Cannes Advertising Festival Report 1: Being there

JUST BEING THERE, by Dale Spencer

I was privileged to be the only Kiwi selected to the Cannes Lions Media Jury this year, which in general was met with cries of sarcasm and good-humoured references to the “ultimate media junket”.

The junket part of the equation was swiftly put to rest on day one. It most certainly wasn’t.

With 2,000 entries from around the world, a Jury of 26 of the best media minds in the business plus 5 solid days of judging, debate, press conferences, 7 days of seminars and yes, a few exceptional parties…this event proves itself as the world’s premier advertising festival.

It would be understandable with 26 strong minded media professionals in one room from a vast array of cultures and backgrounds that things might go pear-shaped fairly quickly. However, on day one it was quite clear we were all on a similar path and worked democratically towards finding a winner.

By day three it became clear the overall quality of the entries was not high and a not-very short list of 240 emerged. This is where the greatest debate began….fairly and responsibly managed by UK Jury President, Dominic Proctor.

New Zealand scored reasonably well with 2 silvers in media, it was hard not to feel a quiet sense of pride when the Speights and SKY Television entries were shown at the Awards night.

However it was also clear to see that as an industry, we have a fair way to go in terms of the quality and volume of our entries.

Above: Two views of Cannes.  Our reporter’s experience of the South of France

The overall Grand Prix winner from Sweden was from a dull category, Pension Funds. They had turned their business around using a clever mix of TV and outdoor, but stood out due to their exceptionally innovative use of mobile technology.In many ways it highlighted that in the mobile space, we are a long way behind…until the phone companies go to flat monthly plans, we will not be in a position to use this as a truly valid media option as the download costs are just too prohibitive.Encouragingly, New Zealand work is as good as, or better than most of what was in the awards, particularly when you consider the huge budgets we are competing against.In one Cadillac entry from the States, they had employed the cast of CSI to promote their new range in a TV extravaganza…. Arguably we could not have delivered the same impact using the Shortland St crew.