Now that Cannes is behind us, it’s worth reflecting on what that was all about and what, if anything, we can learn from it. Cannes Lions festivals often blur into one but, coming off the back of a global pandemic ...
Read More »Jane Austin: Greenpeace for top prize and a four-day-week: my hopes for Cannes 2023
As Cannes week draws to a close, thoughts are already turning to next year’s festival. Assuming the world hasn’t turned into a flaming sack of rubbish by then, the global industry will be back in France for its customary navel-gazing ...
Read More »Jane Austin: can Ryan Reynolds make advertising fun again?
“Ads should be fun”, Ryan Reynolds told Cannes yesterday. It’s a highly controversial statement for an industry that lost all interest in fun years ago. Thankfully, the Hollywood actor-turned-adman also offered some lessons in comedy for the more humourless amongst ...
Read More »Jane Austin at Cannes: even with all the talk of purpose, progress is screeching to a halt
It’s the little things like a looming recession, soaring inflation and (for Brits anyway) Boris Johnson in charge that make you look to future with a sense of abject dread. Not wanting to send you further into a depressive spiral, ...
Read More »Jane Austin: confounding clients and alienating friends – Cannes’ top buzzwords
And we’re back, so let’s take some time to overcome our recently acquired social anxiety and mentally prepare ourselves. One way to get back into the swing is to remaster the art of buzzword-ery. Yes, the time has come to ...
Read More »Jane Austin: why do people in advertising – especially CMOs – have to speak in riddles?
Trust was the most popular word at Cannes this year, the actual meaning of which covers a multitude of strategies and intentions. It is usually delivered with a serious face and a slowing of speech, a bit like Esther Rantzen ...
Read More »Jane Austin at Cannes: Childish Gambino’s This is America sets the bar for creativity – for everyone
Amid all the noise and nonsense of the three-ring buzzword circus that is the Cannes festival, it’s nice to get away from it all and check out what the creatives keep telling us the whole event is supposed to be ...
Read More »Jane Austin from Cannes: this year it’s girls on top – nearly
Chrissy Teigen is one of the funniest, sarkiest people on Twitter. The celebrity wit, author, and wife of John Legend, once tweeted: “I always have a note in my pocket that says “John did it” just in case I’m murdered ...
Read More »Jane Austin: John Lewis, WPP and Publicis disagree shock and Blaze trumps the Superhumans
Inside the emotional manipulation department at John Lewis In a seminar entitled ’emotional masterclass in advertising’, the people behind the Christmas ads that made a nation weep explained their approach. For Craig Inglis, the John Lewis marketing director, it’s about ...
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