Publicis Conseil’s Post

The Cannes Lions – the major global advertising festival – has just completed and prizes have been awarded. See this AdWeek story about who won what and for what ideas. This is a remarkable event, that showcases the best of what creative minds have generated over the previous year in numerous categories – but all are surprising and impactful with their ingenuity.   Read this and you can pick your own winner – maybe it is the Peruvian cement company, that designed city pathway tiles, that help visually impaired people? What a simple and yet powerful idea. Or maybe it is the Pedigree adoptable dog campaign, that uses artificial intelligence in a helpful and lovely way. There are moving ads that elevate the role of women and girls in sports and societies and also more classic – brand or product selling campaigns, that are beautifully executed, like the Magnum ice cream outdoor campaign.   These campaigns are important not just from a marketing perspective – I think they have a greater societal meaning, as they always deal with relevant issues and blend the traditional media and the latest technology. See the full AdWeek story here:   https://lnkd.in/d2EKiCag   #creativity #advertising #branding #marketing #idea #canneslions #visualcommunication #communication #brandvalue

Being on the ground at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, here’s my initial dispatch: In 2010, Cannes Lions dropped the word “advertising.” It made sense at the time because there were starting to be so many new forms of advertising that didn’t fit the old mold. Branding-wise, I believe it was a great positioning move. Since then, the festival has grown tremendously. It now attracts so many people from so many different job functions and companies, not just agencies and production companies. So many new categories have been added also. Naturally, I thought there would be way more creative work entered into the show. Not so. Almost 40% less creative work. Does that mean this industry is now less about the work and creativity? Creatives used to own the word creativity. That may have been true in the context of advertising. However, in a borderless, always-on world where anyone can create, creativity no longer belongs to creatives only. I made this point to a strategist friend of mine near the Croisette today. He said candidly. It never did. #CannesLions #creativity #advertising

🌟 Reflecting on Cannes Lions 2024 🌟 What an incredible week at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity ! Watching the shortlisted and winners content has left me inspired and reminded of the timeless truth: people still love to be told stories. Whether it’s through a captivating ad or a heartfelt campaign, storytelling remains at the heart of what advertising agencies and creatives do. Here are my key takeaways: Go for Boldness: The most memorable work was often the boldest. It's the willingness to push boundaries and take risks that sets the best campaigns apart. Human Connection: Witnessing mankind at its best—creative, kind, clever, resourceful, and beautiful—was truly uplifting. The magic happens when creatives craft stories that people can relate to, transcending the mundane part of talking about a product and tapping instead into universal emotions. Partnership: The best creative agencies don’t just work for their clients, they partner with them. They delve deep to carve out a human story from a product or technical need, transforming advertising into something magical. In essence, Cannes Lions reminded me that creativity is the utmost human manifestation —to inspire, connect, and transform. Here’s to continuing to create magic in our industry! -Not written by IA, all errors mine- #CannesLions #Storytelling #Creativity #AdvertisingMagic #HumanConnection #Boldness #HERAW

Cannes Lions 2023 postscript: GUT instinct and Uncommon energy push ad industry forward. Here’s my Campaign Magazine UK column looking back on the festival where it felt for the first time that the industry was finally moving out of the shadow of the pandemic — creatively as much as commercially. I picked five themes (but there are definitely more): 1) Brands care about creativity and Cannes 2) Creativity is making a comeback 3) New technology and artificial intelligence are a net positive 4) A new breed of independent creative agencies 5) Inclusion and sustainability are still under scrutiny https://lnkd.in/e5rp8JYY

While the glitterati descends at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, spare a thought for those who haven't and will not make it there. No hobnobing with the who's who of the ad world! What a miss.Damn!! What should they feel about themselves and the ads they worked on. The tireless efforts they put into their work, which in fact made real impact for the brand, goes unrecognized. Does it amount to nothing. Certainly not. The human tendency is ' I'm not good enough, this ad is not good enough'. 'I'm not recognized among my peers. I'm a failure.' Hold on. You entered advertising not to win awards, you entered advertising to do some great work that made a 'difference' for the brands, customers and the world at large. You shaped narratives, you made the needle move. Not getting a Lion, Tiger or a Panther shouldn't stop you from doing what you love the most. * Advertising *. So, hop on that saddle and gallop to things that are more important.🐎🏇While they get their Lion, you get the Lion's share. Happy hunting🏹🦁 For that matter, we aren't sure if the memorable ad posted by us a day earlier made it to the Cannes. Who cares. It made it to our #hearts. That's all that matters. #advertising #publicrelations #creativity #marketing #Cannes #branding #socialmedia #digitalmarketing

Recently I spoke with Ad Age about all the news, drama, and big takeaways from Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. We all know the weeks after the Festival are the beginning of our New Year. Everyone’s fired up, talking about inspiration, determined to have brave conversations, motivated by being pissed off at not winning a Lion, pouring through copious trend wrap-ups, promising to do work that makes a difference. Then we bring on the ‘big idea’ meetings, the how we win action plans, the hack sessions, the unpack the work workshops. Now, I'm not mad about this. This is a very good thing. We all need this kick in the arse to power us forward BUT... I would stress one big thing as we take our New Year's vigor to the table. Let's save the business before trying to save the world. This year, we saw a healthy body of work awarded Lions that used the power of creativity to transform businesses - AND people's lives, communities, and maybe even the planet. Work where the purpose was real, demonstrated at scale, and delivered tangible outcomes for both business and cause. We finally, hopefully, have gotten over being completely drunk on ‘purpose', and awarding advertisers with Lions simply for paying lip service to causes and social well-being. Let's go make more of this work, please! Happy New Year.

**New Video style Alert** Are agencies missing out by leaving Creatives at home instead of taking them to Cannes? I have been speaking with very senior creative directors at various agencies and I was amazed to learn that they weren't being invited to Cannes. Hell, it's even called Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Instead it was the account directors sent to schmooze existing clients and meet new clients. I was shocked by this. I learned many years ago from Damien Marchi the importance of creatives when looking to build better gaming campaigns. How they create emotions with clients and sell dreams and outcomes. They don't just think outside the box, they don't recognize the box's authority. That they are often the people that can illustrate the need for better investment in both creative and media. So why leave them out of one of the biggest events in the media calendar? Next year let's see more creatives out in Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and watch how your business grows 🤑 To all you creatives, I hear you and I've got your back ✊🏽 Love ❤️, Peace ✌🏽 and Chicken Grease 🐔🍗 Seika Media #cannes2024 #toomuchrose #whathappensincannesstaysincannes #media

Never much mention in these articles about people not being invited back to judge again if they speak their mind about the work. Or they point out the collusion and fraud rampant in the award shows circuit. SEC take note. It's a small part of why I quit the 'industry' – though there really are some great people and ideas left (up in the rarest crema part), it's mostly become an engineering and accounting industry and it's getting a bit..."too hyper" and interconnected with other industries for quite many of us. And really, though real peer recognition is great - especially for craft – it's just become too clear the role the shiny awards play in keeping us all distracted from the harsh reality of how our world is working. "Well, what can we do?" is basically what thousands of people say when we all go "yeah, we know." Well, what have you been saying with YOUR mic? We always knew they'd come to gut the real creative departments first. I'd rather work with a real storyboard artist any day than the homogenous templates and ai bullshit now permeating the industry – and industries – at large. Farm or be farmed? How about them seeds...? It's becoming an autotune, lease-our-lives, pay-ahead-as-we-go panopticomic con and I decided to try something different. I'll walk away with my last award. Scriptwriting Gold. You can decide if it was worth it. I creative directed that project. I could've contacted them to change the credentials. But really, it's already on the record. Judge work for what it really is. That's all that ever matters. Sorry to self promote on here by pointing to my last award but hey, I know my job and I do it better than a lot. Not all. But a lot. Just need to edit better. Working on it. On what? It. What is it?

Top Tips for #Cannes? Look no further. Our CSO Mel Arrow gives MoreAboutAdvertising the run down of what campaigns she believes will bag some Lions in just a few weeks time. "No article about Cannes 2024 would be complete without saying the word ‘humour’ as quickly as possible, and it only took me thirteen words, so arguably, I should win something for that. With the introduction of a new humour category, the world’s most prestigious advertising awards appear to be encouraging the industry out of its purpose-filled era (and boy has it been a long one…) and into a lighter chapter. Our chortle era, if you will. With that said, however, it’s probably quite telling that only one of my picks is funny. There’s been a lot of humour talk, and not a lot of funny trousers. The others do, at least, still shun purpose. They’re bold, single-minded, iconic and unapologetically branded. C’est simple. In fact, it’s so simple, I feel almost exactly the same way about them all.." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e_jtriS9 #TruthWellTold #McCanners McCann Worldgroup Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity