Cannes impressions: Brain-juice injections, part 2

As the week went on, our creative experiences were really electrified by the big tech boys in Cannes! The lightening effect on creative freedom and media innovation had never been better...

In the Time Warner seminar, my favourite news presenter, Anderson Cooper, and the one and only Conan O'Brien, who apparently turned into an "overnight" social-media geek, shared how social media directly connects the show’s creators with their fans. The powerful insight is that connecting with fans launches co-creation! Co-creating content with fans and rewarding them with true involvement for other fans to see generates confidence and much stronger bonding for all concerned. This is democracy of creativity. Side note: would it be great to see more "street camera" type content even in 30 second TVC?

Then follows YouTube's ”Why Be The 30 Second TVC When You Can Be The Whole Show” which unveiled the mega power of a new creative community and what they can offer brands in connecting with Gen C.

By showing how Dove, Top Shop and Chevy tapped into the Gen C community, we could see strong evidence from the brand side (well, brave brands I should say) of how powerful and effective it can be. Side note: is it just about low media investment? Or should we be shifting focus to offering great content + excellent execution?

Then there was the thrilling effect of Twitter's The Social Sound Track, where second-life content could be offered to live Tweeters. The power of capturing live data on what people like and tweet about during a show amplified our experience and the potential for brands to tighten their relationship with people they truly care about.