Cynopsis at Cannes Lions: Day Two
06/19/18

It’s Day 2 and the big names are starting to pop up all around Lions. Last night, Kerry Washington took in a performance from Miguel at the Hulu and Spotify bash. Tonight Jon Bon Jovi performs at the MediaLink dinner. Thandie Newton, Ellen Pompeo and Susan Wojcicki took the Lumiere stage today inside the Palais while Akon took part in beachside panel. Look out for a performance from The Killers and will.i.am tonight on the Croisette, or just come and spill into the street with the rest of the fest at Gutter Bar. It’s where everyone ends up anyway.

QUICK TAKES FROM CANNES:

IBM Evangelist Nancy Kramer was in Cannes to discuss AI’s Impact on experience today and tomorrow. Kramer said CEOs and CMOs believe that the future is in customer experience innovation. “We believe that in the future every decision will be informed by a cognitive system of some sort and our lives will be better for it,” she said. With only 20% of the world’s data available to search right now, the environment is ripe for huge leaps in artificial intelligence. IBM recently did a study that looked at 4000 global consumers and 172 brands. “There is a human need to belong,” Kramer said of their discoveries. “People want to feel helped and understood, empowered and inspired.” One example: The Fox Sports app will be able to assemble an entire highlight reel for you, like a 30-minute broadcast, based on your viewing habits.

Mediaocean and IBM iX announced the launch of a blockchain consortium for the digital media supply chain, bringing together some of the world’s largest advertisers, agencies and publishers, including Kellogg, Kimberly-Clark, Pfizer, Unilever and IBM Watson Advertising. Powered by the IBM Blockchain platform, the solution will tackle supply chain opacity from the rapid proliferation of intermediaries. “We must innovate our approach to the market by looking for new technologies like blockchain to help solve complex business challenges,” said Mukund Kaushik, VP Digital Capabilities and Innovation for Kimberly-Clark. “In this partnership with IBM and Mediaocean, as well as other leaders in the media industry, we are on an exciting journey to use blockchain to solve the challenges of media spend transparency and assurance.”

Heard from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki: “The numbers are very clear. Users are going digital. And so brands are also going digital. And that is an incredible opportunity to for us to enable new connection, to reinvent advertising, and to think of new levels of engagement. Wojcicki also addressed the controversy of offensive content created by Neo-Nazis and Isis supporters recently found on the platform, which in April made them lose 5% of their top advertisers. “There’s no playbook on how to have content and policies for the scale that we operate,” said Wojcicki. “The way that I think about it is it’s very important that when we look back at this event, when we look back at this time in history that we are on the right side of history.”

Publicis Groupe Chairman-CEO Arthur Sadoun explained his self-imposed ban from the festival - during the festival - as he “unofficially” showcased his company’s AI-based productivity platform, Marcel. “[Marcel] was expensive and we needed the money,” said Sadoun. “We needed the focus. We have hundreds of people working around the world to make this work….We need to be bolder and we need to make sure we take risks.”

In a panel called “What’s coming next in branded consumer experience?” Tim Kobe, Founder CEO of Eight Inc., drew upon his 30 years of designing “experience” to talk about how you can quantify return on experience. “Human outcome leads to business outcome,” said Kobe. “That’s something accountants can quantify.” What matters most to people is that a product makes their life better. “It’s important to understand what is meaningful to people,” says Kobe. He pointed out that no one remembers how many gigabytes the first iPod had nor its dimensions. “Everyone remembers ‘1000 songs in your pocket.’”

In the Diversity panel, actress Thandie Newton brought up that not only is she the first woman of color to be prominently featured in a Star Wars film, as a result of Time’s Up she now benefits from HBO’s decision to compensate their male and female actors equally. “They’re pressured into it, sure, but we need pressure,” she said. Antonio Lucio, the CMO of HP, described how big strides can be made over a short period. In the past two years, HP increased their leadership team from 20% to 50% women. On the agency side, where there were previously zero female heads of creative and strategy, they have increased the number to 52% in 12 months. On the production side, where when they started no projects done by female directors, 59 were shot by female directors. As a result the brand preference score around the globe has grown by 26% and revenue per impression has grown by 33%. “Diversity works,” said Lucio. “Diversity moves the business needle.” But change is not happening fast enough, according to Tiffany R. Warren, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Omnicom Group, who pointed out the number of African American men in the ad industry is under 2%. “Improvements are being made, but I think I’m going to be employed for a very long time,” she said. “As great as it is to [promote] the first, I want to promote the many.”

Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman, unveiled some disconcerting facts from Edelman’s Trust Barometer, telling the audience at the Lumiere that we are currently in a battle for truth. "More than half of the people in the world rely on social media for their news and we’re failing them,” he said at a panel called Fame or Fail? Promoting, Protecting and Entertaining in Untrusted Times. “There’s a sense now that the platforms can’t reform themselves. We’re at levels now, with trust in social media at 20%. We’ve never seen numbers this low before.” The problem, he says, is a polluted ecosystem: “People are deeply upset about things that marketers have taken for granted - cookies, location-based marketing, loyalty programs. The problems of the social media have now metastasized into a broader marketing environment." His message to brands? “You are absolutely in the middle of an unprecedented politicized moment where the two sides are not speaking to each other, and we’re all having to decide what are our values,” says Edelman. “Where do we stand and what is the truth?”

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo discussed aligning herself with brands as a spokesperson. “You have to choose very carefully, because what you endorse and what you support might contradict,” she said. “It’s challenging but you have to look at the pros and cons of everything. There is no perfect situation” As far as who holds the power, “Brands have more power than they may believe," said Pompeo. "Every moment is an opportunity for change. If the brands adopt that and act with certainty and have a moral spine and follow that up with conduct that is also moral and courageous, and are not afraid to speak up for what they believe in, people will follow."

Q&A WITH KATHRYN FRIEDRICH

In January of 2018, YouTube veteran Kathryn Friedrich became the Chief Business Officer of RYOT Studio, heading up Oath’s in-house creative studio and building its creative storytelling and distribution capabilities for advertisers. We caught up with Friedrich about the future of data-based advertising and the role RYOT plays in it.

How has Cannes Lions changed in the past five years?

It has changed quite a bit, I think. Five years ago, it was much more focused on creatives. And I think now, there's this new surge of media, marketing, tech. Not that creative still isn't here, but I think the other side has really come up. Now it's that combination of the art and the science. And I love where it's going as a result.

What have you heard that’s got you excited?

I think everybody is actually pretty excited about the direction of the industry. We are right now at this pivotal moment where we're trying to figure out what the next thing is. Everybody's talking about the tech developments, but I think it goes beyond that, because we've been doing AR for a little while now. We've been doing VR. So, instead of just focusing on those two formats, I think people are starting to think, what's next?

So, what’s next?

I think it is going into a non-interruption-based marketing. Which is not taking people away from something they're doing to disrupt them with an ad. That's annoying. I think there's a stat that says 87% of people find that kind of advertising intrusive. So, with all the data that we have to show that people find it intrusive, and four out of five people, when they get those messages, are also multitasking through them, you've got to think differently about the content marketing side of the business. You have to give them something that they enjoy.

What’s a concrete example of what that looks like to you?

I think brands that are leaning into their value sets really resonate. Take Unilever, for instance. They're recognizing that there's a whole sustainability movement, and that the next generation, and even our generation, are really concerned about recycling and the earth, and sustainable future for the next generation.

What part do you play?

Our job is to listen. Our job is to do our homework. And our job is to look at the white space on content and where the demand is for content and try to marry all of those things. It's almost like putting a puzzle together. With Oath and with the integration now that we have, where RYOT is fully a part of Oath's ecosystem, we have access to so much data. What most people think about when they think of data is audience data. And what we also have is a tool called the content moments segmentation tool, and we can identify eight different reasons why people are actually consuming content. So, it's not just what they're consuming, it's why they're consuming it.

TODAY’S GOLD WINNERS OF THE CANNES LIONS AWARDS:

Print and Publishing

“The Insiders”
Amnesty/The Insider
4129Grey, Istanbul
Amnesty Turkey, Istanbul

Turkey

“FCK”
KFC
Mother, London
Blue 449, London
Freuds, London
United Kingdom

“IKEA Pee Add”

IKEA Sweden/Crib
Åkestam Holst, NoA, Stockholm
Carat, Stockholm

Sweden

“Dragster” “Heroes” “Shuttles”
KFC Birdland (Hong Kong)
Ogilvy, Hong Kong
Illusion, Hong Kong
Hong Kong

”Sex and Drugs” ”Bold Man” ”Deaths”

Lyric Opera of Chicago
Ogilvy, Chicago
Allied Integrated Marketing, Chicago

Grand Prix
“Tagwords”
AB InBev/Budweiser
Africa, Sao Paulo
Webcore/Landia/Marla Color Grading/Evil Twin, Sao Paulo
Brazil

Radio and Audio

“The Unsensored Playlist”
Reporters Without Borders
DDB Group, Germany Berlin

FinchFactor, Amsterdam
Dahouse Audio/Le Tour Du Monde, Sao Paulo/MediaMonks, Amsterdam
Germany

“The Voice of Change”
EuroPride 2018

Åkestam Holst NoA, Stockholm

Flickorna Larsson, Stockholm

Sweden

“Fistbump”
Dexcom/G6 Glucose Monitoring System
McCann, Birmingham

UK

“Rest in Grease”
Wendy’s
VML, Kansas City
Spark Foundry, New York
Ketchum, New York
Six Course, Los Angeles
USA

“The Game That Never Was”

Blu Radio/Sports Radio Station

Grey Colombia, Bogota

Colombia

“Festival”
Flight Centre Youth & Adventure
TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris, Johannesburg

South Africa

“JFKUnsilenced”

The Times/News UK & Ireland
Rothco/Accenture Interactive, Dublin

The Times, London

Ireland

Grand Prix
“Soccer Song for Change”

AB InBev Africa/Carling Black label/ Anti Women Abuse Initiative
Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town
Black Ginger/Deliverance Post Production/Video Cartel

The Workroom 0307 Films, Cape Town

South Africa

Design

“#sharethelove”
AIDES

TBWA/Paris
TBWA/DAN Paris
France

”Save our Species”
Lacoste
BETC, Paris
Allso, Paris

France

“Obsession for Smoothness”
Double A
Six, Tokyo
Spa Hakuhodo Co., Bangkok
AOI Pro., Tokyo
Japan

“Intel Drone Light Show at the Olympics”
Intel Drone Light Show
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara
USA

“The Archaeologist”

Ehinger Kraftrad/ The Archaeologist Dry Gin
Serviceplan Germany, Munich/ Studio Oeding, Hamburg
Pfefferminz Film, Kempten
Germany

Grand Prix
“Trash Isles”
Plastic Oceans/LADbible
AMVBBDO, London
LADbible, London
United Kingdom

Outdoor

“#bodycantwait”

Handicap International
Herezie, Paris
La Pac, Paris
France

“Prescribed to Death”
National Safety Council
Energy BBDO, Chicago
PHD, Chicago

Ketchum, New York
m ss ng p eces, New York

“C21”

National Down Syndrome Society
Saatchi & Saatchi, New York
Spark Foundry, New York
Jones PR Oklahoma City/MSL/Powell Communications, New York
USA

“Price on Our Lives”
March for Our Lives/Parkland Students
McCann New York
USA

“Dead Whale”
Greenpeace Philippines

Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Makati City
Dentsu X, Makati City
Etnikolor, Makati City
The Philippines

“The Remarkable Edith; Lise; Katherine”
Stabile Boss Highlighter Pen
DDB Group Dusseldorf
Germany

“The Route”
JCDecaux
Y&R Brazil, Sao Paulo
Brazil

“Nike Australian Marriage Equality Swoosh Vote”
Nike
Wieden+Kennedy, Portland
USA

“Go With the Fake”
Diesel
Public Italy, Milan/Publicis, New York
Rival School Pictures/Cosmo Street, New York
Italy

“Scary Clown Night”
Burger King
Lola MullenLowe, Madrid
Weber Shandwick, London
Alison Brod Marketing & Communications, New York

F16, Madrid/Only 925, Madrid
Spain

“HBO’s SXSWestworld”
HBO/Westworld
Giant Spoon, New York
USA

“Highway Gallery”
Louvre Abu Dhabi
TBWA/RAAD, Dubai
Abu Dhabi Media Company
Hertz Radio, Manila/Rama International Dubai
United Arab Emirates

Grand Prix
“Next Exit” “On Your Left” “On Your Right”
McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada
Cossette, Toronto/McDonald’s Toronto
OMD Canada, Toronto
Novus Media Canada, Toronto
Canada

“The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library”
Comedy Central/The Daily Show

23 Stories x Conde Nast, New York
USA

Mobile

“Destination Pride”
Pflag Canada
FCB/SIX, Toronto
Intitiative, Toronto
Glossy, Toronto
Alter Ego/Grayson Matthews/Jigsaw Casting Toronto

“#trollingisugly”

Cybersmile
adam&eveDDB, London
Freefolk, London/Cain & Abel, London

United Kingdom

“Snaptivity”
Snaptivity
R/GA London
United Kingdom

“Samsung Smartsuit”
Samsung Benelux
Cheil Worldwide, Amsterdam
Starcom, Amsterdam
Glasnost, Amsterdam
Mario Piepenbrink, Alkmaar

Pirke Productions/Eyeforce/Woodwork, Amsterdam
The Netherlands

“My Line”
Ministry of Communications & Techonolgy/Vive Digital Program
MullenLowe SSP3, Bogota
Colombia

“Selfiestix”
Mars/Pedigree
Colenso BBDO, Auckland
Wavemaker, Auckland
Finch, Auckland

New Zealand

Grand Prix

“Corruption Detector”
Reclame Aqui/Vigie Aqui
Grey Brazil, Sao Paulo
Brazil

TOMORROW AT CANNES LIONS

There’s so much more on tap. Wednesday features panels about how blockchain has the potential to change advertising forever, how brands can benefit from giving entertainers final cut, a panel on the NBC Olympics and driving cultural conversation through breakthrough TV. Stay tuned!