Day 6 of Festival

Today was my second master class of the week and I preferred this one much more. The HP Graphic Arts and BBDO master class was well put together. The class explained and demonstrated the Billboard Magazine campaign, which I thought, was really creative and original. The campaign evolved around the idea of representing a musician by the artists that influenced them over their lives. This process was very tedious because they had to go through every single music video of the specific artist and find a single frame that everyone would recognize.  Once they had the frames of the artist, they would combine all the pictures of the artists and make a picture of the musician out of the artist of whom he was inspired by. While the speaker was explaining all the steps to complete this picture it sounded like it would take hours and hours on end to finish. Much to my surprise they chose four people from the audience to be volunteers while demonstrating the process. They took a picture of each of the volunteers and asked them who their four favorite artists in the music industry were. A real-time demonstration was shown on the screen for everyone to see and it lasted about seven minutes for each volunteer. They showed the program processing each picture of the volunteer as it ran through the appropriate phases needed to turn a regular picture into one that is made up of that particular person’s favorite artist. Thanks to HP the volunteers were shipped their digitalized pictures so they could be hung in their rooms. How cool! This workshop proved that you don’t have to be in the category of film to be creative and find ways to interact with the people. This campaign was run on the Internet and people could actually customize their own digitalized photographs off the Internet. HP even chose a lucky person to have their digitalized picture be shown on the front cover of a magazine!

They also created an alphabet featuring pop star’s history and events that have been crucial to their musical career. The alphabet is kind of like a game and fans can guess what each letter represents. I am a big Michael Jackson fan and they used his alphabet as a sample to show us. I was stumped on some of the letters and when they revealed what it referenced, I was like oh yeah! It was really cool! The speaker closed saying that he couldn’t have accomplished the successful campaign without the help of his team and this concept has been a reoccurring theme throughout the week of the fesitval. One cannot execute a concept or idea by himself—having a team to work with you and carry out the vision is a guarantee to success. I thought this information would be great advice to carry with me throughout my working career.

After the workshop, Chris Hall from BBDO spoke with us briefly, and I thought he was very nice. He constructed his lecture around three key take away points. The first was creative communication is more effective. Having a creative ad can increase its effectiveness x 11, which is better sales for the product and better off for the client—making everyone happy. The second take away was that we are in the golden age of creativity. The increased number of categories shows the increasing number of opportunities to be creative and explore with creativity. He said that there will be more changes in the next five years than there has been in the last twenty-five. That’s exciting for our generation, because the opportunities are becoming endless. The last point was that great work is a team sport. Without collaboration nothing will be accomplished.

Day 5

 Will.i.am has been the speaker I couldn’t wait to hear since the beginning of this program, so when today at 1:00 rolled around, I was thrilled to attend the McCann Worldgroup and MRM Worldwide seminar. This seminar discussed technology and its transformation of creativity.  Technology has changed the game for every industry and will.i.am proved that the game has changed for not only him as an entertainer, but for him as a songwriter also. He explained that he writes, records, and produces his songs all through email. He will email his partners with lyrics and beats and waits for their response. If he is given the ok, they will send him the track and he will cut the track on his computer and send it back. Once the song has been completed he then distributes the song out for the world right from the computer. That process shows that the music production business that has been used for many years is now basically obsolete and the artist can now do everything himself without even having to leave his house. Technology is changing every aspect of every job. He told a funny story of how technology now provides him with the answers he has always wanted to know. He said when going out on stage, people cheering and yelling ahhhh can also sound like boooo with the mix of the music and the instruments etc. Therefore he always wonders if he is hearing ahhh and the audience likes his performance or if it's a booo and there has been a huge malfunction. Instead of having to wait until the end of the show he can use his mobile to look at twitter and read the tweets for his concert at anytime and from those tweets tweeted knows if they are cheering him on or if they are bashing his concert. For him the Internet has made it easier to stay connected with his fans and viewers during any circumstance.

The 20something master class started in the Young Lion’s Zone shortly after so I grabbed a smoothie and doodled in the white space while waiting for it to begin. In the festival program, 20something was described as “Great Talent, Zero Experience” and I perceived this to be advice for graduating students on how to break into the industry. I soon realized that 20something was actually the first advertising agency run by students with no experience. This agency seemed really cool, but I feel like I would need a little more guidance and practice before taking on my own client’s accounts.

This was the last day commercials were aired so we quickly ran up to the Grand Auditorium after the master class and viewed three commercials entries: alcoholic drinks, household products, and public awareness messages. We had one last speaker at 5:00 so we had 45 minutes to view the commercials. As we viewed which entry categories would be showing during the allotted time I thought that the household product category was going to be somewhat boring, but to my surprise I loved this category and the Febreze air freshener commercials "Breathe Happy" were my favorite.

We were a little tardy to the Arma Salama meeting but his story was very intriguing. He was a filmmaker during the Egyptian Revolution. He talked about being kidnapped and how he wanted to get the word out about the corruption of society and didn’t care what consequences proceeded with achieving this, even if he was thrown in jail. His sacrifice to inform the world about his beliefs is the same drive we need to possess as we begin our lives in the real world. He said “if you don’t believe in a product, don’t sell it” because nothing will be achieved if you aren’t driven to take action. After listening to his story I really want to see his movie On A Day Like Today.

Day 4 of Festival

Meeting Jennifer Frommer from Interscope Records today was a great way to start the day. I am very interested in music and have always wondered what exactly I could do that combined advertising and the music industry and Jennifer Frommer had the answer. Her job is setting up marketing relationships between music artists and brands. Listening to what her days encounter appealed to me and I envisioned myself taking on some job similar to this. Working closely with people like Lady Gaga and Eminem is ideal and having Jimmy Lovine as a boss sounds surreal. (He is the mentor on American Idol for crying out loud!). My whole life I have dreamed of doing something dealing with the music industry, but I was a little worried when she said that her job has ruined music for her. After that comment I felt like maybe I should reconsider my envisioned path. I can’t imagine the thought of being sick of music. Maybe doing an intern first would be good for me, and if I can’t turn the radio on after working hours, I’ll reassess my path. 

After meeting with Mrs. Frommer we grabbed some lunch and headed up to the Majestic hotel to meet with David Simon. In all honesty his session went straight over my head. Mr. Simon, though very intelligent, was a little intimidating with his pessimistic outlook on life. He made a comment about there being no heaven and when we die no one will be mourning. I felt very scared and unsure of what this had to do with advertising or his HBO series.

Leaving the Majestic hotel we headed back over to the festival and Alison Arden, the publisher of Advertising Age, spoke with us. I was in the intro to advertising class this past spring semester and our professor would refer to Advertising Age many times. It was neat to hear what someone who worked there had to say after hearing about Ad Age all semester. She was very personable and explained that her job and her personal life were both happily balanced.

The Microsoft Party was by far my favorite outing on the trip. I have never attended a party where my name was on an attendees list. Arriving to Cirque de Sol performing on the beach just blew my mind and at that moment I felt very important. I still couldn’t believe how gracious the people at Microsoft treated us. The music, the snacks, and the set up—everything was perfect and I couldn’t have imagined a better party. Everyone was having so much fun and dancing to American music only made the party that much better. Around 11:30 a few of us ended up catching a cab home and one of the tour guides of the Microsoft Beach club insisted that he pay for our taxi ride home. He was so kind and I am in the process of sending him a thank you email for being so friendly to us. The Microsoft party is one I will never forget.

Festivities of day 3

The line-up of speakers at the festival today was amazing and I was so excited to begin my day seeing Martha Stewart. The IPG & Women’s Leadership Network was very beneficial for women and I am glad I attended it. Soledad O’Brien was an amazing moderator and did a good job keeping the conversation flowing. The message addressed the gender inequality in the industry, but we learned from each speaker Martha Stewart, Kimberly Kadlec, Gail Heimann, and Carol Lam that we should not pay attention to this statistic. Martha explained that she never viewed a job as a man’s job or a women’s job, she just viewed it as a job that had to be accomplished (hints how successful she is today). I think it was very encouraging to hear the success stories of each of these women and there determination to become what they were driven to become. As a woman hoping to break into the industry in the next few years, I will take the words of wisdom I learned at this panel and apply it to my work ethic for the future. Although Martha Stewart has had somewhat of a rocky past and I am not sure how much I am a fan, it was still really cool to see her.

Only after fifteen minutes of seeing Martha Stewart, Yahoo’s seminar began and opened with Robert Redford. Even though the topic of this seminar was not what I was expecting it was still great and to hear Robert Redford’s story and his involvement in the Sundance Film festival was very interesting and inspirational. I was especially moved by his personal story he shared about the irony of his encounter with Cannes. (He still is looking good!)

After Robert Redford it was off to the next big celebrity Pharrell Williams. I must admit upon his entrance I was a little unsure of how his paneling would go, but he really took me by surprise and I was very impressed with his politeness and professionalism. I have to say this was my favorite seminar of the day. This was true not only because it was Pharrell, but also because I am very into music and am curious as to how VEVO has envisioned new innovations to combine music with social media.

Coca-Cola was the seminar that concluded the end of my day—as far as the festival goes. The presentation took on a format no other seminar I’d attended had. The beginning was a walk through of the Coca-Cola “Liquid and Linked” campaign, but the information was drawn up on the screen and Jonathan Mildenhall was the narrator. It was very creative, but after the fifth chapter out of ten I was beginning to get a little nausea from the graphics of the animation. However the ideas and the planning that Coke put into this campaign was amazing. My favorite was the secret bottle mystery they integrated into the campaign. It was such a creative way to get teens integrated with the brand again and out in the world buying the drink.

I loved all the speakers we had come and speak to our group, but my favorite would have to be Noelle Cottrell from Fitzgerald & Co. His advice about getting into the business and breaking through is not necessarily dependent on the greatest punch line but rather on the idea and concept behind the work. After his speech I got a little apprehensive about the direction of my life after graduation. He suggested and really urged some schooling in the industry after graduation. I was not planning on going to graduate school, but after his suggestions I feel like that is a path I am now needing to consider if I want to be serious about advertising as a career. Also, I was under the impression that having a portfolio was only necessary for art majors, but according to Noelle it is a necessary tool to have completed when looking for jobs.

My day ended at the Young Lion’s beach party and around three at the Gutter bar I called it a night. It is safe to say today was a successful day!

Day 2 of Cannes Lion

The day started very early for me this Monday morning. I jumped on the train from Juan at 8:10 and was at the festival before the doors even opened. My entry assignment (PR) was judged today so my day began with viewing the shortlist exhibitions. I was so interested and impressed with these exhibitions. I took the time to view each thoroughly and had quickly spotted three that I was very intrigued with. I really liked the “Best or Nothing” Mercedes campaign, the “Chocography” campaign and the Coca-Cola “Rush Hour Cinema” campaign. After viewing the exhibitions I went up to the Grand Auditorium and viewed the shortlist screenings for forty-five minutes. Viewing the exhibitions before the screenings helped a lot because I had some knowledge of the campaign’s backgrounds. I really enjoyed viewing these and was late getting to the BBDO seminar because I didn’t want to leave the screenings.

            BBDO was by far my favorite seminar of the day. I was really impressed by their message and the theme of their seminar. They explained that to understand what kind of content is best for a certain medium, we first have to understand the relationship that we share with the medium. He used a TV, PC, mobile, and tablet as examples and exampled our relationships we share with each. My favorite analogy he described was referencing our mobile to our “new lover.” I had never thought about it in that specific way but it was absolutely correct. The content that is best for mobile is one that, like a new love, needs to be highly personal but still surprising. If you provide the content that is relevant to that particular screen you can reach many people. He stated that the reason Old Spice’s campaign is as successful as it is, is because they have the same theme, but its message varies for each medium (TV, PC, mobile, tablet).

            The second seminar I attended was Kraft Foods and I was not expecting the lecture to go the way it did, but it was insightful. The lecture was based around the importance of being first and whether or not we should strive to be first. His message revealed that though we have been raised in a competitive world and first is always best; in the world of creations, being an innovator isn’t as quite as important. The key is to find out what other people have created, take that creation and perfect it. With this tactic it is apparent being first is in fact not the best.

            Leaving the Kraft seminar to grab lunch, I was a little disappointed in my choice of sandwich, but walking into the Microsoft beach club tour I was perfectly satisfied. I was blown away with their set up and the new technologies we got to view. My favorite was the touch table. I am informing my parents of this table as we speak- (maybe an early birthday present?)  It was such a treat to be included in that and I can’t wait for their beach party Wednesday night!

            After such an eventful day I would have to say the highlight was the YouTube beach party. It was at that moment that I realized how cool this festival was and that the Cannes section in the Adland book described exactly what I was experiencing. It was amazing-- the drinks, the view, the networking. It was what I had always hoped it would be and better! I am so glad that that happy hour party takes place each day this week.

            As I stated earlier my entry was PR and the awards ceremony was tonight. I was totally blown away with the glam of the show. I really felt like I was at a Golden Globe awards show. All of the winners had amazing entries and I was so excited when they announced that the “Best or Nothing” Mercedes campaign was the golden lion winner for PR—it had been my favorite from the very beginning. The awards show was so entertaining I am sure I will attend all of them! Can’t wait!

Day 1 of Festival

I was really anxious to see the layout of the festival. I was so surprised how nicely set up it was. I felt so legitimate. The Young Lion’s Zone was really neat and youthful. The beach bar was so cool. I did a few drawings on the white boards even though I am not artistic whatsoever. After wandering around for a few minutes we headed off to look for the seminar. The first seminar I attended “Go Viral” was with Jimmy Mayman and Martin Lindstrum. Jimmy Mayman’s topic was interesting but I was really intrigued by Martin Lindstrum. The message was discussing how to accomplish long term branding. His lecture showed that this is accomplished by using many medias. TV and print are major components but t-shirt sells, sponsorships and the web are also major players in keeping your brand mainstream. He also explained that brands are like religions. The same sociological connection in the brain is triggered when talking about a religion and talking about a strong brand. Brands are a reoccurring topic in everyday conversations with and they have increased over the years. In 2001, 15% of conversations were spent talking about brands and in 2011 that percentage rose to 37%. Mayman’s demonstration about Coca-Cola’s smashed bottle proves their desire to keep brand awareness. When a Coca-Cola bottle is smashed and broken into pieces one can pick up any piece of glass and recognize it is a Coke. I was really blown away by this. I whole-heartedly believe in the 1:9:90. It is the word of mouth theory and an experiment was done to prove this theory. A real family moved into a neighborhood and was to promote many different brands by word of mouth to the other neighbors. After the experiment was completed sales went up significantly for those brands used in the experiment. This didn’t come to any surprise to me, because I always go out and by things that people recommend to me. Usually if it is recommended it is good. What I wasn’t aware of was that during the hours of 8-10 a.m. people are more likely to react to word of mouth than in any other time of the day. Meeting with Susan Lily from USA Today was very informative and basically an overview of the festival. I was surprised as she was sharing that so few women are really represented in the advertising executive world. I always thought that because this was more of a creative job more women would be executives, but I was wrong. As Mrs. Lily discussed her role with the festival, I felt like I would be overwhelmed being in her position. She described it as a “travel agent” for delegates coming from the US. I don’t think I could be in charge of so much planning. Unexpectedly Bridget, Katie, and I were interviewed for the Lions Daily News and were on the website tonight covering the festival’s news. It was really cool. The second seminar I attended was the UM, L’Oreal and BMW. I really enjoyed the L’Oreal speaker Joanne Bradford. She spoke about how her Internet website was very personalized and that that is what appeals to an audience. For makeup products every women is looking for something that will accentuate their personal features and that is exactly what she tries to execute. With any brand I feel like this is very important and I would make sure to accomplish this if I were handling a brand. The rest of the speakers I honestly wasn’t as impressed with because they didn’t quite capture my attention. My absolute favorite seminar of the day was The Networkone. As I read the description for that seminar I wasn’t quite sure I would be interested, but I was laughing throughout each PowerPoint. They listed three guidelines to making an ad which were: If it makes you nervous- that’s good, If it looks like an ad-start again, and Make a lot of noise. Their clippings of some of their ads were absolutely hysterical. I had three favorites. The Pizza viral video, where a man repeated pizza for ten minutes, The Bawadi ad, and the Never say no to Panda ad. The Bawadi for example used prisoners in their ads to promote the Bawadi. In my opinion it was something so unexpected and bold that it turned out to be perfect. As I am thinking of a ways to promote our Nike campaign assignment I am keeping this strategy an option because I feel like it is very effective. They were so creative and off the wall which made them really stand out in my mind as great ads. Overall today was a great learning experience and I am so excited to see what the rest of the week has in store!