The levity and fun was back at Cannes Lions this year, according to creatives.
The festival of creativity is a reflection of the industry and just being there gives insiders an idea of where things are headed, they say.
“It was inspiring to see how the big winners were shooting for something truly transformative - the shape and social nature of CeraVe, or the authenticity of double Grand Prix winner, The Everyday Tactician. There is no faking genuine impact and that’s what the big winners all had,” Ogilvy Melbourne ECD Hilary Badger told AdNews.
Badger’s creative highlight was seeing the agency’s colleagues from Ogilvy Singapore present their Vaseline work to the live Glass jury.
“Everyone was in tears - jury, audience, presenters and me!” she said.
Her standout campaign featured at Cannes was Recycle Me for Coke.
“Of course, it’s awesome to see the Ogilvy network kicking goals with its Gold & Grand Prix winning work for Coke. Recycle Me - so clean and graphic, the ultimate in simplicity.
“I also enjoyed chatting to some younger creatives from other agencies, especially the team behind The Pink Chip. To learn that this started out as an AWARD School idea says a lot about the program. The fact the creative behind it nurtured it through four years of knock backs is awe-inspired and so tenacious. I'm glad to see Australian creatives smashing it internationally.”
Bagder attended a dinner at Ogilvy House with many Mondelez clients across the globe and was struck by the shared love for the winning ideas in the room.
“It was a great reminder that world class creativity is only possible when agencies and clients have a true partnership and are equally ambitious to make a global impact. Mondelez is already doing that, and I look forward to continuing on that path when I'm back home.”
According to Hopeful Monsters creative partner Carl Moggridge, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity does a good job of reflecting the industry.
"Yeah, there’s a festival of creativity happening, but there is also a festival of networking. A festival of AI. A festival of ad tech. A festival of retail media. A festival of ethics. A festival of climate change. And a festival of politics. I could go on," he says.
"Essentially, whatever floats your boat will be the festival you will have. For many, that’s a floating boat."
Just mooching about, Moggridge says, you get a whiff of where things are heading.
"This isn’t news, but the power has shifted away from the world of creativity, at least as we know it.
"Exceptional people did put up a fight, but media platforms and adtech ran the show. Where Ogilvy has a tiny apartment ‘over the road’ with its logo on it, obscure ad tech firms have big boats with free Rosé. And the only place you can get in without queuing is to look at the work shortlisted."
Moggridge can also confirm that "advertising is confusing, it’s not you".
There were some cracking talks, but they were often paradoxical, he says. AI is taking over, but good ideas will win the day.
"Ad tech is amazing, but advertising effectiveness is declining. The future is social commerce, but the biggest threat to society is social media."
For Moggridge, perhaps that’s what makes the trip worth it.
"If you can fill your head with enough opposable stuff, you can make your own mind up. But to give you some hope, I’ll leave you with the words of Jacques Séguéla, the winner of the Lion of St Mark award: 'Money doesn’t create ideas. Ideas create money'. Woah. Woah," he says.
"If I have Jacques’ optimism in 35 years, I’ll be a happy man."
One solitary Bronze. That’s what stood out for EarMax co-founder and founder of Eardrum Ralph van Dijk at Cannes this year.
Traditionally the Audio & Radio category has been a happy hunting ground for APAC creatives. He's staring at a pride of Gold Lions as he types, he says, and since 2007 around a quarter of all Audio Grand Prix trophies have headed south.
"The big difference now is that there’s a reluctance to award anything that resembles an ad. Most of today’s audio winners need to be part of an elaborate activation, ideally cause related and accompanied by a highly produced two-minute case study video," van Dijk says.
"Which is odd given that 90% of the audio industry (not to mention 100% of our audio specialist agency) is funded by… ads. Ads that need to engage, entertain and inform thousands of multi-tasking listeners via their ears only. Ads that need to build brands over the long term and shift boxes in the short. Ads that are client funded not agency funded. These parameters may make it harder to move your audience, but that's exactly what these awards should be recognising."
This trend has been building, he says. Even back in 2013 when presiding over the Cannes Lions Audio & Radio jury, van Dijk felt the need to give his judges a reality check.
"So, I recruited a local taxi driver called Juan to serve as an unofficial jury member. I asked him to provide the jury his criteria of what makes a great audio ad, and what he said was so good, I played it on the awards night."
He even brought him up on stage, much to the annoyance of the organisers.
"He got a standing ovation and hopefully I made my point. I should have entered the stunt into Audio the following year. Who knows, it may have picked up a bronze," van Dijk says.
VML chief experience design officer North America Kaleeta McDade said this year, the work is still amazing and thought provoking, and still the embodiment of how we move as a society and a global community.
“That's really the role of creativity: bring the story and narrative that drives awareness for brands. The change this year is that we're seeing more work that is not only brand building and world changing, but also a work that is embracing levity,” she said.
“Creativity is moving in many different directions because technology is also changing at breakneck speed. You'll see a lot of ideas that are using AI; they’re using all the buzz words.”
But it’s all in service of the human connection and the human condition, McDade says.
“It's made a real difference in the creative, showing up in places that we may not have expected. Both gaming and entertainment (and the way we're entertaining) had some amazing work.”
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