Cannes Lions 2012: Fresh talent and ideas awaited

The 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity kicked off on 17th June 2012. Considered as the most prestigious industry honors in the field of advertising, Cannes Lions celebrates the largest worldwide gathering of advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers.

 

Held in June every year, 9,000 registered delegates from 90 countries visit the festival to celebrate the best of creativity in brand communication, discuss industry issues and network with one another.

Thousands of ads from all over the world are showcased and judged. Cannes Lions juries are drawn from experts in each field from around the world. Each jury is headed by a jury president. They judge submissions in Film, Film Craft, Media, Press, Outdoor, Cyber, Promo & Activation, Direct, Design, Radio, PR, Creative Effectiveness and Titanium and Integrated. The agencies that have made their presence felt this year at Cannes are BBDO India, Leo Burnett India, DDB Mudra, TBWA India, JWT India, BBH India, Taproot India, Publicis India, Contract Advertising, Grey India, Happy Creative Service, Cheil India and Ogilvy India.

 

Adgully caught up with some of the experts to know their take on what the 59th edition of the festival has in store.

 

Agnello Dias -Founder, Chief Creative Officer, TapRoot India says that he looks forward to Cannes Lions 2012 with a view to explore new work from new countries and cultures. He also believes it will give him an opportunity to catch up with old friends around the world.

 

Agnello who is also judging the Titanium and Integrated Lions category at Cannes this year, says that India’s representation at the festival has been growing consistently over the years and now India definitely makes it to the top ten list. Expressing his views on the entries that make it to the festival, he said that most of them are very optimistic and some are path- breaking.

 

On being quizzed about some of the limitations in India’s entries, he said, “In film, sometimes the scale of the craft lifts international ideas to a different level which is not always possible in India but otherwise we tend to be more conceptual in most categories. But we are the best when it comes to print and outdoor categories.”

 

Riding on a CSR initiative, Minus One Project is Cheil India’s unique entry to Cannes 2012. Shedding light on the same, Alok Agrawal- Chief operating officer, Cheil Worldwide SW Asia, said, “It is a simple initiative to enable everyone to make a contribution towards saving the forests. The largest consumption of felled trees is for paper. If we can reduce our point size by one before printing any document, we can save up to 15% of paper. This in itself can lead to saving millions of trees each year.”

 

Commenting on the entries at the festival, Alok exclaimed that most of the entries reflect high quality creativity. He also points out that ideas are gaining importance as he believes that there is an increasing shift from execution to ideas at Cannes; which is good for the people in the business.”

 

He adds that he looks forward to seeing new integrated and digital ideas at the festival, which will set a new benchmark for creativity.

 

Opining on India’s representation at Cannes, Alok exclaimed that India has put up a great show over the last few years at the international festival and he seemed extremely confident that India would return rewarded this year too.

 

Speaking on the limitations that he observes in India’s entries, he said, “Our entries are by and large uni-dimensional. We have had very few entries in the past, which can be considered truly cutting edge and integrated.  Also we have very few entries in digital and experiential. Never the less, I am sure our contingent is learning every year and soon we will be challenging the best from around the world.”

 

Rajiv Rao- National Creative Director, Ogilvy India said, “The entries that make it to Cannes Lions are absolutely brilliant. It is extremely inspiring to see that no matter what the category, every year people manage to come up with a new way of looking at things. It is one place where you get to see fresh thinking and best ideas clubbed together.”

 

Ogilvy has a few entries in the print and television category. Rajiv looks forward to not only innovative ideas, but also to the seminars being held at Cannes Lions 2012 which will have some renowned speakers.

 

Talking about India’s representation at the festival, he said, “Our representation has always been very strong. Our work is being appreciated and noticed and even rewarded at Cannes. We are getting bigger and better every year and hope to do so even further.”

 

Rajiv believes that the limitations in India’s entries are in terms of execution and finishing. “We have some of the best ideas. They only lack execution from a world class perspective,” he exclaimed.

 

Josy Paul, Chairman and NCD, BBDO India said,” Cannes is a pilgrimage, a religious experience. I attend the festival to find the energy of new ideas, the passion of craft and to be inspired by the meeting of minds.”

 

Talking about BBDO’s entries to Cannes, he said, “We have done some transformational work for Gillette, GE, 7 Up and Aviva.”  He adds that last year the agency had not expected to win, but had won four lions and 15 nominations.

 

Josy believes that there is always something to learn from the work at Cannes since it represents the best of the best. He also seemed extremely positive about India’s representation at Cannes and exclaimed that it reflects India’s commitment to world-changing ideas.

 

Ashutosh Karkhanis, Executive Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi said, “At Cannes Lions, 'Creativity' is always something we all look forward to. But what I personally look forward to is 'the Young Lions Competition'. They are the future of advertising. Young Lions Competition throws light on upcoming creative stars and some very fresh ideas.”

 

On India’s representation at Cannes Lions he said, “With the volume of entries increasing each year, it shows a sign for hunger for metal. Some good quality work is being produced and it is getting better every year. What is important though is to create exceptional work which has never been done before.”

 

Ashutosh believes that India is yet to crack the Cannes code.  He explains, “Today no one cares about getting a shortlist. What matters is the metal. The decision to send an entry should be based on the quality of the work. One should not get attached to the piece of work emotionally.”

 

Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar UM who has been actively involved in organizing many advertising awards in India points out the stark difference in the parameters of judging in India and abroad.

 

“Internationally, the jury is larger. It comprises of 20- 22 members. Whereas in India for practical reasons, the jury is smaller in number consisting of 8- 10 members. Most importantly in India, people here know what the filters are; internationally interpretations are different. On an international level, the judging is driven by an idea and not by mass movements. Cultural nuances and scale of ideas does not make much of a difference at international juries like Cannes,” he said.

 

Apart from the entries by Lodestar UM and the awards this year, Shashi looks forward to the seminars which are being held at Cannes Lions 2012 which he believes lead to useful  and good quality discussions.

 

Expressing his opinions on the limitations in India’s entries that make it to Cannes, he said,” We do not match up in certain areas like digital and activation. But in categories like print and television, we are pretty good. It depends on the medium. Print and TV as mediums are evolved in India, and therefore we win.” He also points out that a lot of our work in the television category is culture- driven and therefore difficult to understand and associate with at an international level.

 

All in all, Cannes Lions 2012 is expected to be bigger and better. | By Aditi Popat [aditi(at)adgully.com]