Half-time at Cannes Lions
Marcus Tesoriero, Executive Creative Director at The Brand Agency Perth, has found plenty of inspiration in Cannes so far.
The Soccer World Cup hasn't quite stolen the limelight at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, but it's definitely amplified the buzz around town.
In fact, it seems even the soccer players themselves want in on our action. I heard an interesting comment that the Icelandic goalkeeper actually directed his own Coke TV spot recently. Yep, sounds nuts I know, Google it if you don't believe me. And it's not half bad for his second job to blocking penalty goals from Messi.
But I digress. World Cup aside, Cannes is a super busy week if you make the most of it. The trick here is to balance the right amount of time to explore the work, see talks, experience activations and of course, lock in the occasional swanky lunch put on by generous production companies. So far, I've seemed to cover all bases, which has given me blisters on my feet from all the walking, but it's definitely been worth it.
To kick off the week, who other to light up the stage with inspiration than the man himself, David Droga?
Opening with an honest story about where he's come from and how he got here, David explained how creativity has led every key career decision in his life. Many times, that meant taking the hard road - from halving a nine-grand salary, accepting his first copywriting position to stepping down from his cushy Worldwide CCO role at Publicis to build a little unknown start-up called Droga5. Deep down, he's always wanted to be about the work, no matter the compromise, and it's always paid off.
Following the speech, I caught up with David for a quick chat too. After mentioning my new move to Perth, he discussed the opportunities that lie there, equating them to the kind of opportunities he had when arriving at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore in the late nineties. Thanks David, low benchmark. But I do agree. It's how you use those opportunities that makes the all difference, leading every key decision with creativity at the forefront.
Another energising talk I came across on the mainstage was The Rise of Hackvertisng. Led by Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer for Burger King, this really showed me how a client can be as excited about creating great work as the agency can. Fernando was literally jumping out of his skin to tell us about this new winning formula. Scan the internet for a popular trend then hack it with your brand in real-time. Google 'Home of the Whopper', one of the projects agency DAVID Miami has created - look it up if you haven't already.
More than anything this new form of advertising, or Hackvertising I should say, shows how the bravery of a brand can pay huge dividends financially.
Hackvertising doesn't come without its risks. Throughout their projects, Burger King has been banned from Wikipedia, sued by Fox, blocked from Google, Facebook and Instagram, and that's just the beginning. But to them, who cares? They've earned over $400 million in earned media and their lawyers cover the rest.
Now I know hackvertising isn't for everyone but there are definitely learnings from it that every brand should look at and dabble with. Staying relevant and reacting to what customers want is a large reason why Burger King was named Creative Marketer of the Year at the Cannes Lions 2017.
As for the work this year, the bar has been raised yet again. Many of the top honours are starting to be announced - all available on the fancy, new online platform called The Work. Check out the free trial on www.lovethework.com if you'd like to be inspired from anywhere in the world - that is, if you're not too busy watching the World Cup.