#Cannes2023: Diary of Creative Circle. Ann Nurock: "The greatest show on Earth"
Attending Cannes this year again, I still marvel at how inspiring this festival is.
Cannes Lions has been championing creative excellence for 70 years with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress.
Approximately 15,000 people are here to recognise and celebrate the most creative work in the world.
And creative it is. But what I find as inspiring are the talks and panels of close to 400 people who are business and thought leaders in their own field.
Inspiring speakers and sessions
Sessions I have attended that inspired me include:
- Using creativity to drive growth
- Happy tension
- Not on my head and get out of the house
- Get Real, Do Good and Be Unmissable
Marcel Marcondes, global CMO of ABInBev, and Cannes’ creative marketer for the second year running - for good reason.
He stresses leaders do not play to steal to gain market share or to buy other companies, but rather grow their categories.
It is about harmonising how they talk about creativity throughout the entire company, so everybody speaks the same language and motivates their creative partners to deliver the best work.
Their philosophy and what they really believe in is that creativity must be at the centre of solving business and consumer problems. This is how they use creativity to drive growth.
Mastercard provided learnings and advice on how to create a ‘happy tension” between the CMO and CFO.
Raja Rajamannar chief marketing and communications officer and Sachin Mehra, chief financial officer quoted a Forrester survey on how only 37% of CMOs believe that it's critical to build a good relationship with their CFO - that's pretty depressing - and the issue is all around trust, clarity, and communication.
“It's not just about what you say, it's about what you hear and how you listen to and make sure that we're both having the mutual respect to understand what each other is talking about not talking across each other, but talking and actually trying to truly understand,” says Sachin Mehra.
Both are trying to accomplish the same company objectives, but both look at these objectives through different lenses.
Next is a personal marketing hero of mine, Prof Scott Galloway from NYC. His views on business AI and pretty much everything to do with advertising are radical and he pulls no punches on any topic he feels passionate about.
I loved his perspective on the latest Apple spatial headset, the Apple Vision Pro. In his opinion, no one wants to wear something on their head which affects their peripheral vision and after 20 minutes makes them feel nauseous.
As an example, “one million Oculus sold last year vs 116 million pairs of Crocs”. And with a hefty price tag of $3,500, it would be obsolete in two years.
Galloway also had a message for everyone, particularly the youth. "Get out of the house, move away from your screens, talk to people, make friends. And tell those close to you that you love them".
Unilever and Dove presented their marketing philosophy and latest campaign yesterday which is probably the best example of a brand that truly has purpose at its core.
For 19 years, they have remained faithful to making young women feel confident about their bodies and appearance via their Real Beauty campaigns.
Their marketing is based on three principles: Get Real, Do Good and Be Unmissable.
This message is contained in their latest campaign, which is so shocking but relevant today. Watch it and weep for what social media is doing to young girls.
I could go on and on with more inspiring examples and as we head into the last days of Cannes Lions, I remain in awe that when it comes to creativity, marketing and advertising, this is the greatest show on Earth.
For more:
- Cannes Lions special section and search
- More info: Google News, Cannes Lions Twitter
- Official site: http://www.canneslions.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
