Day 1 At The Festival!

Day 1 At The Festival- Cannes!

Going into the festival, I was unsure of what I was going to encounter. We had heard about the various speakers, important people and the young lions zone, but I was shocked when we walked into the Palais. It was amazing! We arrived a little before the first seminar, goviral. In the seminar, Martin Lindstrom explained that brands and religion coincide. His recent research revealed that the part of the brain activated during religious activities is also activated when you see a powerful brand. If found this concept to be exceptionally interesting. I felt that this exhibited the power of a successful, strong and meaningful brand. Lindstrom also went on to reveal that 37% of everything we talk about is about brands. Though this is a startling statistic, it further demonstrates the power of branding.

After this seminar, I listened to the last 6 seminars. Though some were better than others, I thoroughly enjoyed thenetworkone independent agencies showcase. Though I was originally hesitant about attending this seminar, I was pleasantly surprised with the speakers. Both Ali Ali and John Matejczyk were enthusiastic during their jobs and positions as leaders in independent agencies. I had never heard ones perspective from an independent agency standpoint. During the presentation, Ali Ali stated that no idea is a bad idea. He encouraged creative’s to present one solid idea to their client, not multiple. His view was that you should have one idea that you are confident in and thoroughly believe in, not multiple mediocre ideas. In an industry where many times one is working to please the client, it was encouraging to listen to people who believed in the power of creativity and originality. The campaigns that these individuals showed (a panda campaign, imeet and a google pizza) were original and interesting to watch.

The Fishman- Hillard presentation was also one of my favorites. Both Mitch Spolan and Dr. Orin Levine had interesting presentations. I was impressed with how Dr. Levine used social mobile marketing to improve the lives of so many in Kenya. In such an improvised nation, it amazes me that technology can be employed to help saves lives. Furthermore, this Endeavour illustrates the power of technology and what it can do to help millions.

I also really enjoyed Mitch Spolan’s presentation. In his PowerPoint, he showed a video he made that centered around a delicious looking turkey club sandwich (that I really wanted to eat!). He used this sandwich as a metaphor for decision-making. Are you going to eat your favorite sandwich or try something new from the restaurant next store? Every decision he made came down to an incentive. To change a behavior, it seems almost necessary to have some sort of incentive.

The last seminar I attended, Naked: The Three Cs of Modern Creativity was very confusing. I enjoyed the Nokia Push Snowboarding video, but I found the overall presentation to be meaningless. The three Cs, community, crowd sourcing and co-creation, seem like they are almost synonyms of each other. I also did not follow how all the speakers connected.

Overall though, I enjoyed the seminars I attended today. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I plan on attending my first workshop! Watch out Cannes Lions…UGA is taking over!