63rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity turns into platform for affirmative action as adland’s ‘Big Six’ holding company CEOs come together to pledge support for UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; tech subverts reality & collaboration touches new levels in a rapidly transforming world
BY SRABANA LAHIRI (with inputs from Neeta Nair)
Amidst the razzle dazzle of creative excellence and shining Lions, spotlight on winners and scintillating content, one enduring image that everyone brought back from the 63rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was that of United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon on the Cannes Lions stage, with the CEOs of WPP, IPG, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Havas and Dentsu (the latter via video) – bringing together the Big Six holding companies of the marketing and advertising world. It was indeed remarkable – some of these business leaders are bitter rivals and perhaps would not give each other the time of day. But they bought into Ban ki-Moon’s ‘pitch’ for support for the United Nations’ 17-point Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, and set aside their differences to launch an initiative called ‘Common Ground’ in support of a sustainable world.
No delegate in their lifetime would have seen Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Havas, Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of IPG, John Wren, President and CEO of Omnicom, Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of the Publicis Groupe, Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP, sitting together, with Tadashi Ishii, CEO and President of Dentsu joining in on a video call.
OVERWHELMING TRENDS
Just like the coming together of the Big Six CEOs, a lot of collaborative effort is being seen in advertising this year. “You find two agencies coming together or three partners coming together to create great work... The McWhopper campaign is a joint effort between Y&R and David Miami. They belong to different networks. It goes for some of the other winners I saw too. So we are moving towards a world of collaboration. As technology comes in, we shall have to collaborate with people who know technology. And they will have to collaborate with us for ideas. That makes for a lot more collaboration,” says Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, India and South Asia.
Overall, the categories are growing. “Health & Wellness is just two years old; Entertainment has been introduced this year. A lot of work is still and will always be about ideas... though you may arrive at it from data, for which also there is a category. I met jury members for Data and they say they are looking at where the data took you for the idea, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. Technology will ease things for us to create better ideas, but anyone who does not have an idea will not have a future, now or ever,” says Pandey.
It’s the time of big transformational ideas on big brands. “If you take a look at the top 20 campaigns of Cannes Lions 2016, you’ll notice the same thing – big transformational ideas on big brands that impact society, people and the company’s bottomline,” says Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO of BBDO India.
“They may be local work, but they have global resonance and fan following, for example, BurgerKings’ ‘McWhopper’ or REI’s ‘Opt Outside’ or DB Beers ‘Brewtoleum’ or closer home, Ariel ‘Dads#ShareTheLoad’.” But simplicity is at the root of every idea. Everywhere you go at the Cannes Lions festival, you come across a different facet of high-end technology. But at the root of it all is a basic idea. “One of the best examples is Manboobs. We have been talking about breast cancer for women for the longest time and here is one campaign which you look at and say I wish I could have thought of that idea. No technology there, but such a simple and brilliant idea. At the end of the day, it is the simplicity of the idea that will rule,” says Rajiv Rao, NCD of Ogilvy India. “Like Brewtroleum – Petroleum made out of Beer. It was a fantastic idea and a great combination of existing technology and probably they went and found the technology,” he adds. (Here, Piyush Pandey quips, ‘Finally, somebody gave due credit to alcohol!’)
“At one level you had these technology-led ideas and on another level you had ‘Test Ride the Pram’ which is so simple an idea sans technology - the idea that an adult can’t experience what a child experiences in a pram unless you create a pram as big as his size and put him in it. So that’s the beauty of it - these two ends. Technology is evolving and pushing people to think of newer ideas and enabling those ideas,” observes Pandey.
THE TAKE-HOME TALLY
India improved on its dismal score of 13 metals in 2015, bagging a total of 27 Lions this year. The number is equal to India’s tally of metals in 2014 (27), but 9 out of 27 this year come from the Pharma and Health & Wellness Lions – therefore, the Cannes Lions tally itself may be taken to be 19 Lions. The tally of 33 metals in 2013 still remains our best show at the Cannes Lions so far.
Meanwhile, the debate over rate of conversion of India’s entries to metals continues, as we witnessed another low conversion year. Take the last day of the festival, for example. Five Indian agencies bagged seven shortlists in Film. Only two converted – 1 Gold for Ogilvy & Mather and a Bronze for BBDO. Four Indian ad films notched up a total of five shortlists in Film Craft, but only Publicis Ambience won a Bronze for the Khali ad.
On the final night of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Ogilvy & Mather won Network of the Year for the fifth year in a row. The Creative Marketer of the Year title went to Samsung Electronics while Droga5, New York was named Independent Agency of the Year.
#unstereotype: Balki in panel on gender justice in advertising
(L to R) Juliana Chugg, Chief Brand Officer at Mattel, Rosie Arnold, Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH, actor Alysia Reiner, Aline Santos, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, Unilever and R Balki, Director & Chairman and CCO at Lowe India with BBC presenter Lucy Hockings at the #unstereotype debate in Cannes. Balki flew down to Cannes for a day just to participate in the debate and skipped the main festival
Adman and film director R Balki, Chairman and CCO at Lowe India, flew down to Cannes for a day to take part in Unilever’s debate linked to its new initiative #unstereotype, to promote gender justice in advertising. The conversation was on moving away from stereotypical portrayals of gender and delivering fresh campaigns more relevant to today’s consumer. Aline Santos, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing for Unilever, actor Alysia Reiner, Juliana Chugg, Chief Brand Officer at Mattel and Rosie Arnold, Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH were the other participants in the session moderated by BBC presenter Lucy Hockings. Santos cited the success of the ‘6 Pack Band’ campaign by Mindshare for Hindustan Unilever’s Brooke Bond Red Label Tea that fought transgender discrimination and won the Glass Lions Grand Prix at the festival. Balki spoke about his recent film Ki and Ka, which turns gender stereotyping on its head: “If we look at a couple, a man and a woman, their problems are exactly the same, it’s about the person not the gender. The final thing is about the person who earns the money and disrespect to the person who actually makes the home. My film reflects the fact that there will always be an issue where there is a financial dependency,
Power of the small idea: Josy Paul evokes emotions @MasterClass
Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO of BBDO India, held his audience in thrall as he spoke of the ‘Power of the small idea’ in advertising at a MasterClass at Cannes. “The small idea has the power to affect behaviour in small ways, and these move society forward,” Paul said. He shared some campaigns like Dad #ShareTheLoad, Touch the Pickle, ‘Dream2Advanse’, and Gillette’s #WALS (Women Against Lazy Stubble) to make his point. Talking to IMPACT later, he said, ““I never expected a full house with people sprawling on the floor beyond the seats. I didn’t expect so much engagement and people asking so many questions, so much so that I couldn’t even finish my presentation. I had another two case studies and learnings to share. I think this whole concept of the big idea, which is a very powerful thought of the last 30-40 years, is still relevant, but what we are trying to do with the small idea is probably reach out to a generation that is used to new media where everybody is a medium and everyone has the power to share and everyone can become the volunteer of a brand. It was just a simple thought, but it seems to be connecting, and that’s all that matters for me.”
Cannes Do!
Besides the Lions in Print and Radio, what I am really proud of is winning in the apps category. Our Blood Bank app was adjudged the best designed app of the year! This is the new J Walter Thompson. And at the helm of creative is our new age CCO, Senthil. It has also been a great year for JWT worldwide with a record-breaking haul of Lions.
TARUN RAI
CEO, JWT India
TATA Motors is the leading truck manufacturer. And we have a lot of activities to keep the category buoyant. Truckers have been a highrisk audience given the time they spend on the road. The brand decided to take the AIDS issue head-on, leading to the ‘Use Dipper at Night’ campaign. Every truck is a media vehicle now. The Cannes Lions Silver in Media and Bronze in Health is the icing on the cake.
DHUNJI S WADIA
President, Rediffusion Y&R
Getting a shortlist in the toughest Film category, and winning two Silver Lions, in the agency’s first outing at Cannes is nothing less than fantastic. Full credit to the leadership of Anil Nair, driven by the creative leadership of Rahul Nangia, who created and nurtured the brilliant piece of work on Thomas Cook. That it was one of the most talked about pieces of work at Cannes 2016, makes it very special.
PRAVEEN KENNETH
Co-owner, Chairman & MD, L&K|Saatchi & Saatchi
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