I've got some serious FOMO [fear of missing out] going on even though I’m on my way to Cannes for the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. I get to go to Cannes and get amongst not only the smartest and most creative people from our industry but from everywhere around the globe, but I already know that because there's so much on, that whatever I do and whatever sessions I attend, I’ll be missing out on something else equally as interesting.
Just trying to plot my way through the conference program, not to mention the all-important awards, has left me reeling at the thought of the things I’ll miss. It’s a sprawling, multidisciplinary event, eye-opening and overwhelming this year and shows just how far this industry has come from being about advertising - the spots and dots.
There's a whole day dedicated to innovation, a whole day dedicated to Brazil and a swathe of sessions looking at independent agencies. The rock stars of our industry like Sir John Hegarty and David Droga, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, legendary director Spike Jonze and CMO’s including Mondelez’ Dana Anderson, who if last year was anything to go by will be both brilliantly entertaining and massively insightful, but there are actual rock stars there too. Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson is on stage with Ogilvy, a hostage negotiator will talk about how terrorism tactics can be good for creativity and human cyborg Neil Harbisson who featured in Vodafone's global First campaign is there. And there are more celebrities giving their two-penneth than in previous years.
Bono is there. The recipient of the first Cannes LionHeart award for his work with the (RED) brand will talk alongside Jonathan Ive, Apple’s SVP of Design on how the (RED) brand fuses branding, philanthropy and activism.
Patrick Stewart of Star Trek, X-Men and being friends with Ian McKellen fame is there. For some reason Sarah Jessica Parker – yes Carrie from Sex in the City - is there, but the less said about that the better.
Highlights will of course be Sir John Hegarty and David Droga who wrap up the week on Friday with a forward look Q&A about what’s next.
Sir Martin Sorrell is always unmissable. His on-stage debate with Twitter founder Dick Costolo is sure to be a highlight, considering Sorrell is a self-confessed Twitter skeptic, who after claiming Twitter is not a good advertising platform and “lacks depth” went on to sign a major deal with the social platform last year. I'm hoping he doesn't miss the opportunity to do a little crowing about the failed Publicis Omnicom merger, but we'll see.
A day devoted to Brazil is probably not enough to be honest. In light not only of the current World Cup the country is hosting but the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics there’s a lot of eyes on Brazil, and let's face it, the Brazil contingent are probably cursing that they're in the South of France and not living and breathing the World Cup on home turf.
But Brazil, including its agencies and brands, is arguably one of the most exciting places to be right now, football aside. It's one of the fastest growing global economies, and the political landscape is also pretty fiery. The games are likely to be peppered with demonstrations. Some of the work coming out of Brazilian agencies is just phenomenal and I'm expecting a solid showing of Lions awarded to Brazilian shops, and shops from across the Latin American continent, next week.
We’ll be keeping you up to date on the winners and key events from Cannes but if you're there, or even if you're not, and want to share your thoughts on the awards, the winners, the non-winners as well as the on-stage and off-stage highlights get in touch. Or if you just want to catch up about the goings on over a nice glass of Rose, you can catch me on email and try to tempt me out of the press office, away from deadlines and into the sunshine.
Send any blog submissions or thoughts on Cannes to me at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au and Brendan Coyne at brendancoyne@yaffa.com.au
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