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Andrea Stillacci of Herezie: why this year’s Cannes Lions matter more than ever

Cannes Lions brings to town an amazing cast of people and ideas from all the industries of the world. It’s the belly button of global creativity. Here’s why…

Clients

Every year, the number of top marketers and big brands making the trip to the French Riviera is increasing and the good thing is that they dig deep into the work. The days of “clients tourism” on the Croisette are gone.

Advertisers are coming to Cannes because, ultimately, they become better at what they do. It’s as simple as that.

Tech

It has already been true for many years but it will become even more apparent this year with a reduced contingent of ad folks from Publicis Groupe and probably WPP, the cool kids in town are no longer admen.

Large tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat will keep on taking over and beating their chest.

Technology is a big part of the way we live so it’s no news that it is a big part of the Festival as well.

Ad agencies will have to strengthen their muscles and re-do their mascara to truly stand out.

Google

This year Google has been selected as the Creative Marketer of the Year.

This is a turning point for the industry and will serve as a blueprint for other digital companies.

As with many online vendors, Google avoided traditional advertising after its launch but the company reversed position and really did embrace creativity, creating Super Bowl commercials and ambitious local activations.

Google built a model that seemed to work by producing some of its work in-house but also collaborating with agency partners.

Each time a client realizes how important creativity is and how having a strong brand can be helpful when entering new markets is a win for the industry.

Festival changes

For 2018, the Cannes Lions organization made some changes to the event that are smart and sharp.

The downsized length of the Festival will make it cheaper for attendees but will also mean that less people will leave before the end.

Categories wise, I would simply say: less is more, less is better.

Let’s not water down the perfect brew.

We launched Herezie in June 2010 with 13 ‘Heretical Monks’ gate-crashing the Palais and walking around with their thick brown habits. As you can imagine, we are strongly linked with the Festival.

It remains an incredible opportunity to network, to measure ourselves against the competition, to be inspired and to learn.

Andrea Stillacci is president of Herezie Group.

One Comment

  1. Will someday UDA creative contests sponsored by companies such as Coca Cola, performed by contributors who will work for free with incredible brief constraints, with both marketing and grande cause goals, be a festival of Cannes Dishonesty Cheap Lions Cubs ?

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