Sitting in my inbox is an email from the organizers asking, “How can we make Cannes Lions even better?”My answer: Change your name and focus from "Advertising Festival" to "Marketing Festival".
If you followed what won in June, it was all about: Interactive. Integrated. Influencer (code for PR). To hammer home that point, Tourism Queensland's "Best Job in the World" campaign won the Grand Prix for Cyber. And DR. And PR. (Strangely, nothing for Integrated, but that is another post...) Significantly, this is a campaign where the only paid media ads were of the typically lowly "help wanted" kind.The PR Lions, which were new for 2009, only had 431 entries. The “Film” Lions (aka TV ads and/or digital video) in contrast had 3,453 entries — which was a whopping 25% less than last year. Clearly the organizers hope to boost entries from the "newbie" PR, Design, and other earned or owned media categories. (Hummm...Social Media or WOM in 2010 perhaps?)So when pretty much everybody agrees that keeping the marketing disciplines in silos is so 1999, now might be the right time to rename and rebrand Cannes Lions as the champion of creative in all aspects of marketing. What do you think? If you were an expert in the Ballet, would you enter a Ballroom competition? Call it a Dance Lion, though, and you just might give it a whirl.Shall we follow each other on Twitter?
Are you saying that the whole advertising jamboree is over? But more seriously, I think you're right - the focus needs to be broadened.
As a member of the inaugural PR Jury, I could not agree more with this view. It has less to do with the decreasing ad revenues & all the more to do with the blurring of the marketing disciplines, & of course the increasing importance of reputation, influence and participation.
Thanks MaryLee. I did put this thought into the Cannes Lion delegate survey. Plus I noticed they are following me on Twitter now, so maybe our friends are listening ;-)
How about THE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR SHALLOW PEOPLE STILL LIVING IN THE PAST.
Hey Candace, nice story but what I am wondering is, isn't this kinda late? Shouldn't the Lions committee/board be on top of this far earlier, or let me guess, the majority of directors are traditional advertisers right...right?
I would rebrand it into the Cannes (do we really have to stay in Cannes, can't we do a world tour every year so show that we are global?) Peacocks. Specifically its tail, so many different colors reflecting the marketing disciplines, flowing in shades reflecting the almost gone boundaries and the collective bouquet to show that its well...all marketing. Just a couple of thoughts :)
Hold it in Australia and call it "Tinnies".
You'd still get the same crowd.
The whole Cannes jamboree smacks of the heady days of the late 80s and 90s where conspicuous excess and advertising strategies went hand in hand. I think Darian's observation comes closest to the truth. Rethink. Rebrand and Relocate.
Creative excellence has never been more important.
If advertising is "rattling a stick in a bucket of swill"
then online is "a grenade in a sewage farm"
It's all Sxxx. but if it's bigger, more of it sticks.
Differentiation is key to beig noticed
and this only comes through by nurturing creative excellence.
candace kuss
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