Are there more articles written about how Cannes is overblown than awards given out at the Palais? That was a question I pondered after an agency boss suggested I write down my overview of this year’s festival at 1am in the Carlton. But – given my relentless commitment to responding to subscriber feedback – here I am belatedly contributing to the canon of commentary on adland’s greatest/worst week of the year.
One of the common criticisms of each age of Cannes is that it is a victim of its own success. Why are these media people here? What is a Ferris wheel doing outside the Palais? How dare you ask me to show a pass to enter the Majestic? How many more categories is it possible to include? Who invited all the clients?
But the one that is the most serious is that the celebration of work is no longer central to most people's experience of the event. If that's true it's not for want of trying on Cannes' part. If you were in any wonder about the significance of the awards to Cannes, the fact the jury press conferences are chaired by Cannes Lions chief executive Simon Cook and chairman Phil Thomas tells its own story.
Many of the presidents spoke about how they were pleased to award Grands Prix to big brands. And it appeared – in the first half of the week at least – that some purpose-driven work was losing out. Plenty of purposeful work ended up with Grands Prix by the end of Friday night but it seemed scepticism around the role of purpose in advertising had started to impact jury decisions. Apple's “The greatest” got a silver in Film, for example – though it took home a Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Music as well as gold in Film Craft.
At the Campaign Big Awards in November, the chairs of judges, Felix Richter, Mother London’s chief creative officer, and Shelley Smoler, the chief creative officer at Droga5 London, predicted the industry was at the start of a big shift away from purpose. They appear to have been prescient.
Taking the time to understand how and why things win awards is a worthwhile exercise, whatever the answer. It is important to note Campaign runs plenty of its own and its owner Haymarket partners with Cannes on Spikes Asia. Whatever the scheme, guidance from the organiser informs decisions. The particular preferences of the chair of judges can also play a prominent part in the result. And it can be helpful to know if a subcategory always awards a Grand Prix.
Being an awesome ad isn’t always (ever?) enough. After you’ve got over the hurdle of making the damn thing, for work to win any award you need to strategically plan how and where you enter. At Cannes your work can need to get through two sets of juries – now selected with revisited criteria – before being considered for the serious prizes. You need the judges who like your work to understand the rules and process. Basically, you need a whole load of luck.
Rick Brim, the global chief creative officer of Adam & Eve/DDB, which picked up the Film Lions Grand Prix for its work with ITV and Calm, put it succinctly in an interview with my colleague Gurjit Degun when he said Cannes was a “f-ing lottery”. And that's from a creative with seven Cannes Grands Prix.
But I don’t say any of this to discourage you from entering or to disparage Cannes or any of the winners. If your experience of Cannes is not about the work, take responsibility for that. As Campaign US editor Alison Weissbrot said on the first global daily podcast, Cannes is a "choose your own adventure" event.
Next June gather all the information you can and then walk around the basement of the Palais – or look through this year's work online right now – and make up your own mind. Find time to be inspired (or infuriated) by what agencies and brands are doing around the world. And use that as fuel for your own fire.
