CANNES – For 2014, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will bring a wealth of content to the Festival that centres on the theme of innovation, offering delegates insights into the latest technologies, game changing ideas and ground-breaking work currently being produced by the industry.
Innovation Day, taking place on Saturday 21 June, represents the forefront of technology and creative innovation and will see a series of sessions given by speakers from a variety of backgrounds. Contagious will kick off the day with an exploration into true innovation, followed by Intel’s Kevin Sellers and Genevieve Bell who will explore the links between maker culture and the latest development projects from the technology giant, while composer Philip Sheppard will take to the stage and use state of the art technology to spontaneously compose music alongside TED speaker and human cyborg Neil Harbisson who will showcase the unique antenna which enables him to hear in colour. Further seminars will come from Adweek’s Jim Cooper who engages with Lori Senecal of invention-focused agency kbs+ and Winston Binch, Co-Founder of Boulder Digital Works at the University of Colorado; MDC Partners CEO Miles Nadal who interviews Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, examining the way in which creativity is being leveraged in the C-suite of today’s most innovative companies; Mike Bennett, Darren Savage and Michael Lee of creative agency VCCP who will discuss emotional measurement technologies; and Chris Clarke and Lorenzo Wood of DigitasLBi who will look at innovation culture and some of the projects that never quite made it, in their seminar titled ‘Tales from the Accident Factory’.
During Innovation Day, delegates will hear about the once in a lifetime chance to win a trip to space. The video advertising platform Virool, will be offering a seat on a Virgin Galactic rocket for a space flight in 2015. Details of the competition and how to enter to win this incredible prize will be exclusively revealed on stage by Virool.
Speaking about Innovation Day, Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions. “Cannes Lions brings together the global creative communications industry, once a year, to the South of France. What this means is that it is a hotbed of innovation, new thinking and pioneering technology. The industry needs to continually drive forward to stay at the top of their game and by providing innovation and technology focused content, delegates can leave the Festival better equipped and brimming with inventive ideas.”
In an additional stream of content, the revamped TechTalks will feature interactive demonstrations, revolutionary research and exciting new platforms. Taking place across five days, each day will be themed with its own topic: Mobile Tech; Publishing Tech; Data Tech; Video Tech; and Interactive Tech. Taking to the stage will be industry leaders from BrightRoll, Unruly, Civolution, and AppSavvy, as well as Maryse Liburdi, Founder of Pokeware and Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science.
Speaking about his TechTalk, Scott Button, Co-Founder and CEO at Unruly says, “Cannes is advertising’s moment in the sun, a chance to celebrate the creativity that exists in our industry and the science behind successful ads. I’m really looking forward to lifting the lid on why some of the best Cannes ads of all time got watched, tracked and shared across the Open Web.
In a memes meets maths session, we’ll be using our unique data set of 430 billion video views and proprietary technology to unveil how advertisers can have repeatable social video success 365 days of the year.”
The theme of innovation continues throughout the Festival, particularly through the Innovation Lions which are now in their second year. This awards category, sponsored by Intel, honours the technology and innovation which lead to the creative marketing idea of a brand being possible. Unlike any other category at Cannes Lions, delegates are invited to watch the live judging and shortlisted presentations which take place on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 June during the Festival, offering an unbeatable opportunity to see the latest technology and ideas presented by the inventors and drivers of the products. The Innovation Lions Awards take place on Saturday 21 June, making it an essential date for anyone interested in breakthrough technology.
Cannes Lions takes place from 15-21 June in Cannes, France. Further details on the content programme, including the full interactive week planner, and information on how to register to attend, can be found online at www.canneslions.com. The free Cannes Lions app, the unmissable reference guide for delegates, is now available to download on iOS and Android.
