Jack Blog
June 22nd, 2015
I landed on Saturday. What have I seen so far in just under 24 hours? There is one major revelation for me so far:
Jet. Lag.
So, the first 24 hours involved taking a flight to Nice with the highest possible amount of hipsters per square inch.
A taxi to Cannes. A pretty refreshing G&T and then promptly falling asleep and missing all the debauchery on Saturday night.
But Sunday is a fresh day. A new start. And, crucially, a chance for me to address five of the biggest questions that the people demand to know:
- Is Cannes all just rosé-quaffing ass-hats, lazing around on super yachts?
Unclear. I can confirm there are a decent amount of super yachts. But I feel that the week’s attendees haven’t landed yet. Will come back to you on this. The biggest surprise for me being that Pandora, theold, old, oldinternet radio channel thingy is still going well enough to put some banners on a yacht. Good for them. - Is the whole event as glamorous and slick as you’d be led to believe?
Registration this morning took a very un-enjoyable 90 minutes. Which in today’s hyper-connected, technologically savvy world is inexcusable. Especially when there has been such investment in the Cannes app, the natural place for passes to be confirmed and shown. However, this 90 minutes was highly fruitful for people watching. A trend that I’d hoped had died (the top knot ponytail thing on guys) is sadly very much alive and kicking over here. - Celebs everywhere. Right? Ripe for rockstar client and agency spotting?
So far zero “celeb” spots. I was temporarily excited at seeing what looked like Marilyn Manson. Sadly, upon closer regard, It was actually an elderly French lady being assisted into a car. - Is this week in Cannes the greatest place in the world to play “buzz word” bingo.
100% confirmed. I’d heard all my pet hates within my 90 minute registration queue. People talking around how they “iVoted” the client brief. How their conversations should maybe be taken “offline”. And sadly, I also heard one person didn’t have the “bandwidth” to attend all the after parties. - Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be there?
Yes. I couldn’t be more excited to be “going back to school” and being taught by some of the most recognizable names in the industry. Personally, I’m very excited to be attending two hours on innovation and creativity, with David Droga. And of course seeing Mark Tutssel discuss how he’s been able to deliver superb creative work, time and time again.
Want more insights from the Cannes Lions Festival? Read our white paper Cannes guide to buzzwords: 8 newbies on what’s real and what matters to brand experience to learn about the marketing trends you can’t afford to miss.