FRANCE – Cannes has become a Disneyland for the marketing communication industry. It’s grown brighter, larger and louder and this year is proof of it.
Over 13,000 delegates, not counting others who didn’t register, came here to network and party. Tons of attractions like shows, seminars, tech, master classes created long queues hours before the doors opened. Even veteran delegates will need to take one of the “tours” to navigate through all this.
I don’t consider it a burden being stuck in a dark room to judge the cyber category. Even though we didn’t get much sun on the beach, watching thousands of entries enlightened our minds. In fact, it’s like taking a Master Class crash course in digital. Through endless debates and discussion from 26 juries, I learned their point of view, saw how they responded to each entry and got a fresh perspective and understood how they evaluated. However, when it came to awarding conceptual thinking and craft most of our opinions were pretty similar.
I’d like to share 3 main observations from the festival.
1. Before Obama proclaimed June 2015 as LGBT Pride Month, calling all people to eliminate prejudice and to celebrate the great diversity of Americans, there were signs in some of the winning work that strongly supported the LGBT community as part of their brand positioning.Expect to see more brands incorporate this theme in the future.
Here are three winners that reflect this.
Proud Whopper – Burger King
“Be your way” is the Burger King’s current tagline and it’s about making a connection with customers that’s meaningful. Customers who ordered the “Proud Whopper” found that the burger was exactly the same, but came in a rainbow-colored wrapper that said, “We are all the same inside.”
Love has no label (Gender)
Ad Council set up a large X-ray screen outside in Santa Monica, California. The screen displayed two dancing skeletons hugging and kissing.
As the lesbian couple stepped out from behind the screen, the message that appears after is clear.
Proudly seeking Pleasure – Unilever Magnum ice cream
Everyone should indulge in his or her personal pleasure. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you take pleasure in; Magnum inspire all to seize it. In this instance: Transvestites.
2. Gender empowerment and equality is taking a stronger stand.
This year, there were more woman judges in every category, including a record number of 5 women jury presidents. Even Terry Savage mentioned this in his press release: “It’s particularly exciting to see so many women numbered among that elite group. We are looking forward to a time when there is true gender balance in the industry and this will be unremarkable, but in the meantime the female representation is something that we are passionate about.”
For the first Glass Lion Jury, which recognizes work that breaks through unconscious gender bias and shatters stereotypical portrayals of men and women, out of the 10 members, 8 were female.
As Dove celebrates 11 years for their work done for Real Beauty, other brands are following the outpouring of female empowerment-themed campaigns.
From Always’ #LikeaGirl to Sports England “This girl can” and Under Armour “Will beats Noise”
#Likeagirl
This hugely successful video seeks to redefine the phrase “like a girl,” as something strong and powerful. It’s part of the larger campaign by Always.
This girl can
This Girl Can is developed by Sport England. A celebration of active women of all shapes and sizes who are doing their own thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.
Will beats noise
It spoke to women who don’t wait for permission or affirmation from others in order to achieve what they want. Thru the use of technology, Gisele use her will to beat society’s standards to achieve her dreams. Creating an empowering and beautiful social cause for Under Armour.
3. Give credit where credit is due.
What is Cannes without some controversy! After the Grand Prix for product design was awarded to Lucky Iron Fish by Geometry Dubai, Geometry was stripped of the credit. The honor belonged to Gavin Armstrong, CEO of Lucky Iron Fish and Dr. Chris Charles, the original creator of the product.
As for the Ice Bucket Challenge, which won the Grand Prix for Good, the credit went to the ALS Association. There was no mention of any agency.
I doubt ALS Association would have the finance to support entries to Cannes and the time to do a case study film. But I do respect Facebook, if they are indeed the ones who helped submit this, for ALS to get the recognition it deserved.
Tay Guan Hin is the Executive Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson Asia Pacific
