Cannes Lions 2018: Seamless world of advertising

I have landed in Cannes for the annual pilgrimage that we ad folks make at this time of the year and let me be honest: It is hot. The heat and humidity have combined to make it virtually impossible for me to soak in the sun and sand at the French Riviera, but I am not complaining. There is a palpable air about the Cannes Lions. And this year, which is my sixth straight outing at the festival, promises to be one I am most excited about. We are about a day-and-a-half away from the Glass Lion presentation for ‘Sindoor Khela’, our shortlisted entry in the category. But while most other agencies have elaborate presentations in store for the live judging that will be undertaken for the Glass Lions, we have decided to simply talk and share our experience around Sindhoor Khela, a Bengali tradition where women smear themselves with vermillion on the last day of Durga Puja.

Our campaign has been about breaking this age-old tradition and we felt power-point presentations would have been too technical and dry an approach for something that comes straight from the heart.

Sometimes standing apart from the crowd can just make that big difference to one’s prospects. And on a platform as big as the Cannes Lions, the X factor counts. Who knows it could be our eureka moment. And being different I think is the theme I see running across the festival this year. The format has changed – it’s a tighter festival this year; the speakers are not what they were earlier – Hollywood stars, politicians, celebrities – who headlined the festival well, were fun to have and listen to, but I don’t think particularly added to the skill sets of advertising professionals. 

Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman and Ceo, Fcb india

It was more entertainment than the real skills that one could take back to work.

What we are now seeing though is a greater presence of practitioners of the art and craft of advertising and communication, which is a different approach that the Cannes Lions is taking this year to the learning aspect at the festival, critical in my view.

That brings me to the new way of communication that I see around me, visible at the Cannes Lions as well. I call it the ‘phigital’ world of advertising, where half of the communication resides in the physical or real world, and the other half is in the digital domain. You have many disciplines intersecting in this ‘phigital’ world and it is therefore difficult to pin down a piece of work to a particular medium say print or television.

This seamlessness of communication is a reflection of how the consumer lives today. His or her life has become so dynamic. He or she is shopping, watching entertainment, consuming information and talking to friends all at the same time. There is no compartmentalisation of life anymore. It has become one seamless whole of experiences and this shows up in advertising as well. I think the earlier impression that we are good in film or print, no longer stands. It is a dynamic world and advertising is bringing us face-to-face with this new reality.

(The author is group chairman and CEO, FCB India)