Q&A WITH PAUL ALFIERI, CADENT CMO
Paul Alfieri, CMO of Cadent, looks forward to Cannes Lions because while the world is rapidly moving toward automation, this is the one place you still get to meet and talk to actual people, he said. “It still has that very personal component. We are still marketing to human beings. This isn't my machine calls your machine. I think in marketing, if you forget the humanity part of the story, you lose.”
Why is data important?
Data and targeting can get you closer to that person, meaning find a window in their life with the most relevant time for you to have communication. But it's like a pickup line—you can still blow it with the wrong pickup line. Cannes is great because we probably spend 11 months out of the year talking about technology and data, so to spend two weeks looking at work and talking about creativity and human beings I think is really, really important for the profession.
Can you explain the ad eco system to me like I'm your mother?
There are groups of companies that innovate using technology and data and the Internet to make advertising work in an era where people aren't just watching TV or listening to the radio or reading magazines. The challenge for an advertiser is when their target audience is fragmented. It used to be really easy, we could just put a Super Bowl ad in front of you. Now there's a lot of companies who are innovating using technology and data and lots of other things to try to stitch together a Super Bowl-sized audience to your Apple TV and your iPad and your iPhone and your computer.
Do you feel like we're getting to a point where there are no boundaries between TV and print and digital?
If you're watching a show on a 60-inch flat panel TV, the commercial I would want to show you would be very different than if you're watching it on a 5-inch phone screen. In that way I think there's always going to be, maybe not barriers, but different capabilities of each of the mediums that can be exploited in the best way possible to deliver your message.
But since the audience is fragmented across all of those different device types, if you're a marketer, you want to have some consistency to your message. In order to get the consistency, marketers are taking to data that unifies the definition of audience between TV and video and the Internet and social and so forth and so I think that's where the innovation is happening is in bringing things together.
Why is a transparent TV ad ecosystem good for the entire TV industry?
I think what's interesting about where we are today with data and targeting is that an advertiser really can define their audience in the way they want to define their audience: “I know that my buyer is this type of person.” The challenge is if I can only use that definition in one medium or say on one specific network on TV, it doesn't do me any good. Being able to push that definition into lots of different mediums is key for the success of my campaign. We need an ecosystem that can exchange and translate all the different buyer definitions of audience.
Is there still romance in TV advertising?
Always. Most people go into advertising because they want to do a 30-second spot. I think the challenge with it is you can't get blinded by the romance and you also have to recognize where your targets are as a marketer and make sure that your romancing in the right location and that means that the 30-second spot that I run today is going to have different impact on the market than the 30-second spot run 20 years ago. And that doesn't mean it’s bad, it's just different.
What excites you about the future of advertising?
What excites me as a marketer now is that we're moving to an era where the proxy is eliminated, so I can actually know and understand my audience. Not a subset of my audience, not a panel of my audience, not a section of my audience. I can know and understand in real time what's going on with my audience. Meaning how is my brand followed by them? Are they in market for my product at this point? Where are they going for more information? We're at this point now where we can tell you within a day if somebody saw the ad and bought a car. It's unheard of.
HEARD ON THE STREETS: TRUTH FROM THE MOUTHS OF LIONS
“Blockchain is when different computers speak to each other and they make something happen at the end.” - inside the Palais.
“I feel really frustrated with the industry, because I feel it’s all talk and no action. There’s far too much strategy and nothing ever comes of it. It’s good that people are trying to move forward, but we should have done this 20 years ago. I find the conversations archaic.” - female brand account executive.
“As a black woman, when I walk on the Croisette, I feel like I don’t belong here. This year, I see a few more faces, but last year it would literally be one other person. It’s improved, but you know you’re different.” – account manager.
“All this brand purpose shit… what does it even mean? People just need to do the right thing.” - chief marketing officer.
“How would I explain blockchain to my mother? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” -Cannes resident.
TODAY’S GOLD WINNERS OF THE CANNES LIONS AWARDS:
Media Brand of the Year
Spotify
Brand Experience and Activation
Grand Prix
Today at Apple
Apple Inc.
Apple, Cupertino / Apple, Cupertino
Apple, Cupertino
USA
Gold Lion
Exclusive the Rainbow
Mars Wrigley Confectionary
DDB Chicago
Starcom, Chicago / Mediacom, Chicago
Olson Engage, Chicago
USA
Scary Clown Night
Burger King
Lola Mullenlowe, Madrid
Weber Shandwick, London / Alison Brod Marketing and Communications, NY
SPAIN
Black Supermarket
Carrefour
Carrefour, Massy / Marcel, Paris
FRANCE
Universal Love
MGM Resorts International
McCann, NY
Sunshine Sachs & Associates, NY/Your Majesty, Amsterdam
USA
A/R Jordan
Jordan Brand
R/GA Portland
Darkstore, San Francisco / Shopify, San Francisco
R/GA Portland/Snapchat Lense Team, NY
Darkstore, San Francisco / Shopify, San Francisco
USA
Live Looper
Downtown Records
BBDO NY
Shore Fire, Brooklyn
USA
Intel Drone Light Show at the Olympics
Intel
Intel Corp., Santa Clara
USA
XBox Design Lab Originals: The Fanchise Model
Microsoft
McCann LONDON
HelloWorld, NY/ Ayzenberg, Seattle / Microsoft XBox, Redmond
McCann London
UK
Diesel – Go With the Fake
Diesel
Disel, Breganze / Publis Italy, Milan / Publis, NY
Park Pictures, NY
ITALY
Save Our Species
Lacoste
BETC, Paris
FRANCE
Palau Pledge
Palau Legacy Project
Host/Havas, Sydney
Red Agency, Sydney
AUSTRALIA
Creative eCommerce
Grand Prix
XBox Design Fan Originals
Microsoft
McCann London
HelloWorld, NY/ Ayzenberg, Seattle / Microsoft XBox, Redmond
McCann Londin
HelloWorld, NY/ Ayzenberg, Seattle / Microsoft XBox, Redmond
UNITED KINGDOM
Gold Lions
Care By Volvo Mobile App
Volvo Car USA
Care By Volvo Subscription Service//2019 Volvo XC40
Grey NY
USA
A/R Jordan
Jordan Brand
R/GA Portland
Darkstore, San Francisco / Shopify, San Francisco
RR/GA Portland/Snapchat Lense Team, NY
Darkstore, San Francisco / Shopify, San Francisco
USA
The All-In Promo
Newsan
Noblex
David, Buenos Aires
Cluster Music, Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA
Sweet Change
Paytan
McCann India, Mumbai
INDIA
Industry Craft
Grand Prix
Ali
SC Johnson
Ogilvy, Chicago
PHD, Chicago
USA
Gold Lions
Adidas Tennis Collection by Pharrell Williams
Adidas
Adidas, Herzogenaurach / LLOYD (+CO.), NY / I Am Other, Beverly Hills
We Folk, New York
GERMANY
Dragster Shuttle Heroes
KFC Birdland (Hong Kong) Ltd
Ogilvy Hong Kong
HONG KONG
Mosiacs Door, Relief, Beads, Carpet, Stained Glass
Interreligious Council In Bosnia & Herzegovina
Y&R Dubai
New Moment, New Ideas Company, Belgrade
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Factory
Nestle Tunsie Distribution
Walter Thomson, Casablanca
MOROCCO
Digital Craft
Grand Prix
Aeronaut VR
William Patrick Corgan
Isobar, NY / Viacom, New York
USA
Gold Lions
Live Looper
Downtown
BBDO NY
Shore Fire, Brooklyn
USA
Dispatch
Oculus
Here Be Dragons, LA
USA
Rocky Brasil
Forbes Brasil
Ogilvy Brasil, Sao Paulo
BRAZIL
Film Craft
Grand Prix
Hope
International Committee of the Red Cross
Blur Producciones, Madrid / SRA. Rushmore, Madrid
SPAIN
Gold Lions
Barbers
Apple
Furlined, LA/Apple, Cupertino
USA
Teasing John Malkovich
CBS Sports
CBS Corp., NY
CBS Corp., NY
USA
Hope
International Committee of the Red Cross
SRA Rushmore, Madrid
SPAIN
Stop the Horror
Go Gentle Australia
Revolver/Will O’Rourke, Sydney / Cummins & Partners, Sydney
AUSTRALIA
Welcome Home
Apple
TBWA\Media Arts, LA
Final Cut, LA/ Framestore, LA
OMD USA, LA
Final Cut, LA/ Framestore, LA
USA
The Last Da Vinci
Christie’s
Droga5, NY
USA
The Faith of a Few
BMW Group of Berlin
Anorak, Berlin / Jung Von Matt, Berlin
GERMANY
Barbers
Apple
Final Cut, LA/Apple, Cupertino
USA
Christmas 2117
Edeka Zentrale AG & Co. KG
Jung Von Matt, Hamburg
GERMANY
Disgusting Stories
Bahay Tuluyan
TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, Makati City
THE PHILIPPINES
The Faith of a Few
BMW Group Mini Management
Mini John Cooper Works
Junh Von Matt, Hamburg
BMW Group Mini Management, Munchen
GERMANY
The Supporting Act
BBC One
Blink Productions, London / BBC Creative, London
UK
Christmas 2117
Edeka Zentrale AG & Co. KG
MPC, London / Jung Von Matt, Hamburg
Work Editorial, London
UK
Entertainment
Grand Prix
Evert_45
KPN
N=5, Amsterdam
Ambassadors, Amsterdam / Soundcircus, Amsterdam / Big Orange, Amsterdam
MAAK, Amsterdam / Mindshare, Amsterdam / A Bigger Circle, Amsterdam
Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
Gold Lions
Corazon – Give Your Heart
Montefiore
John X Hannes, New York
USA
Stop the Horror
Go Gentle Australia
Cummins & Partners, Sydney / History Will Be Kind, Sydney
Cummins & Partners, Sydney / Cummins & Partners, Melbourne
History Will Be Kind, Sydney AUSTRALIA
FriendShit
Kasikornbank Public Company Ltd
GreyNJ United, Bangkok
Kasikornbank Public Company Ltd, Bangkok
THAILAND
WeBeefin?
Wendy’s
VML, Kansas City
Spark Foundry, NY
Ketchum, New York
USA
Breaking Ballet
Joburg Ballet
TBWA\Africa, Johannesburg / TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg
TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg
SOUTH AFRICA
To the Last Tree Standing
Greenpeace, Poland
Ogilvy Poland, Warsaw / Shootime Visual Arts, Warsaw / AMP Poland, Warsaw / Sounds Good, Warsaw
Ogilvy Poland, Warsaw / Gameset, Warszawa / Lifetube, Warsaw / New Age Media, Warsaw
Ogilvy Poland, Warsaw / Greenpeace, Warsaw
POLAND
Breaking2
Nike
National Geographic, Washington D.C. / Nike, Portland
USA
FIFA 18 More Than a Game
EA Sports
adam&eve DDB, London
UK
Evert_45
KPN Telecom
N=5, Amsterdam
Ambassadors, Amsterdam / Soundcircus, Amsterdam / Big Orange, Amsterdam
Maak, Amsterdam / Mindshare, Amsterdam / A Bigger Circle, Amsterdam
Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Amsterdam
Ambassadors, Amsterdam / Soundcircus, Amsterdam / Big Orange, Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
Entertainment Lions for Music
Grand Prix
Jay-Z “Smile"
Roc Nation
Smuggler, NY/Roc Nation, NY
USA
Gold Lions
Welcome Home
Apple
TBWA\Media Arts Lab, LA
Final Cut, LA, FrameStore, LA
OMD USA, LA
Final Cut, LA/ Framestore, LA
USA
The Uncensored Playlist
Reporters Without Borders
DDB Group Germany, Berlin
Finchfactor, Amsterdam
GERMANY
1-800-273-8255
Logic
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
London Alley, LA/ Def Jam Recordings, NY/ Visionary Music Group, NY
USA
David Bowie Is Here
Spotify
Spotify, NY
Leisure Inc., Brooklyn
USA
Tomorrow at Lions
We find out which five campaign shook the world and understand what consumers want before even they do. And Kevin Costner is in town. That’s never a bad thing.