Nick Law, Titanium Lions juror

Nicklaw_2 Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Well, that's it then. The 55th orgy of advertising. Record attendances, a sweeping range of work from previously unknown parts of the advertising world. Thousands of revelers with their backs to the economic precipice, belly up to the bar of drunken hope.
  Saturday night’s Film, Titanium, and Integrated award ceremony wrapped up the official program. I was very impressed with the considered choices from my colleagues on the Titanium and Integrated jury. The two Grand Prix winners, Halo 3 and Uniqlock, couldn’t have been more different, but they both insinuated themselves into global culture. Halo 3 gave an intriguing human texture to the otherwise cold and shiny world of gaming. The emotional centerpiece of this cavernous Byzantine world being a beautifully handcrafted diorama that invites obsessive exploration.
  Uniqlock’s appeal is harder to convey in a three-minute case study video. Its unending delight is best experienced as digital snack food over the course of weeks. Prior to the show I had glimpsed it over the shoulder of so-called “digital natives,” those with a taste for Japanese whimsy and beautility. They all seemed to have a real affection for it. Apparently it also makes you want to buy clothes.
  The Film winners strode imperiously onto the stage, like it was 1989. Wonderful work, received generously. The Palais des Festivals then emptied out and the throngs partied—like it was 1999.

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Published on June 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Tor Myhren, Cannes delegate

Tormyhren Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Not that it matters, but here's my brief Cannes summary.
  The Gorilla:
  I love this ad. Though many people bitched about this taking home the big prize, I was quite pleased to see it win, for one simple reason: It is the only ad this year that I e-mailed to any of my friends outside of the industry. Pure, unadulterated entertainment. And great PR and recall for the brand. Sure, if you think about it too much, and analyze the shit out of it, you can talk yourself out of it. But the public doesn’t scrutinize ads like the industry does. They either like it, or they don’t. They either pass it on virally, or they don’t. It either works, or it doesn’t. This ad worked on every level. I’m glad the judges went with their hearts instead of their heads on this one. Good choice.
  Film/Titanium:
  Film and Titanium were inspirational, largely due to HBO’s Voyeur and Xbox Halo 3. These are large-scale, totally integrated executions, and watching them really made you feel like the industry has made the turn. We may not go the way of the music industry after all. Though I don’t particularly enjoy watching the Halo stuff, it’s just really, really smart and hit at every single touch point for gamers. To see that campaign in its entirety is pretty damn impressive. The same can be said for HBO, though clearly on a smaller scale.

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Published on June 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)

David Angelo, Outdoor Lions juror

Davidangelo Sunday, June 22, 2008 - So, as I look back on the past week, I want to leave you with this one Cannes moment.
  It happened Tuesday night at the Carlton. I was knocking back some beers with a few friends from 180 Amsterdam, when I was approached by this guy who said he knew me and that I probably wouldn’t remember what he was about to tell me. He told me that we had met 12 years ago while he was a bartender working at the Riviera Café in NYC.
  According to him, I was there with a bunch of ad folks and he asked what we did for a living. I told him I was a creative director at this hot shop down the street and how cool the job was. He told me he had always wanted to be a copywriter and would do anything to see how it all worked. He said I was kind enough to invite him to the agency a few days later. There I showed him our agency reel and introduced him to some of my colleagues. He then asked if I remembered any of this. At that point, even after three Heinekens, it was slowly starting to come back to me. He went on tell me that he had never forgotten what I did for him and how it impacted his decision to truly get into the business.
  As he was telling me all of this, I slowly started to remember. He continued to tell me that he was a creative director now and that his work was being considered for the Grand Prix award and that he wanted to thank me personally for what I did for him 12 years ago. I was in shock. I told him that I just gave him the push and that he did all the work. I hugged him. Told him I was proud of him and said it was his turn to pay it forward. A few days later, his work won the Grand Prix. Congratulations, my friend. You did it!

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Published on June 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Steffan Postaer, Cannes delegate

Steffanpostaer Saturday, June 21, 2008 - I'm at the Leo Burnett party (another global disco affair, this time at the Palm Casino). A German creative director—I’ll call him Deitloff—asks me how I’m doing. I say I’m doing fine, it’s the south of France, the weather is fine, my wife and I haven’t fought in days. … Deitloff stops me. “No, I mean how are you doing with ze Lions?” Oh. That. Well, I tell him, “I got my clock cleaned.” Probably not understanding the reference, he walks off into the laser strobes wondering what the hell is wrong with these Americans.
  Deitloff’s sweaty, German intensity about winning Lions bears discussion. Because, there is, and always will be, an obsessive majority of Lion hunters at Cannes. Indeed, around the world, so many creative departments are shaped around this festival. A former colleague told me his current agency in Paris assembles a group of its most promising creatives six months in advance of Cannes, and its only job is to develop creative to win at Cannes. How it works is the creative is done for current clients without their knowledge and then introduced to them later, packaged with other work from another brief. In America we call this “pork.”
  What do you think, Gentle Reader? Is this a brilliant strategy or a bogus move? Either way, it does increase the chances of winning. It also is a breeding ground for scam ads or what the French agencies like to call “ghosts.” If bunches of beautiful campaigns are done in advance of Cannes, and only a few get bought by real clients, what happens to all those beautiful adverts standing in line? They sneak in.
  According to my source, even those that do get “bought” by the client are often masquerading as legitimate. In fact, the client has only given the work his tacit approval. The agency pays for its production. If the client has offered any money whatever it generally has come from another budget’s slush fund. Pork. No wonder, then, so many glorious two-page spreads at the festival but not in magazines and newspapers!
  Often this “legitimate” advertising gets a free ride to the awards ceremony because the real fake ads are considered the ones for law firms and restaurants, small businesses that clearly have no advertising budgets.
  But scam ads take many forms. When Lion hunting is taken very seriously, there is likely to be some poaching. Ask Deitloff, if you can pry him from the dance floor.

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Published on June 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Susan Credle, Film Lions juror

Susancredle_3Friday, June 20, 2008 - It's quarter to midnight here in Cannes. We finished up judging around 10:30. I’m bleary-eyed, hungry and very thirsty for something besides water. In eight more hours I’ll be headed back to New York City, and I am determined to go out tonight and celebrate. Only problem is the people I’m meeting up with have lost all comprehension of time, and last time they called they sounded as if they might soon lose all thought all together. If they remember the plan, hopefully I’ll be at the Leo Burnett party to have one last thing to blog about tomorrow.
  Unfortunately I’m going to miss the closing ceremony tomorrow night. A creative director in my group, David Skinner, is marrying Mary Boyko tomorrow, and if Delta does right by me, I just might be there to witness it. Boyko sound familiar? Yes, that’s Rick Boyko’s daughter. Who would have ever thought a Boyko would get married the closing night of Cannes?
  I’m sorry to miss the press conference tomorrow for the Film jury. We had many interesting discussions about the work and the judging of it. The jury was respectful of each other and very vocal at the same time. The politics that I had heard rumors of simply did not exist. There were sincere discussions. Film as a category has become very interesting. And we found that trying to judge work that is pushed out and embraced versus work that is placed and sought out was very difficult. Long-format film and more traditionally shaped :60 films are hard to compare. We spoke about how future shows might be judged to encourage creatives to embrace work on different screens. What we all walked away believing is that the art of film is not fading away, but where film can live and the shape of it can be manipulated far more to serve ideas. And sometimes the idea is best played out in the short space of :30 to :60 seconds.

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Eric Hirshberg, Cannes delegate

Erichirshberg_2 Friday, June 20, 2008 (part three) - OK, a couple of quick, unrelated observations:
  1) The most unexpected thing you could do right now in this industry would be to walk into your client’s office and say, “You know what we think you should do? A couple of big TV spots and some nice print ads.” Think about it. When was the last time you recommended that? I think they’d fall over. (By the way, it would probably still work just fine.)
  2) Cannes: Sometimes it feels like the South of France. Sometimes it feels like Lake Havasu at Spring Break.
  3) American food vs. French food: American food has a much lower ceiling, but a much higher floor. Bad American food is still really not that bad. Take your average rubber chicken dinner for example. Sure, we complain. But that rubber chicken is still alright. Now, take the equivalent big event dinner in France. You get some bad fois gras? That is not a good thing. Then again, a good fois gras? Well, there is no American equivalent.
  4) People should stop talking about “reinventing the agency model” until someone actually does it. (Profitably.)
  5) We need to band together behind a common cause and vow to make all ad agencies S.A.F.E. (Silly Acronym Free Environments.) I have gotten in some conversations here with a few A.A.s (Acronym Addicts), and I’m telling ya, I understand the French better.
  6) Are any of these wonderful print ads with a giant visual, no body copy, a one-word headline and a tiny logo on them real? And if so, I need some Brazilian clients.
  7) I am not a sandals guy.
  8) If Microsoft really wants to help out the creative community, they need to write a program that correctly translates your calendar entries into the time zone you are in. I haven’t gotten the math right yet. And I was told there would be no math in this career.
  9) Even with the math, this really is the craziest, stupidest, best job in the world.

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Eleftheria Parpis, Adweek creative editor

Ellieparpis Friday, June 20, 2008 - With only one day left of the festival, the talk has turned to Saturday night, when the Film, Titanium and Integrated Lions are awarded.
  The chatter about Film, which used to be the main event, has taken a backseat to Titanium and Integrated. There are some interesting choices in Film this year, the most controversial being Fallon’s Cadbury “Gorilla.” Is there a big idea there connected to chocolate, or is it just an entertaining clip that can work for just about any brand with a joy promise to fill? Or, since it was a viral hit, as well as broadcast, will the jury prop it up because of its cross-media weight? But Dove’s “Evolution” already did that last year. Maybe the Film jury will go back to classic storytelling values, as seen in spots like BBDO’s “Stork” spot for Monster.
  The bigger question is, Will there be a Titanium Grand Prix? Is there a game-changing idea this year? And where is Halo 3, a Best of Show darling at earlier shows that has been noticeably absent from the Grand Prix circle this year—so far. It has won a gold in Promo and a silver in Cyber, but does it stand a chance for Integrated or Titanium? It has to get recognized for integration, but I don’t think it’ll get the elusive Titanium Grand Prix, which last year went to the Burger King Xbox video games. Juries are unpredictable, and sometimes by the time Cannes rolls around, the favorites from other shows take a bit of a hit. Judges can’t help but get tired or bored of the work that has already been anointed by other juries, and they want to make their own statements about what is great work. Even BBDO New York’s HBO “Voyeur” might suffer because it’s already done so well this week.

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Todd Grant, Cannes delegate

Toddgrant Friday, June 20, 2008 - Great night. Running into all the usual suspects and some wonderful new culprits as well. And that has maybe been the unofficial theme of this year’s festival: the well-established creative shops jostling alongside contemporary offerings like Lean Mean Fighting Machine, Turner Duckworth, Projection Tokyo and 42 Entertainment Pasadena, which has no apparent relation to 72andSunny.
  And that’s what I really enjoy about the experience here: the paradigm shifts, intense lobbying and highly subjective fashion show to determine the eventual winners.
  Everyone votes with a secret device, but we all talk about it the night before. Unlike The One Show, Communication Arts, D&AD and most other shows, Cannes is all about the week and the subjective goings on therein, which is what makes it truly unique.
  The shortlist for Titanium is swirling about: will McCann/TAG recoup their early hype and win with Halo? Will BBDO New York sustain their recent momentum and win with Voyeur? Will Crispin do it again? Or will Lean Mean Fighting Machine surprise everyone and steal the show?
  It’s hard to predict, obviously. But I can tell you my hero for the week:
  Moussa, the nice man with the polka-dot bow-tie cooking amazing crepes just shy of the Gutter Bar. Within earshot of the debate and various discussions about all the cool things we’re working on, this man makes amazing late-night food, with a kind smile and no advertising whatsoever. Just a truck, a small sign and in this case a fortunate word-of-mouth recommendation from my friend Parag.
  Nutella, a dash of sugar, a little Grand Marnier and a line 10 deep for over three hours.
  The Grand Prix for gastronomy at 3 in the morning.

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Janet Barker-Evans, Direct Lions juror

Janetbarkerevans_2 Friday, June 20, 2008 - With judging behind me, it’s been great looking at all of the work in the other categories, and I’m finding new inspiration everywhere—and it comes from all parts of the globe. Yet, whenever I run into anyone, I am repeatedly asked the same question over and over. Where was the direct work from the U.S.?
  The reality is that some direct marketers, and even some sales promo folks, feel that Cannes is the bastion of general agencies. Some commented that the Direct Lions aren’t really about direct marketing at all, but about cool creative ideas masquerading as direct marketing in an attempt to win an award. Hmm.
  I can’t say I completely disagree, since I sat through hundreds of direct entries and some of them are quite clearly not direct at all. But the truth is, there is a hell of a lot of innovative direct work—that truly IS direct—being done by U.S. agencies, and it simply isn’t being submitted. 

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Josh Rabinowitz, Cannes delegate

Joshrabinowitz Friday, June 20, 2008 (part two) - Airport, 9:30 a.m.
Couldn't sleep, too charged from a great previous day, finally drifted off, maybe got two restful hours.
  Did I achieve my Cannes goals?
  I think the musical word has been spread a bunch at Cannes 2008. How could you go wrong through one of the great conduits/spreaders, ambassadors, vocalists, interpeters of popular music itself, Tony Bennett, as your messenger?
  I did see many of my old friends, as well as a few of my co-jurists from 2006 Radio jury. Made a few nice acquaintances as well.
  I do have a topic for my Billboard piece, which I'll hopefully crank out on the plane.
  I do have two really cool ad-industry players in my seating section—JKT (aka Joyce King Thomas) and IPG (aka Michael Roth).
  I will have trouble topping this year's seminar, but I will embrace the challenge. Is there a level above "top-shelf"?
  I hope to perfect (with perspicacity) the creation, placement and deployment of the late-night sandwich, although I couldn't imagine topping this year's sandwich experience ever.
  Six bottles of rosé were carefully woven into my clothes and bag—fingers firmly crossed on non-breakage.
  Til next year!

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Published on June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

 
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