This year, I was lucky enough to get a Cannes jury pass, which I proudly wore at all times. Until one evening, Vicki Maguire [chief creative officer at Havas London] rightly told me I looked like a dickhead and should take it off.
Anyway, that jury pass was a privilege and a pleasure. It was an opportunity to indulge in some of the most creative and effective work from around the world.
In our jury briefing, we were told that Creative Effectiveness is the most important category (although I am unsure whether they say the same to every jury). Cannes Lions can sometimes be criticised for rewarding the superficial, but the Creative Effectiveness category awards measurable impact.
Judging began with the inevitable debate over the category definitions and the scoring criteria. Beyond the official marking system, we established an unofficial metric: "How jealous does the work make us?" To enter Creative Effectiveness you need to have been creatively awarded in the previous three years, so it’s fair to say I was positively jealous of much of what I was judging.
What followed were two intense days of discussion. I met some wonderful fellow jurors and a wonderful jury president (Andrea Diquez, global chief executive of Gut). The debates became heated and then were quickly diffused with humour. Given the smorgasbord of submissions, at times we were comparing apples and pears with oranges and bananas, and it was all the more interesting for it.
In the end, we awarded seven bronzes, six silvers, three golds and one Grand Prix to Apple’s "Shot on iPhone" and I took out five things that I wanted to share with you:
Cumulative creativity
There’s cumulative value in committing to a creative platform over time. Dove’s 'Campaign for Real Beauty' and Apple’s "Shot on iPhone" are both exceptional examples of this. Our industry needs more long-term campaigns amongst the sea of short-termism.
Silly sells
While Cannes Lions has become dominated by po-faced purpose, there were several examples of humour on the list of winners. Specsavers’ "The misheard version", Sheba’s "Gravy race" and CeraVe’s "Michael CeraVe" were all examples of wonderfully silly ideas that entertained millions of people and had some serious results.
Interesting objectives lead to interesting solutions
Defining an objective can be the first creative act. The shortlist featured an array of ambitions, ranging from changing laws and influencing politicians (KPN) to redesigning streets (Cemento Sol), creating new businesses (Corona), promoting football teams (Xbox), and launching groundbreaking new products (Vaseline, Heinz). Please note – the campaign objective doesn’t always have to be "raising awareness".
Challenge convention
There’s commercial power in challenging category convention. Philips sold refurbished technology products and presented them as "better than new" to transform its business. McDonald’s in Japan advocated for a "no smiles" approach in a traditionally smiley service culture to radically reinvent its recruitment. Magnum convinced people to eat ice cream during the winter. We should ask ourselves, "What is everyone else doing?" and then do the opposite.
Creative effectivenes
Yes, I’m aware that’s the name of the category. However, they are the two most important words in our industry, and they are in that order for a reason. Creativity must be at the heart of what we do. Creativity must be a business multiplier. Creativity must not become a soft word that means the colouring in around the edges. I hope this year’s Cannes Lions winners are proof of the power of creativity and can inspire more creative effectiveness in the future.
Martin Beverley is founder of Ace of Hearts
