Procter & Gamble: making an effort to get to know 'Miss Understood'

More than 8,000 creatives, planners, servicing 'suits', directors, producers, artistes and designers, not to mention almost 100 clients, including P&G, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Hewlett Packard, GE and Toyota, packed the hotels, schmoozed in the restaurants and greased the bars. At the Palais de Festivals, they viewed more than 19,000 advertising entries, up 14 per cent from last year, competing to win only 250 bronze, silver or gold Lions in every conceivable advertising medium ranging from traditional TV and radio to internet websites and direct marketing. There were also about 25 seminars on advertising over the week. Four trends were discernible in this orgy of advertising: a continuing celebration of creativity, a truly global embrace, an inclusiveness in appeal to the man on the street, and finally, the beginnings of an acknowledgement of the influence of women. The most interesting nascent trend at Cannes, though, could be the power of women. There were two seminars this year about the importance of women in the global economy and as consumers: 'Miss understood' by Leo Burnett, as well as 'What women want'. And, for the very first time, four out of 15 jurors for the film awards were women, up from only two last year. Cannes in 2004 seems to be more aware than ever before of the potential to touch the hearts and minds of women. The fundamental truth of Cannes, what makes it irreplaceable and unique, is that it is a creative lab, as expressed so elegantly by Mercedes Erra, president of BETC Euro RSCG Paris. Each golden Lion deifies the power of a simple, breakthrough idea combined with excellence of execution such as in the ads for Soken DVD, Vim Cream, Aerolineas Argentina, and Peugeot France. The presence of clients in Cannes, a trend that began last year with the high-profile attendance of P&G, is very unlikely to affect Cannes' raison d'etre, because clients also see Cannes as a source of inspiration for what the very best advertising can look like. And the power of creativity is growing increasingly global, as it connects to universal human truths to persuade and entice. Delegates came from over 60 countries, 44 nations sent journalists, Cannes representatives are located in 39 countries...and for the first time, the jury for the all-important advertising film awards were from 15 countries representing every continent, led by Piyush Pandey, head of the Cannes jury, and incidentally Indian in nationality. Every gold Lion winner truly brought to life that great advertising transcends national boundaries, irrespective of language or cultural nuance. The sparkling vivacity of the Evian ad, the urgency of Nike's 'Musical chairs', the failed revenge in the Toyota 'Tacoma' spot, and the battle for supremacy depicted in the Grand Prix winner, 'King of the hill' by Playstation 2, needed no translation to move and persuade. Rohini Miglani, associate director advertising development Asean/Australia and New Zealand/India, Procter & Gamble