Final Campaign - Narcos

Chelsea Gray, Jessie Bonham, Sydney Crumley, Sarah Klein, Grace Greenblat, and Mary-Sanford Anheuser        
Narcos, a show centered around the life of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, is now premiering as a Netflix original series. Through this launch, Netflix is aiming to increase subscriptions by at least 10% by the end of 2015. Our campaign for the show attempts to engage audiences mainly in South America as well the US.

            In addition to setting South America and the United States as our target regions for the campaign, we are also channeling our media towards certain age groups. In the United States there is an aging baby boomer population numbering about 6 million people. This makes for a great target audience for our campaign considering they are at retirement age and are in need of shows to watch. In addition to baby boomers, our campaign will also target men age 18-34. Aiming our campaign at these audiences, especially South America with its growing Internet usage, will surely increase Netflix subscription by 10%.

            Our advertising campaign to spread awareness of both the show and Netflix will begin with a viral internet video, commercial trailer, and a mobile Narcos app. We will then expand to print, outdoor, and television advertisement. Merchandise will be sold online as well as at our booth at the Comic Con in San Diego. Finally we believe that a great way to connect with our audience, especially those aged 18-34, is on social media. We will launch a social media campaign tying in Netflix with the #howdoyouNetflix. Leading up to the full release of the season we will release a pilot on Youtube so viewers can get a taste of our show free of charge.
            We are confident that because of our target regions and audiences as well as our advertising campaign Netflix will achieve its goal of increased subscription through a successful first season of Narcos.

A Trip Out to Sea - Health Campaign

             The innovative TEDMED seminar inspired us to look at a campaign that effectively uses innovation to promote safety awareness. We chose the campaign launched by CLM BBDO and Guy Cotton that focused on emphasizing the importance of wearing a life jacket while at sea. They manufactured a mobile app that simulated first person drowning. In order to prevent your character from drowning one must swipe or click repeatedly. The app shows that any repetitive action whether it be clicking or swimming creates exhaustion.

            The app is a prime example of the extended parallel process model. This model uses a level of fear to engrain the product/message in the viewers’ mind. The campaign is also an example of the reactants theory. Instead of simply telling viewers to wear a life jacket, people experienced why they should wear one. This app finally exemplifies narrative theory because it personally involves the user in a story, making them feel as if they were a part of the narrative. With the underlying message being “if one does not wear a life jack one will drown” the app is a loss frame.

            This app received a Gold Lion in the User Experience Category.  There were one million unique visitors to the website in the first 48 hours across 220 countries. Traffic to the Guy Cotton Facebook page increased 2,150%. “Best of all thousands of users said that they would never neglect wearing their life jacket anymore,” proving the overall effectiveness of the campaign.

TED Med - Creative Innovation at Health Lions

       The seminar that we attended was called “The Creative Ideas and Innovators Disrupting Healthcare” led by TEDMED and TBWA World Health. James Cheung the global creative director introduced the seminar by giving a brief summary of the importance of innovation in Healthcare. This was an important point to make considering this is the first year of Health Lions, and healthcare professionals really seemed to stress that creativity is so integral in their industry.

            The first product presented was Maji by Fosmo Med. CEO Ben Park spoke about how this product was created to combat serious problems of dehydration due to unclean water. Shipping IVs from the US to underprivileged countries usually costs $645,000 but with Maji the price is reduced significantly to $175,000. The reason for this significant decrease in cost is the bags can be shipped without water and they do not need power. It uses forward osmosis to filter the water riding it of substances such as metals, pesticides, and arsenic. Fosmo Med aims to work with the military, disaster relief, and public health efforts all over the world. The company is searching for funding and corporate help. They can only receive both through advertising,, so through the aid of professionals at the conference the company can aid in the efforts to save millions of lives.

            The second product presented was Liftware by Liftlabs. Dr. John Redmond explained the lack of independence felt by those experiencing tremors on a regular basis. Liftware helps restore their independence by allowing them to eat by themselves without making a mess. This encourages these individuals to also eat in restaurants. Dr. Redmond was a great storyteller showing videos about individuals who purchased Liftware and can now enjoy meals with their family and friends.

            In experiencing these seminars our group was amazed by all of the incredible innovations presented at the Healthcare Lions Festival. However, as beneficial as these innovations are, they cannot be promoted without advertising.  Advertising and healthcare are more intertwined than ever as exemplified by the inventors of these products being so passionate about promoting their products as well.

Awards Ceremony Critique - PR Lions

For the first time in Cannes Lion history, a PR agency has won the Grad Prix! For the category of fast causal dining, Edelman and the Creative Artists Agency in Los Angles received two gold lions and the grand prix in PR for “Scarecrow.” This short animation, set to the song “Pure Imagination,” depicts a scarecrow as a worker for a larger food processing company. He quickly realizes that the company uses hormones and animal cruelty to make it’s products, so he ventures out on his own to make fresh food alternative: Chipotle Mexican food. This animation short exploded earlier this year on the Internet as well as the app store for their informative, interactive Iphone game. Players who completed the game were awarded Chipotle coupons.

According to the Cannes Lion website, the Scarecrow franchise has created a conversation about food in popular culture generating over 614 million media impressions. There have also been hundreds of stories including The New York Times and USA Today. “Columns in The New Yorker, LA Times, and others featured educated arguments about food issues by influential farmers, sustainability advocates, and consumers.” (Cannes Lion)  Since its launch, the film has generated over 12.5 million YouTube views. Over 650,000 have downloaded the game, playing an average session of 5 minutes. The song debuted #32 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart and has been purchased over 13,000 times on iTunes. “In its first month, The Scarecrow franchise sparked 18.4 million conversations across 17 social platforms with a 92.7 social sentiment score and, for the first time, made Chipotle the top social brand, replacing Taco Bell, on the Restaurant Social Media Index Top 250 list. Twitter impressions totaled 126,782,322 in the two months following the launch.” (Cannes Lion)

But what about this campaign made it the first grand prix won by a PR agency? Because it was first launched and solely promoted through PR. The animation was uploaded to YouTube and pushed across social media platforms. Only later on was a digital campaign added to promote the game because of the wide success the video had through PR. The campaign wanted people to think about where their food comes from, and through storytelling, they were able to accomplish this without putting the chipotle “name” on everything. The creative team brought the brand a cause and a pledge to have unprocessed foods. 

There were so many creative and heartwarming PR gold lions. Some more influential like the Sweetie campaign, where professional created a computer generated little girl to track down online sex predators. Another being The Fading News, where a Turkish website simulated what the Internet would be like if government officials censored it in response to the growing government rebellion.  After four hours, the website began to disappear, creating an uproar and awareness that forced the Turkish government to not pass the censorship law.

However, each campaign was extremely different when it came to the cause. Whether it was to promote a TV show, or stand up for women’s rights, these campaigns stood out because they made a radical change in awareness for their clients. Sometimes this awareness went from zero to a million like Rice Code. In a small village in Japan, rice farmers were having a hard time keeping their village in business after a drop in rice sales and an aging population. So in order to increase tourism, Hakuhodo Tokyo came up with the idea of rice art. They planted different colored rice to make pictures large enough to be photographed. Tourists could then scan the pictures with their phones and automatically be sent to a website wear they could order that rice. “Visitors actively took photos and shared it by themselves. And by doing so, the selling place of rice also spread. As a result, with mostly 0 budget, the project successfully attracted 251,320 visitors, about 30 times the population of the village.” (Cannes Lion)

This project was so inspiring to me because it dramatically helped a village no one had even heard about with almost not marketing budget, but a wonderfully creative idea. With so much media exposure and increasing rice sales, this village was changed forever with a new landmark in Japan. Wonderful PR is long lasting and increases the reputation of the organization. Each campaign gained dramatic attention to the products and a long lasting message.

The following are the grad prix and gold winners for the Public Relations category:

Grand Prix

The Scarecrow

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Fast Casual Dining

Edelman New York, USA

Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles, USA

Gold Lions

Food & Nutrition

This is Wholesome

Honey Maid Snacks

Droga5 New York, USA

Weber Shandwick Chicago, USA

Other Consumer Goods

Tui Catch a Million

Heineken New Zealand “Tui Beer”

Saatchi&Saatchi Auckland, New Zealand

Apollonation Auckland, New Zealand

Media, Arts & Entertainment

The Fading News

Radikal Newspaper

TBWA\ Istanbul, Turkey

Retail & Restaurants

The Scarecrow

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Fast Casual Dining

Edelman New York, USA

Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles, USA

Charity & not for Profit

Sweetie

Terre Des Hommes Netherlands

International Children’s Aid Organization

LEMZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Charity & not for Profit

The Autocomplete Truth

UN Women Gender Equality

Memac Ogilvy Dubai United Arab Emirates

Public Sector

Rice Code

Inakadate Village

Hakuhodo Tokyo, Japan

Corporate Reputation & Communication

Samsung Maestros Academy

Samsung Electronics Italy

Samsung Consumer Electronics

Leo Burnett Milan, Italy

Public Affairs & Lobbying

The Fading News

Radikal Newspaper

TBWA\ Istanbul, Turkey

Launch or Re-launch

Dallas Gas Station

TNT Dallas

Grey New York, USA

Brand voice (incl. strategic storytelling)

The Scarecrow

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Fast Casual Dining

Edelman New York, USA

Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles, USA

Influencer Communications

Bald Cartoons

GRAACC

NGO

Ogilvy Brazil São Paulo, Brazil

Integrated Campaign led by PR

Live Test Series

Volvo Trucks

The New Volvo FMX, FL, FM – Integrated Campaign

Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg, Sweden

Volvo Trucks Public Relations Sweden

Commercial 3 - HBO GO

HAPPILY MARRIED - CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

"This classic family dynamic inspired our seven Awkward Family Moments films. The perfect reason to use HBOGO and dive into a stream of unadulterated content, far far away from the parents. In this one, Happily Married, Mom uses the words “make” and “love” in that order."

http://winners.canneslions.com/2014/craft_film/entry.cfm?entryid=15676&award=101&order=0&direction=1&keywords=happily,married

For a network that has made it its niche of selling sex, drugs and violence, it was refreshing to see a humorous, witty commercial series from HBO. This campaign of awkward interactions between teenagers and their parents are priceless and entertaining. 

In one of the commercials titled "Happily Married," the scene depicts the family watching an HBO show where the characters were threatening divorce to each other. This commercial, as well as campaign, did such a good job capturing a real family. Unlike it's previous commercials for HBO Go that made light of the "pornish" side of HBO, these commercials take the simple problem teens have when trying to watch controversial scene in front of their parents. What made it so compelling was the actors and the script. HBO really did it's research when it came to who was watching the network because I found myself in the shoes of those teenagers. 

The parents immediately go into a lengthy, unneeded discussion related to the HBO show the family was watching detouring from the show. The angle of the camera was almost comical because it was like HBO itself was watching the awkwardness coming from this family and wanted to fix the problem. What really sold the commercials were the surprised, exasperated expressions by the teens. The audience can feel their discomfort and laugh along with the shared experience. By being witty and comical, this commercial resonates with the audience and invokes action for the user. 

According to Time.com CEO of HBO Richard Plepler has said doesn't care if young people share passwords only that millennials start watching HBO. Even though HBO hasn't released the numbers for HBO Go, the service has crashed multiple times due to many people trying to stream at once. I'd say the service is a success and these extremely funny commercials contributed. 

Client: HBO Go
Product: HBO Go
Entrant: O Positive Films New York, USA
Advertising Agency: SS+K New York, USA

Lions Won
Film - Sliver (Internet Film)
Film Craft - Gold (Casting), Sliver (Script), Sliver (Direction)

Commercial 2 - Blazed

BLAZED

"Children playfully mock their parents behavior while waiting for them in the car, knowing they are inside the house smoking weed - highlighting this behavior raised the question of morality of driving stoned."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8KAaf45g5U

With a humorous approach to approach "driving while stoned," the message of BBDO Wellington's Blazed once again makes a huge impact. The commercial is shot in black and white and even though at first this seems ironic since the children are mocking and playing around, it serves its purpose as the last shot shows one kid reflecting on what they had just made fun of. 

So... sad. 

The jump shots showing the kids explaining the different positions and activities their parents do while high was entertaining, drawing the audience in. This video makes it seem like a "funny internet video" instead of a safe driving ad, which really shows the reach and impact it had on many people. Approaching this problem from the children's point of view helps to cushion the blow to family members and people who smoke around children, giving awareness where it's needed. This commercial draws you in instead of talking at the audience. 

This was important message because most people, like tipsy drunk drivers, think that it's ok to drive while stoned, but results of a study (carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd over 2004-2009) of the blood of deceased drivers show 30 percent of drivers had used cannabis with or without alcohol or other drugs. They figured out that nine out of ten crashes were due to mixing cannabis and alcohol and more drivers use cannabis and marijuana while driving than ever. Thanks to this commercial, the reach was beyond the client's expectations. 

Client: New Zealand Transport Agency 

Product: Drug Driving

Entrant & Advertising Agency: Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand

Lions Won
Film Craft - Gold (Script), Gold (Casting), Silver (Direction)

Commercial 1 - Mistakes

MISTAKES

"In the moment before a car crash, time pauses and allows two drivers to have a conversation. It becomes clear that speed will determine the outcome."

http://youtu.be/VSjqgvMhVEc

In order to solve the speeding problem in New Zealand, BBDO Wellington created a powerful film with a message most "skilled" drivers need to hear. The two drivers in the commercial share a brief moment of conversation before their cars collide. No matter how much one father pleads, they can do nothing but wait as in real life there is no moment of slowing down before a car crash. At first glance, it seems to be using a humorous technique with the computer effects of slowing down the cars and landscape, but it quickly goes dark. Even though the commercial uses a fear tactic to get people to slow down, it uses it efficiently by showing the anguish and helplessness of the actors. It was very real, showing the human side behind our mistakes on the road. What really caught my attention was the message at the end of the commercial: "Other people make mistakes. Slow down." It wasn't "Stop Driving Fast" or "Don't Wait Till the Last Second," it acknowledges that people make mistakes but people can avoid them by slowing down.

This commercial and campaign won a few lions, so it's hard to point out things it could improve/add on to improve production. The message was strong and when the landscape froze except for the actors, it allowed the message of "being aware of the environment around you" to come through. Also, the impact of only seeing the crash from the inside of the car is effective because it allows the audience to see from the child's point of view - which is depressing.

There was no music in this commercial and that was a smart technique. Instead of using sad welling music to invoke emotion, the way the actors portray their helplessness and how they wished they could change the situation gave more of a powerful message. Unlike most car crash commercials where they show blood and the aftermath, this film cuts straight to black after the defining moment to show the message. This gives strong motivation for the audience after that burst of adrenaline. 

Client: New Zealand Traffic Authority 
Product: Speed
Entrant Company: Finch Sydney, Australia
Advertising Agency: Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand

Lions Won
Film - Gold (Public Health & Safety)
Film Craft - Silver (Direction), Bronze (Script)

Don't Forget About the Creativity

As the last day of the festival winds down, everyone camps out in the Debussy theatre for the Innovation Day sessions, which in translation means waiting for Bono. However, I found these sessions exhilarating and enjoyable to sit through. These were the kind of sessions and speakers I had expected during the week! Listening to these inspiring, creative people reminded me of the importance of creativity when it comes to communication. 

I know all week I, and many other professionals, have been throwing around the word "creative," but there really is an importance and almost a sense of relief that comes with the word. Philip Sheppard, a TV and film composer for Audio Network demonstrated his talents on the cello. He even composed a song on the spot pertaining to the festival and the names of some people in the audience. His music literally gave me chills and I felt myself relax for the first time all week. 

That feeling of relief and happiness made me realize that the creative ideas behind advertising are extremely important. I was pleasantly surprised when later that evening The Audio Network won a gold lion for their commercial about the importance of music and how it makes everything better. Without the emotion, without the "human," all the messages we try to communicate would be stale and extremely hard to listen to/care about on a daily basis. 

"Music is liquid architecture. Music is in everything, so everything is music." -Sheppard. 

Another amazing presentation was done by Neil Harbisson. Neil was born completely colorblind, he could only see in shades of gray, but that didn't stop his pursuit of seeing color. He goes on to explain his inspiring story about becoming a human cyborg. 

He started playing piano at a young age and quickly became interested in music theory about sound correlating with color. He began to match certain sounds with certain colors even going beyond the color spectrum to infrared and UV rays. Eventually he invented a device that would allow him to pick up sounds easier in order to perceive color. He found a doctor that would implant the device in is skull, so he could hear through bone conduction. 

Now, Neil travels all over the world experiencing colors as music and sounds in his head. He says the experience not only changed his brain, but changed his perception on beauty.

"Now when I look at people, the colors of their face and clothes make music to me. Someone could look physically attractive but then sound completely horrid. I also learned that there is no black and white skin tones, we are all just shades of orange. So racism is a complete waste of time." 

His stories were so inspiring. Instead of just accepting what people told him, he ventured out grabbing his own uniqueness. He has probably jump started technology when it comes to humans experiencing the world in a different way - merging technology with emotions. This could be a the next form of advertising.

Creative people, people to turn the norm upside down, are the ones we should be listening to. After all it makes life interesting and worth living. I'm not even going to comment on the magician from Virool that literally blew my mind with just a piece of paper. 

And then this happened: 

The audience still needs fun and mystery after all the data is collected!

This festival has been an unforgettable experience. I've made close friends and life-altering choices that will aid me through my last semester at UGA. Since everyone has been so excited for storytelling, I can wait to see what's in my next chapter. 

Agency vs. Corporate

Ok, I'm going to take this opportunity to not only comment on the sixth day of the conference, but to address some things I have observed throughout college as well as here. Today I attended two sessions: one by Wieden & Kennedy, the largest independent advertising agency in the world, and one by Twitter and Viacom, large corporate organizations. From the time I set foot into my first Intro to PR class, up to going on this trip, I've have long heard of the dispute between working in an agency or a corporate environment. I always felt it was so black and white. 

Agency life is fast-paced. You supposedly never get bored, you are always working and get tons of experience. Corporate life is more in-depth. You really form a relationship with the brand or company you work for, but you don't always get to work on different things. Both sides have ups and downs. The professionals from Wieden & Kennedy stated their interviews for employees are different compared to traditional companies.

"You have to fail at least three times before you are useful. We want to hire people that want to grow. When your employees want to grow, the agency grows."

Since I went to this session first, I agreed with them. But for the rest of the time they were saying how In a corporate environment, there is no room for failure or growth so talent is suppressed. However, when I attended the Twitter and Viacom debate, they claim that the industry has never been better and that they welcome failures. 

Although this is a small sample, going back the the market research I've decided to pursue, this tells me that for communication companies and professionals....they are really bad at communicating. Everyone at this conference has said the words mobile, innovation, storytelling and future in every session. So if everyone is talking about these things, does it mean that professionals are on the same page? Or are they all on different pages of the same book with the title Relationships by Millennials. 

I know we can't solve the world overnight, but I do believe that instead of throwing around words and hoping some creative picks up on it (things they've already known I guarantee it), everyone should just be listening to the audience. Look at all these innovative tools everyone's been talking about like social media and stuff. Instead of looking at the shares and viewability, let's get to reading those comments. The customers are talking. They are everywhere sharing opinions online. Sure most of them are angry opinions, but most of them are sincere. 

Professionals need to sit back and take a good long look at themselves. They should ask: what advertising do I pay attention to? What am I sharing? When we look at ourselves and those around us, it's easy to see what's working. I don't know if it's because I don't have enough experience, or I'm just tired of old people talking over each other on the Cannes Lion stage, but it seems everyone wants a change to happen so corporate and agencies need to stop this dispute and work together to achieve all this future innovation. 

There's More Data

After going to countless seminars, forums and tech talks, I've found that I've gravitated more and more to data and analytics. Before this trip, I knew I had an interest in PR research and market analytics, and this conference has almost but secured my desicion to pursue analytics as a career. 

Kathryn Parsons, Co-CEO of Decoded, ran a master class with the editor of The Gaurdian. In this talk she stated that men and women have the same ambition when it comes to learning about technology, but women are 30 percent less confident about it. I could almost mirror that statistic onto myself because I used to be timid about learning applications like Photoshop and Indesign, but I discovered that I loved them and I was talented at design. The same applies in research and analytics. Before spring 2014 semester, I thought I couldn't run programs in data and satsitics till I had to and I figured out I loved the discovery part of research. 

For the rest of the day, I learned how different companies are using analytics to make discoveries about advertising. Scott Button, CEO of Unruly, says the key to ads is the sharability. Through analytics, Unruly was able to determine that 42 percent of video sharing happens three days after the launch of the video. What most probably wouldn't guess is that YouTube is only responsible for 24.3 percent of these views. This statistic surprised me. Most companies pay extensively for distribution on other video platforms to reach the coverage they pay for. 

"Sharing is the gold standard. The more shares their are, typically the more impressions, action and likability follows the brand/campaign." -Button 

Keith Eadie, CMO of TubeMogul, talked about video views and sharing when it came to online video ads. Through TubeMogul's data they were able to determine that the size of the video player had a profound impact when it came to the duration a user watched a video ad.

"As of now, two-thirds of video ads are not viewable. What impacts whether an ad has good viewership is ad placement and player size. A player that was 1200px was 48 percent more likely to watch the entire duration of the ad." -Eadie 

After meeting with the President of Rocketfuel, Richard Frankel, and talking about the future of analytics and the need for professionals to pursue this, I feel market research is in my future. I am so greatful for the opportunity this conference has presented me with. I have gained valuable insight of the industry and the skills I need to work on to be successful in it. 

It's All About the Story

As the conversation of data and content continues on day 4 of Cannes Lion, speakers and creatives really delve into the idea of storytelling. Storytelling is in no way new to advertising and marketing, but it's being redefined right before our eyes. With the age of information and extra content, users are consuming more than ever on digital platforms, and choosing what they want to watch.

YouTube has paved the way for personalized content and has achieved billions of views a day because of its specialized audiences, and marketers need to recognize this. CEO of Dreamworks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg stresses the power of YouTube, "It's a more personal experience, there is a deeper connection and with this short form content and vlogging, people are leaning in rather than leaning back." 

YouTube has made rules for a whole new game - an unprecedented opportunity that requires people to become storytellers. Valuing these internet audiences, the people who are willingly consuming billions of hours of content, presents an opportunity like no other about the current state of the world and a whole new level of engagement. 

"The rate of change is so fast, but all it does is create abundant opportunities." -Katzenberg

Clear Channel Media and Jared Leto also have the same views when it comes to storytelling.

Leto states, "The world can't be solved by advertising alone. The great ads are transcendent and subcultures are blossoming more than ever from storytelling. What ads should be doing is either making my life more interesting or leaving me alone." 

He goes on to say that creatives don't just have one job anymore. Don't put the word "just" in front of "creative director." Marketers should be letting creatives be authentic and have a relationship with the audience. 

When asked if the digital age, where streaming and watching content on devices would kill live music Leto responded, "This seminar right now, we could have just listened to this right now, or streamed it live right now from our hotel rooms, but we chose to be here. Technology can foster relationships, not hinder them the way people claim they will." 

Ending with a quote from Armando Iannucci, creator of the HBO series Veep, "Write what makes you laugh, not what you think others will laugh at." Storytelling is something marketing needs to focus on, whether it's to enhance relationships or image of a brand, connecting on a human level is the key. 

It's all about Data and Content

June 17

Day 3 of the Cannes Lion Festival consists of data, data, data. Oh and also content, content and did I mention data? Decoded and Exponential, two companies dedicated to analyzing market research, began the day by expanding on the word advertisers have been throwing around "data." 

Bryan Melmed, director of insights at Exponential, says to stop stereotyping people and genres. 

"When a client comes to me and asks me to reach 'millennials' I ask them what they mean. You've only given me an age group, there is so much more." He goes on to discuss that the generation referred to as millennials is the first generation not defined by a war, a movement or a collectiveness. The internet drove this age group to branch out into thousands of groups and communities that can no longer be stereotyped...but it can be analyzed. In fact, the internet made every age group branch out into little niche communities. What Bryan and Decoded are proposing is that data aid the way of marketing. 

Bryan insists that robots are not taking marketing, advertising and PR jobs, they are helping them. One interesting thing he discovered is that machines are horrible at two things: picking up patterns and emotion. The data is still so human. The context can change at any moment and a machine cannot detect that by itself. 

"We don't want to give you a robot, we want to give you the robot suit." -Bryan Melmed

Not only can data enhance the way marketing, or even any practice will be done in the future, the reach will lead creatives to the content that users want: case in point YouTube. 

It's already common knowledge that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, next to its parent Google, so it's only natural that marketers and advertisers should listen to what it's doing. Famous YouTube star KassemG discusses the power YouTube has when it comes to making a voice. YouTube connects with audiences and provides content people want to watch. He states that most of his early stuff on YouTube was just for fun and half of the audience shaped his content like his comedy shorts "California On." 

I have always been a strong advocate of YouTube. If advertisers want meaningful connections and stories, YouTube is the poster boy. Hundreds of talented YouTubers have a large fan base that connects with them daily about larger social issues and even what to eat for breakfast.  But instead if going in and trying to "help" the YouTubers get better at marketing...we should let them do it their own way. We can't argue because they have the data to prove it. So the correct line would be - Robots aren't stealing our jobs, YouTubers are. So we can learn from them!  

Innovation: A Nod to Creativity

June 16

As day 2 of the festival commences, everyone is talking about innovation and change. Unlike yesterday, where there was discussion on the failures and crap of advertising, today it was a complete nod to the creatives advertisers hold dear.

In the first session, Solar Impulse proved to the world that creativity drives innovation.

"Enjoy to discover the way you feel during a project, don't focus on the end goal enjoy the journey." 

Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, he creatives and founders behind the world's first solar airplane encouraged professionals to not limit themselves, but to strive for their ideas. Engineers and artists in the past, paved the way for innovation and a better future...so now it's our turn to pave the way. 

Adobe continues the discussion with honoring creatives in their session by saying that now is the time of the creative. PJ Pereira, Scott Belsky and Yves Behar all founders of prestigious companies like fuseproject and Behance say that 96% of creatives are happy with their job and they believe that the industry is growing and changing in a positive way. 

Contrasting from yesterday, creativity seems to be an ever hanging and large influence on the industry now with more content driven campaigns. 

There is no one title of the modern creative. They wear many hat and have many tools. They fail often and feed off each other. The meaning of stories has become the heart of creative advertising, what matters is the right mindset.

Behar states, "Think like a marketer, behave like a entertainer and move like a tech start up. It takes years and hard work, but people are starting to recognize creatives and giving trust."

All that's left is to see if that hard work paid off at the First Cannes Lion Awards Ceremony, tonight. See you there!

Creativity: Stop the Crap

June 15

Kicking off the first day of the Cannes Festival of Creativity, the main topic on everyone's minds is the crap in creativity - not exactly what a festival of "creativity" usually discusses, but the insight was dynamic. Latinworks Chief Creative Officer Sergio Alcocer introduced three extraordinary creatives in advertising, but the twist was they discussed their failures. 

"Experience is the price of failure in a one shot industry." Said one if the creatives. 

After discussing many failed attempts they've made in their careers including a twitter campaign to rewrite a book, only to crash the website in one minute, they give humble and wise advice.

"It you don't have the budget, don't approve the epic script."

"Take failure not as seriously, everyone is failing and we should be like that." 

CEO Nir Wegrzyn discusses in his forum that there are no right answers to the creative process. He poses the "Ariadne's Thread" theory when it comes to solving problems. Deriving from the Greek myth, this theory states instead of looking for one way to look at a problem, we should be looking at all of them.

"Everything works in the short term, what we need is the long term." Wegrzyn. He states we should be focused more on the options in creativity then a narrow view of one creative idea. The scope should be wider than ever.

Its time to cut the crap. It's good to see the humbleness of the top global advertising creatives. They are here in Cannes to challenge their point of views and break out of their boxes even further. They are rethinking and reevaluating past mistakes and itching to execute new ones - towards success. With repetitive terms like "relationships" and "story" thrown around in the industry, it's time for creatives to throw around "real" because it's working.