Let me start with the results: The Media Grand Prix on the third day of Cannes was picked up by Chiel Worldwide, Seoul, for Tesco. The agency created virtual stores at sub-stations. They were basically displays that looked much like actual store windows. Shopping was made easy: Simply use your smart phone to choose what you want and the product would be delivered home. Effective, isn’t it?
India struck gold for the first time. Thanks to Lodestar’s work for Garnier. They created the Times of India, completely out of recycled paper.
In outdoor, Taproot won a silver, while BBDO and Sorento snagged a bronze each. And yes media had a winner in Maxus for Tata Sky. But into the fourth day, I decided to sit through the seminars.
First one was Mofilm’s ‘Can Crowdsourcing Build Big Brands’? Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks to a large group of people. This concept is growing in advertising, with clients like General Motors taking to it. What I liked is the surprise element packed into the session: Mofilm, which specialises in crowdsourcing exercises, brought Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who played Mark in the film The Social Network, to speak on the occasion. While introducing Eisenberg, the host said tongue-in-cheek: “Last year, you had the fake facebook founder (Mark Zuckerberg, that is) at Cannes, it is my pleasure to introduce the real one today.”
Up next was TimeWarner talking about why the golden age of TV was back. The proof? Big celebrities were now on TV. Same goes for India, with myriad celebrities and movie stars taking to the small screen.
Of course, besides Jesse, there was Aaron Sorkin, the scriptwriter of The Social Network, too. He had an interesting summation: The best theatre is now on television.
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Then I sat through the session by Edward de Bono — something I wanted to, since he is considered a pioneer in creative thinking. I must read all his books over again. Six hats, random thinking... de Bono spoke at length about them. It was interesting to listen to him.
There was a point he made mid-way through his session: “The biggest problem in the world is poor thinking. It is amazing how little progress we have made in thinking in 2,400 years. And, that is because we are trained to think, analyse and find the truth and to not create values.”
Coming back to the awards, by the time this article is out, the Press and Cyber Lions will have been given out. One thing is for sure, India will win nothing in cyber, because we do not have a single shortlist there. That is quite sad.
De Bono’s words come to my mind: Excellent But Not Enough.
This also reminds me of actor Jesse Eisenberg’s statement: “There is no excuse not to make the thing you want to make.”
Right, isn’t he?
(The author is National Creative Director, Publicis Capital)