Cannes Day Four/Five (it was a blur)

How to not get great work.
Started the day with a soul-destroying session at #wakeupCannes hosted by The Economist. Marc Pritchard, Global CO of P&G was trumpeting their new “fixed and flow” model with their agencies. Their number of agencies is fixed but the projects “flow”, so the agencies compete for every single project. According to Pritchard the work is better, faster and costs less. I’m typically a Pritchard acolyte but as a CD I’ve lived that world. He has created a world where everything’s a jump ball, the agencies are by construct adversarial and it’s a race to the bottom underpinned by the impossibility of staffing an agency properly. No thanks. Some clients wonder why agencies can’t meet their needs yet aren’t willing to pay for it or commit to a meaningful long term partnership. The other mantra on the Croissette is “inhousing” creative services. So much for the power of objectivity. However in all this mire there was some shining light: two clients charting a different course are Meghan Farren of KFC UK and Tor Mygren of Apple. They consider their agencies long-term strategic and creative partners. In a climate of agency swapping ,they hang onto theirs. . Sign me up.

My base of operations: the basement of the Palais.

Data is course correcting.
Many sessions flagged our misuse of data. We need to use it for improved relevance, not misplaced personalization. We also need to regroup and understand that creative should be the tail wagging the dog.

The red carpet getting unrolled! Last day.

Unstereotype.
Judges at Cannes were briefed to disregard work guilty of stereotyping. Work seems to be starting to tilt the right direction. It’s getting less male, pale and hence less stale. However, the troubling stat remains, 70% of women say they do not see themselves reflecting in advertising. More work to do.

Weirdest session of the week: Jeff Goldblum

A different kind of gender inequity.
I was delighted to see the number of female CMOs participating in sessions this year, versus even three years ago. They dominated the festival. I remain disappointed by the rarity of female CDs but hope the seeds of See It Be It bear fruit.

Sage advice from SNL’s Lorne Michaels

Edit Fiercely
Simplicity is difficult. And there is tremendous power in editing fiercely. That was a common thread between Apple’s Tor Mygren and SNL’s Lorne Michaels. They live in a world of a thousand nos for every yes. Strategy is sacrifice. Comedy is the brutal art of reduction.

Young Lions lunch with Cannes Advisory Board and Board Chair Andrew Saunders

Jargon Primer for 2019
We should all be “micro-stacking habits” and avoid “micro-aggressions”.
To be on trend, feel free to micro-ify anything you like.

Ads of the Day

Final Quotes of the Croisette

“Yachts are just a party that’s harder to leave.”
Overheard, by someone not on a yacht.

“There is no creativity without boundaries.”
Lorne Michaels/SNL

“We not going on air because we are ready, we are going on air because it’s 11:30.”
Lorne Michaels/SNL

“I’m tired.”
Karen Howe

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Cannes Day Three

Day three came early. I blinked off the rosé to head to the Palais for the Being Human in an AI World session. It was a cheery movie that showed how AI will “free us from the burden of repetitive tasks”. When it wasn’t busy harvesting fruit and lettuce, it was telling farmers where and when to fertilize, identifying skin cancers, detecting pancreatic cancer earlier than humans and keeping seniors company. All good. Then deepfake came up along our increasing inability to determine what is real. By the time we got to how the Chinese government uses facial recognition for surveillance and tracking of its citizens, and they showed an AI creative director I broke out into a cold sweat. I guess you can see why it’s such a hot topic.

Save the Walruses

This improbably titled session was led by Unilever’s Alan Jope. He accused brands of “purpose washing”. Stats show 64% of us chose brands based on social stands but that connection to a cause must be legit, sustainable and long term. Issues that matter deeply to us include ocean plastics, species extinction and forest depletion. But when brands “borrow” a cause to make us cry then buy, we are very quick to call bullshit. Stats show that 84% now say advertising is the least trusted profession, and 6 in 10 don’t count on us to keep our promises. Edelman’s Trust Barometer lays it bare. Jope implores us to unleash purpose on the world, and use the power of creativity to propel societal good.

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Says Sorry.
Okay, we love Sheryl but we’re still not over it.

“Advertising does not reflect the real world.” Whaaaat?

Marc Pritchard, Katie Couric and John Legend shared the deflating fact that 70% of women do not see themselves reflected in advertising. Thank goodness John then sang his most recent hit for us to calm us down. (link to song? Image.)

With Mandy Gilbert, founder of Creative Niche

In the south of France with King Ursa

The Globe and Mail’s Canada Party
Oh Canada! We have bagged many Lions this year. Between that and the NBA title, this Canadian couldn’t be happier

Quote of the Day:
“Fear is kind of octane.” Steven Spielberg

Fave Ads of the Day

Cannes 2019: The future of brands sounds good

The seedlings of sonic branding were quietly sown years ago. First our mobile phone reached out. Siri helped us find our way around a foreign city, told us when we needed to pack an umbrella, and located a decent sushi restaurant on demand. Then along came personal home assistants like Alexa and Google Home and we no longer needed to lift a finger for help, just our voice.

Thermostats, washing machines, cars, and dryers have caught on and joined the party, they talk to us too. Thanks to the use of sound, we are at the point where we are developing pseudo social relationships with our appliances, it’s no longer a passive relationship.

We will continue to interact with brands on a sonic level through a rapidly expanding number of customer touchpoints, we have left the passivity of television behind and traded up. But there are other significant shifts in how brands orbit our world. Smartwatches mean screens are getting smaller, and search is migrating increasingly to voice, so keyboards will become less relevant. How do brands negotiate the new terrain?

Cue the power and importance of sonic branding. And here in Cannes, smart brands like Mastercard are taking early notice.

Raja Rajamannar, the Chief marketing and communications officer of Mastercard, understood the need for the brand to find its sonic identity. His approach was to start with a melody. His brief to his agency was a challenge. The melody needed to be simple and neutral with flex. He wanted it to be memorable enough that it was hummable. It had to be as global as the brand itself, so that no matter where in the world you were, it felt native to you. It also had to be able to be interpreted to all musical genres from jazz and EDM to country and western.

Two thousand melodies later, they had their answer.

Next in the journey was a sonic signature, an identifiable edited version of the melody. This signature is deployed as a ringtone, and for on-hold messaging as well as to signal a brand transaction. So the brand has sonic consistency at all consumer touchpoints. Mindful of the frequency of the use of a credit swipe for cashiers in stores like Walmart, part of his brief was to ensure this signature did not have a fatigue factor.

On mobile phones, when a purchase is accepted, a version of the sonic signature had the added sound of coins. Other versions were created that ranged from ten seconds to six minutes, for 20 different geographies so that the brand’s touchpoints could be truly localized.

Finally, the melody was stripped back to its essential DNA to create a sonic watermark so the brand could live in different worlds. Many Mastercard users travel a great deal and culinary experiences are one of the top card uses. As a result, the sonic watermark was vocalized and then woven into unique user experiences, like one-of-a kind pop-up dining experiences.

Virtually every interaction with Mastercard is a touchpoint that is branded sonically with enough connective tissue to hold it together.

Sound is such a powerful way to connect, it’s interesting that so few brands know how to tap into it. It creates a far more immersive and unforgettable interaction. But you must plot a thoughtful course to create a powerful audio identity.

Speaking with Tom Eymundson, CEO of Pirate Toronto, he advises that effective sonic branding must start with a strategy, one that is fundamentally unique to that brand. He’s worked with such clients as Koodo, McCafé and Porter to develop their sonic DNA.

These days every marketer wants an edge, an advantage in a very tough marketplace. The smartest, sharpest brands are finding their sonic soul.

There’s good learning here for us all. Instead of just looking for brand identity, maybe it’s time we started listening for it.

This article originally appeared on Strategy Online.

Cannes Day Two

Creativity is tackling big issues this year: the single-use plastics choking our oceans, protecting our kids from online pedophiles, deforestation, species extinction and animal cruelty.

Sonic branding is on trend. The key to success is finding a brand’s sonic DNA as demonstrated by Mastercard with the help of piano virtuoso Lang Lang.

Laura Dern (who I am mad about) talked about the extraordinary female power team behind HBO’s Big Little Lies, and how she longs for a day when that will no longer be an anomaly.

The global muzzling of the press and the falsity of fake news is a big topic. Also, talk on the Croisette includes how companies like Pinterest are dealing with challenges like misinformation and hate speech on their platforms.

Alarming Stat of the Day: 84% don’t trust advertisers. We scored lower than politicians.

The evening closed out with a lovely dinner hosted by Strategy and The Globe and Mail, and a nightcap on the FCB yacht to help them celebrate their many Cannes wins this year

A bientot.

Cannes Kick-Off

Wake Up with The Economist

Cannes’ entry numbers may be slightly down but it has been balanced by a rise in the number of CMOs attending. In 2017 there were 57, this year there are 100. I attended Wake Up with The Economist first thing today. Data mistrust, the continuing need for conversation about diversity and the CMO glass ceiling were key themes. Diego Scotti of Verizon was refreshingly candid in his belief that we are over reliant on data. Clients also need to understand that “big creative talent costs money” and to stop putting the squeeze on agencies. We are in grave times, “advertising has become pollution”. Referencing streaming’s opting-out option he said, “As advertisers we’ve become lazy, it’s become a game of tonnage. And our audience is now paying to NOT see us.”

Creatives in Control with Nick Law

Nick Law of Groupe Publicis lamented the loss of the global CCO in his Creatives in Control session. Law cautioned against spreadsheets running an agency when the product is, in fact, creativity. He argued for the need for media and creative to reunite, which is a recurring theme this year for a number of speakers. 

Less stuff. More Joy. with Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo has gone from closet organizer to cult. Her books have sold 11 million copies in 42 countries. How fascinating that Kondo’s Less stuff. More Joy. session has positioned her as the anti-consumerist icon hoping to reverse our addiction to stuff at a festival committed to selling more. Thoughtful stat to share: Each home has on average 10 to 20 thousand items.

That’s a lot of “joy sparking”.

Gayle King, Marc Pritchard and Bozama Saint John talking shop.

Jargon Alert of the Day:
Apparently we need to “habit stack” and take “micro steps” to “fuel healthy habits” according to Gayle King, P&G’s Marc Pritchard and my favourite bad ass and her dessert-dish sized earrings: Bozama Saint John. Overwork has become our default position to validate ourselves. This involves “shower mantras” and “sink/sync time” brushing our teeth and connecting with our kids. Jargon aside, it was a thoughtful session.

Fave ad of the Day: KFC’s spicy campaign gets full marks for invoking the Game of Thrones dragon.

 A demain!