There is of course no reason why the UK should do any better than anyone else in Cannes Direct. We have a large, prosperous population, I suppose; we are blessed with a large, competitive direct industry and relatively large budgets too. Equally, as Emma de la Fosse remarks in last week's Campaign, our production costs are high, too. In some parts of the world, mailings can be assembled individually by hand, like Panama hats.
In any case (and this applies far beyond the direct category) I'm not sure you will ever again see single countries enjoying a long and seemingly unassailable dominance in creative awards ever again. As in electronics, IT or any other innovative business, new ideas or techniques simply spread so much faster nowadays. It took the Japanese a century to match German build-quality in cars; today the Koreans have become world-beating electronics manufacturers in a decade or so. A national comparative advantage just doesn't endure for long nowadays. The one exception in our business may be Brazil, where by some miracle worked by a benevolent God, media independents are illegal. This means creatives still have a little influence over the media and forms in which their work runs. (A cynic might also remark that it makes it easier to cheat by running scam advertising in collusion with your chum in the media department next door.)
BUT
One theory I have heard from several people in the last week is that the Royal Mail's introduction of Pricing in Proportion, which heavily penalises dimensional or unusual mail ,hasn't helped the UK's performance in Cannes Direct at all. We have become a little like the US - a DM giant which produces mostly standard "flat" mail. And, like the US, we are hence winning very few Lions in proportion to the size of our industry.
Is this mere sour grapes? Or is there a grain of a validity in the excuse? Let me know.
Could it be that DM is simply reaching the end of its useful life cycle with and creativity is being directed to developing media where there is more consumer attention? Probably also applies to telemarketing which used to be an important part of a campaign mix over a decade ago.
Interesting point. Certainly more of the awards are now coming from countries who are newly discovering DM, and for whom it has not yet moved online.
The Koreans are also producing world class quality cars I hear from an old client who has moved to Hyundai.
Rory Sutherland
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