it to the public.  I had assumed that an idea as bold as this one would receive a little doubt but ultimately be supported; this was not the case in the beginning. 

As the Cannes Lions festival comes to a close, I can't help but reflect on just how much I've learned in the past week.  I expected to come out of this week with a few new techniques and ideas under my belt, but what I got was so much more.  The many speakers that I've seen this week all have one thing in common, and it's that they absolutely radiate passion for the work that they produce and the people that they represent.  If nothing else, I have learned that passion is a beautiful thing that is absolutely vital in this business.  David Droga summed it up perfectly in his acceptance speech at the final awards show on Saturday night: the most important thing that you can do is care about what you're doing and who you're doing it for.  Without caring, your work will be nothing.  I will carry that lesson with me throughout the rest of my career.

Cannes Lions day 7

Friday was a bit of an adjustment. Going into Tuesday's hustle and bustle was a bit of a shock for me; however, I am now inclined to say that going from a crazy busy Thursday to a quiet, calm environment on Friday was even more shocking.  A lot of festival goers had either gone back home or were hungover from the parties the night before; while the the lessened population was a shock, it was also a bit of a pleasant surprise.

The first talk I went to, which actually turned out to be one of my favorite talks all week, featured Maurice Levy of Publicis interviewing Christine LaGarde, who is a lawyer-turned-managing director of the International Monetary Fund.  As the first female managing director of the IMF, LaGarde described the hardships that came with her newfound position.  "It's very difficult for a woman to be taken seriously in a management position," she recounted.  One of the best answers that she gave was when Levy asked how she came about being unanimously voted into her position the first time around.  LaGarde shook her head and laughed, and then went on to say that it was because men don't want the power when things are going poorly.  Her resilience and positive outlook on tough situations are inspirational to me, and I will be sure to take her advice to heart if my abilities are ever doubted simply because I'm a woman.  I will say that I got a bit bored when the conversation turned to financial policies and such, but I guess that's why I'm not a finance major.

The other interesting talk that I went to today was by none other than Burger King, the Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year.  The talk was titled "How to Suck Less as a Client" and featured a performance by the two Burger King mascots.  The talk was extremely fun and kept me awake, but I think that it was also pretty unorganized.  As I look over my notes on this talk, it seems as if the subject changed multiple times.  I personally would have enjoyed a seminar in which Burger King showcased some of their most creative pieces of advertising and explained the thought process that went into them.  Instead, they simply gave random pieces of advice and facts that didn't really flow in an organized way, which is not the way my mind works.

I'm starting to notice that the festival is wrapping up, and I'd be lying if I said that I'm not sad about it.  However, I am still excited to have one day left to experience!

Cannes Lions day 6

Thursday was by far one of my favorite days at the festival! Nearly every session that I went to was extremely interesting to me, evident in my pages and pages worth of notes from each one. 

The first session I went to was the Facebook Blueprint workshop. Facebook Blueprint is essentially a free program through Facebook that allows advertisers to customize and preview video ads in all of the formats that Facebook has to offer. MJ Cos, the head of marketing for Blueprint, gave us an in depth teaching of every video advertisement format that can be used through Facebook and Instagram, including which were most compatible on certain devices and which have proven to be most effective with consumers. The talk was extremely informative as I had no idea just how much the game is changing in the world of advertising on social media, specifically with vertical video formats. MJ shared statistics surrounding vertical advertisements versus horizontal ones of mobile phones that stunned me. I will absolutely be referring back to my notes on this topic in the future. 

The next talk I went to was given by Mattel, discussing how branding and advertising for Barbie has changed and improved over the years thanks to social media. The talk began with a showing of a recent Barbie commercial produced by BBDO entitled "You Can Be Anything," and the CMO of Mattel explained afterwards that the commercial was released to get back to the core theme of inspiring young girls to pursue their dreams. As most know, Barbie's brand has not always garnered the best reputation, specifically in relation to the unrealistic dimensions of the doll's body itself.  Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, Chief Content Officer for the company, also dove into the ways that the company is expanding Barbie's brand to as many platforms as possible, including YouTube ("Barbie Vlogger"), Netflix (Barbie Dreamville show), and even allowing clothing brands to create Barbie versions of their products (Barbie sized Ugg boots, etc.).  Honestly, I was a lot more interested in this talk than I thought I'd be; I particularly liked how Mattel incorporated body diversity after so many years of receiving backlash for Barbie's physique.  It shows that even a company that used to have such antiquated values can change the path of their product to better suit the changing world around us.

The final talk I went to today was centered around Tomorrowland, a mega-music festival in the heart of Belgiu.  Each year, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the "king of all music festivals," and we were lucky enough to hear its founder, Michael Beers, give an in depth overview of how exactly his team can make such a large scale production work so seamlessly.  I enjoyed this session because it truly describes how such a monster of an event can turn out wonderfully if it is planned correctly and precisely; as Beers stated again and again, the devil is in the details, and he works year round to make sure that every single detail of the three day festival is crafted to perfection.  I am personally very interested in the promotional event planning side of marketing, and hearing this talk motivated me to put forth the utmost effort in anything that I plan or do in the future.

Overall, this day was a whirlwind of learning and extremely interesting discussions.  Although I'm sad that the festival is about to start winding down, I'm still excited to see what the next two days will be like, especially because the specialty areas, (Health, Innovation, and Entertainment) have come to a close.  What themes will be present now?

Commercial critique 2

The second commercial that I viewed was an AirBnB commercial entitled "Don't Go There, Live There."  The beginning of the commercial contains several bleak shots of tourists at the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triumphe, and other typical Paris landmarks.  With no background music, a female voiceover recites in monotone, "Don't go to Paris.  Don't tour Paris.  And please, don't do Paris." This bleak, condescending tone stands in stark contrast to the shots of the typical tourist destinations, which are usually associated with fun vacations.  This contrast is enough to pull the viewer in, making them wonder why the narrator is saying what she is.

Suddenly, we cut to a bright, warm shot of a young woman knocking on a door and being welcomed into a home.  Upbeat, authentic French music begins to play as shots of families making forts, cooking, and laughing together with friends over wine.  The voiceover then says, in a happier voice, "Live in Paris!" The ads then begin to move outside the home and even outside Paris, quickly comparing and contrasting typical tourist groups and double decker tours to authentic experiences like riding bikes, playing basketball, surfing, and dancing on the street in various other destinations.  The commercial ends with a repeat of the central theme of the ad: "Wherever you go, don't go there; live there.  Even if it's just for a night."

Personally, I thought that the commercial was decently effective.  The second half that explored the fun, authentic ways to experience a different culture was my favorite part.  I think that this second part of the commercial was extremely effective in portraying how an AirBnB could bring these experiences to life.  The feeling and vibe of an adventurous, culturally immersive experience was perfectly crafted; I even found myself wanting to seek out those experiences myself.

However, I do think that the beginning half of the commercial could have been improved significantly.  The advertisement's goal was to create stark contrast with the second half of the commercial by making the "typical" tourist vacation look bland and uneventful.  I think that this could have been better achieved by including shots of a typical, bleak hotel room, especially since the main product being advertised is the ability to stay in an actual home rather than a hotel.  I think that adding the hotel aspect would make the case for the AirBnB stronger, and as a result consumer recall of the brand would significantly increase when it comes to deciding where to stay during a travel experience.

It seems that the two main production elements of this commercial are location and actors.  The beginning of the commercial is in Paris, as evident by the shots in front of popular Paris landmarks; however, as the commercial goes on other cities are mentioned, such as Tokyo, Malibu, Los Angeles, etc.  It's very possible that some scenes were not filmed in these locations, but were simply recreated; for example, the dinner scenes in Tokyo and pool scene in Malibu could have easily been shot in the same location, just framed differently to fit their respective cities.  The commercial also features a large range of different actors; while only included in a couple of shots at a time with no dialogue, a wide array of actors is important for implying diversity and cultural authenticity.