#Cannes2023: The diary of Creative Circle: Fran Luckin: "Talent goes where the fun is"
Something that's not talked about enough is how much exercise you get in Cannes. I had at least three conversations yesterday where people mentioned they were getting in more than 30 000 steps a day (tell me you're over 40 in advertising without saying you're over 40 in advertising..).
Something that’s not talked about enough is how much exercise you get in Cannes. I had at least three conversations yesterday where people mentioned they were getting in more than 30 000 steps a day (tell me you’re over 40 in advertising without saying you’re over 40 in advertising..).
Those of us with fitness trackers (okay, that’s all of us) are experiencing the novel sensation of having your device inform you that you’ve just reached your 10,000 steps – at 9am.
This is possibly because some of us only went to bed at 3am, but whatever. No judgement here. I mean, the sun only goes down at 10 so it’s not our fault if we lose track of the time, right?
The days at Cannes are largely spent racing from one end of the Croisette to the other and being late for something because you underestimated the walk or overestimated your walking speed, or both.
Entertainment Person of the Year Award, Kevin Hart
Something I wasn’t late for, though, was the seminar with comedian Kevin Hart.
He was being presented with the Entertainment Person of the Year Award and took to the Lumiere Theatre stage with Jeffrey Katzenberg to talk about Hartbeat, his entertainment and content creation company.
Hartbeat places comedy right at the centre of storytelling.
As Hart says, “If we can laugh together, we can live together. And if we live together, we can love together.”
Of course, it makes business sense too. There’s a wealth of evidence of the power of humour and comedy to build memorable brands. Can I get an “Amen” from fans of Nando’s and Savanna?
Talent is where the fun is
At one point Hart said, “Talent goes where the fun is,” and that really struck me.
As we sit in boardrooms crafting Employee Value Propositions and agonizing over how to attract young people into our industry, we’d do well to remember that most of us probably went into advertising in the first place because it looked like fun.
We need to bring the fun back.
After all, Cannes is a prime example of how easy it is to exceed your exercise goals when you’re just having fun.
Fran Luckin is the chief creative officer, Grey Africa. She has judged international and local creative awards shows (including the Cannes Lions Film Jury, the Cannes Outdoor Jury, the Clio Awards and D&AD) – and has also sat on the judging panel for the Apex Awards - South Africa’s version of the Effie Awards. She has an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.
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