Topline from Cannes Lions 2009

 

Cannes Lions 2009 entries were 20% lower, delegates 40% down, yet attendees at the seminars were pretty much the same year-on-year, according to Phil Thomas, Festival CEO.

Having spent the best part of my six days in Cannes in the darkness of the often packed Debussy Theatre certain themes emerged that confirmed that there is no place for complacency and arrogance and the impact of digital requires every agency person to immerse themselves in the basics.

1. The ad world is now flat. London and NY agencies no longer dominate awards. Great ideas and quality work from around the world is in abundance. Check out some of the winners here.

2. Since the days when CAA challenged agency order by being appointed by Coke and Benetton took advertising in-house, many have questioned the future role of the agencies. Yet little has changed. Until now. Evidence that the "in-house" model can and does work came in the form of the Obama for America campaign, as it scooped up both Titanium and Integrated Lions; a first in itself.

3. The TV-centric, integrated, matching luggage model is being consigned to the past. Regardless of category the ideas awarded were multi-platform, multi-layered and in many cases web-centric.

4. The web blurs everything. PR, Promo, Direct, Cyber...the categories blurred. It is becoming evident that the categorisations we apply may need revising over the coming years.  What is interesting is the impact this will have on where ideas originate.

5. Digital has arrived.  Phillips "Carousel" on-line interactive video for their Ambilight TV picking up the Film Grand Prix re-defines film forever.

6. Mobile is coming over the horizon. More ideas this year had mobile components. If the Young Lions are a litmus test for the future then we will see GrandPrix winners being mobile centric and location focused.

7. Mobile may be coming, yet time and time again the speakers and workshops hammered home the message. Let's focus on ideas not mediums. We are in the business of storytelling; creating brand stories that sell. Bob Greenberg from R/GA summed it up stating "people buy into ideas and emotions not media".

8. Our networks are no longer a measure of our power to persuade. Today it's about networking, social, collaborative, open-source, co-creation, tapping into communities, delivering utility, building conversation, stimulating dialogue. The Obama campaign, the Dark Knight ARG, The World's Best Job, The Great Schlep to the Sprint Now Network, all were evidence of networking in action.

9. Finally the notion of local campaigns and global campaigns must now be left where it belongs, in the past. In our networked world good ideas spread, regardless of locality, language or media. Our job; coming up with the great ideas people want to search for, share and spread.

MF

Bringing home the Lions

Last week in Cannes we were delighted to pick up two lions for ComputerTan – our innovative digital campaign designed to educate people on the dangers of UV exposure. No mean feat in what proved to be an extremely digital-centric festival.

To see more visit www.computertan.com

"It's time to get political"

This was the call to action from Sir Bob Geldof, as he and Kofi Annan appealed to the ad industry to use our collective powers of persuasion and influence in the "fight for climate justice". The aim, of what will be an open source campaign, is to generate the largest ever online petition targeting world leaders in the run up to the UN's climate summit in Copenhagen in December. The purpose of the summit is to agree a replacement for the Kyoto protocol. What they decide and agree will define and "determine the future of the planet in the face of climate crisis".

Annan and Geldof are asking agencies and brands to spread the word and generate support by adding the camaign logo "Tck Tck Tck" to our websites, blogs, press, TV or any other campaign elements. Euro RSCG have created and made available the assets for use (audio, artwork, banners and guidelines) here.

Individually we can help by spreading the word to family and friends and uploading a video or recording via webcam, the word "tck". With every "tck" another name is added to petition our leaders to make fair and robust decisions and deliver a just climate deal in December. Do it here.

There are also campaign dog tags and bands available here.

Fresh account win

As you may have seen on the front of this week's issue of Marketing, we've just been announced as the new advertising agency of record for the Subway sandwich franchise chain in the UK. We won the business in partnership with our sister agency Momentum, and together we've been given the task of re-energising the Subway brand and business from the ground up. We'll be bringing our new idea to life not just in broadcast media, but right down to the store level in each of the 1450 franchises through CRM, digital. You might even see it on those guys you see holding the Subway "golf sale" type signs on the high street, directing you to the nearest restaurant.

It's always great to win new business, especially so when it's in an integrated effort with our fellow Group companies, and, with apologies for the obligatory pun, we can't wait to get our teeth into such a great brand. Rumours that we may even be opening a Subway franchise on the ground floor unfortunately cannot be corroborated at this time...but that's definitely how excited we are about this opportunity.

Widget Wins

Last night at The Marketing Society Awards for Excellence 2009, our UPS Widget campaign won the “Best Digitally Led Marketing” award.  

After two years of activity for Widget this is a wonderful achievement and a credit to everyone who has ever worked on the campaign – the list of those who have contributed to the Widget success story is long, and continues to grow.

Take a look at the little fella at widget.ups.com

Recycling helps McCann see the wood for the trees

The tireless hard work from the McCann Erickson Green Team has yielded some amazing results. In the last 12 months we’ve recycled a staggering 40 tonnes of paper, which is the equivalent of 444 trees – the size of a small wood.  
The introduction of recycling points throughout the building and the recent addition of desktop recycling boxes means there is no excuse for anyone not to recycle and do their bit for the environment.
Last year represented a successful start for the Green Team with a huge number of initiatives introduced throughout the building to save energy from turning down the hot water temperature by a couple of degrees to installing save-a-flush water saving devices in the bathrooms.
The ambitious quest for change continues in 2009 as we work towards ISO14001 environmental accreditation.  Over the coming months we’ll be working hard across all departments to identify any areas where we can improve our green approach and put in place an internal audit team to ensure we not only achieve our goals but maintain them on the years to come.

Imagine a world where 90% of people cannot recognise an obese person.

Where a flight of stairs carry a warning that one should only attempt to climb them in an emergency. Where cheese comes in string form and apple pies are cheaper than apples themselves. Where food is stashed away and devoured surreptitiously. Where a brand new set of chef’s knives is only used to pierce the cellophane on a microwave curry.

Imagine no more. Our study on obesity in the UK has uncovered Fatville, the strange place that’s strangely familiar. Fatville de-familiarises and highlights the odd behaviours that have come to dominate our world and sets out to re-energise the debate surrounding obesity.

The advertising industry is heavily implicated in the current situation. We believe that whilst brands and communication are often seen as part of the problem, they can play an important role in the solution. Visit www.fatville.co.uk to find out more.

London Evening Standard re-launch now complete

We have now entered our third and final phase in support of the London Evening Standard’s re-launch.
We’ve said sorry, we’ve made our promises, and now we’re jolly well living up to them with a  60 second TV spot and a highly impactful poster campaign.
The campaign is a true celebration of Londoners and London life and emphasises the new Standard’s pledge to be the premium, celebratory evening London read.

From Nana with love … x

McCann Worldgroup seals London 2012 Olympics brief

We can now formally announce that McCann Worldgroup is the official Marketing Services Provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rarely has a pitch generated so much excitement throughout the agency, as anyone who was present in our reception on pitch day can testify.

Working on the Games, the first to come to London for 64 years, is undeniably an enormous privilege and will surely bring the best out of the breadth of all the McCann Worldgroup companies. The FT described the win as ‘probably the biggest assignment in the history of UK marketing’ and it is predicted that the work we produce will be seen by a global audience of around 3 billion. To you and me, that’s almost every other person in the world, and who wouldn’t want to be part of that challenge?

News update: London Evening Standard phase 2 begins

Today’s relaunch of the London Evening Standard coincides with stage two of our thought-provoking campaign, which shifts this week from apologising to committing to change. Poster sites across London are promising that the new paper will be politically independent, will surprise its readers, will listen to them, and will celebrate London.
 
If today’s issue is anything to go by, it’s off to a flying start. It’s a real breath of fresh air: a London paper you definitely won’t want to leave on the Tube, so snap up a free copy while there’s still time.