June 2012 – Page 3

June 19, 2012

Mannes in Cannes // Part 3 // Lessons in fragility

If day one was all about discovering shitness then day 2 was all about my sense of fragility.

This may partly be because I am trying to survive on very little sleep and occasional mouthfuls of Maltesers. Slugs of ice cold Perrier provide only partial and temporary relief. Arianna Huffington, she of the Huffington post, spoke about lack of sleep in her wonderful seminar yesterday. She says it is the central malaise of modern society and the cause of many of our ills. She also said that lack of sleep has somehow strangely become associated with male virility. In other words men who have had 3 hours sleep will comment “I only had 3 hours sleep and 2 handfuls of Maltesers but here I am battling through the day like a champion“. Women do not do this because they are, on the whole, more sensible and sentient beings. She also said lots of other stuff and identified a few megatrends.

The other great talk yesterday was Contagious magazine’s annual trend summary of where the world is going, and what the work is telling us about the present and the future. Truly fascinating stuff. My proudest moment at Cannes so far (apart from boasting in a virile way about having has no sleep and living on mouthfuls of Maltesers) was when they played the Carling Be the Coach case study as an example of truly engaging, social work. You get quite a kick when 5000 ad people are listening to the most influential trend spotters in communications flag your work as terribly important. Yeeee bloody haaaaa.

And so on to last night’s awards, where I wore smart black leather shoes instead of trainers (I thought they would bring me luck, more formal y’know). This turned out to be a mistake, as Steve Back, Aussie Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Singapore launched into a tirade of derogatory comment about my footwear, “did your wife buy you those mate”, cue raucous harharharing from gathered creatives, all wearing trainers to formal evening. Anyhow, they turned out to be a bit in the lucky side, as Ogilvy Cape Town went on to win 3 Lions. Two for Carling Be the Coach and one for Volkswagen Bluemotion Label. It is so bloody wonderful to be on the scoreboard here folks, I cannot tell you enough about the quality of the work we are up against. I will, however, try. Please look at it, it is truly a reflection of the way we should all be thinking at the moment.

Take a look at the brilliant “Beauty of a second” piece by Leo Burnett Milan. Truly beautiful little one second short films that really make you feel better about life. It is so good when advertising improves the world a little bit, and that was a recurring theme last night, brands doing their bit for people, for places, for society in general. I suppose digital conversation platforms and social media have made brands super sensitive about the people they are talking to, and the people who are talking about them, so in order to be liked, to guide positive and inspiring conversations about themselves, they do positive, inspiring, altruistic work. Which is making our industry pretty much the greatest it has ever been. Either that or I am just sleep deprived and on a chocolate high.

Check out “Bring your own cup day” for 711 Slurpees from Leo Burnett Melbourne, for just the coolest, feelgoodest promotion. “The return of the dictator Ben Ali” by our very own Ogilvy Tunisia is totally, wonderfully powerful and inspiring, it is work that changes a country. Then the Hellman’s “Mayonnaise recipe receipt” is a little piece of genius from Ogilvy Sao Paulo, once again unexpectedly rewarding people with a cool, smart brand experience. South Africa’s Metropolitan Republic won big with a Gold and Silver Lion for Wimpy “Braille burgers“, a truly popular piece that went crazy on the web, good on yer boys. The big, big winner on the night was “Small business gets an official day” for American Express from Crispin Porter Bogusky, Boulder. Once again a brand acting for the better good of all, this time doing it’s bit for small businesses. Deservedly it won 2 Grand Prix’s.

And so day 2 came to a subdued close. All that remains is for me to shout out an unashamed plug for my twitter handle @MrChristiffa, where I try and keep an irreverent and watchful up to the minute eye in things. Although it has been pointed out to me that for the past 2 days I have been hash tagging a bar in Amsterdam instead of the Cannes Lions Festival, i am a bit of a digital immigrant I am afraid. If you want an altogether more reliable and comprehensive view on things then @OgilvyCT and of course @ididthatad are probably the better follows, with our very own Kate Desmarais and Julie Maunder at the controls. Until tomorrow then. Day 3 beckons. And that bag of Maltesers is calling me.

Sent from my iPad

June 19, 2012June 19, 2012

SA Cannes Lions Winners Day 1

The first Cannes Lions awards night is now behind us and South Africa has managed to walk away with 5 Lions. The big winner was Wimpy’s “Braille Burger” by Metropolitan Republic JHB, who walked away with a Gold and Silver Lion. Ogilvy Cape Town were up for a lot of awards last night and managed to walk away with 3 bronze Lions, two for their Carling Black Label Work, and one for their Volkswagen Bluemotion campaign. See all the winning work and their relevant categories below. (To see all the winners head to http://www.canneslions.com)

Gold for Retail & E-Commerce, including Restaurants / Silver for Best Use of Live Events and/or Stunts

Wimpy “Braille Burger” by Metropolitan Republic JHB

Bronze for Direct Response – Digital Mobile Marketing, and PR -Best Use of Sponsorship

SAB – Be The Coach by Ogilvy Cape Town

Bronze for Direct Response Print or Standard Outdoor, including Inserts

Volkswagen ‘The Bluemotion Label” by Ogilvy Cape Town

June 18, 2012June 18, 2012

A Mannes in Cannes: We are all shit.

There can be only one word to describe my first day at Cannes Lions 2012. Party. This has nothing, however, to do with red faced Swedish people singing loud tequila-inspired cross country skiing folk songs at the Gutter Bar. It concerns a short, funny Japanese man (not sure of his name, they all look the same to me, haha, ethnic joke, cue social media damnation ). The man works for an agency called Party, in Tokyoand he is very clever and inspiring and, quite frankly, makes the rest of us look quite shit. Shit is a word that came up fairly frequently in his seminar. He said we ad folk are all shit and our work is mostly shit and our clients, they’re shit too. Strangely, people quite liked this and clapped. Of course our shitness, or possible confirmation of it, is something we creative people are instinctively terrified of. Perhaps everyone was quite relieved that someone had finally come out and said it.

Anyhow Morihiro Harano(you see, I do know his name) went on to explain why we are shit. You see, we have been working the same way, art director-copywriter teams, with the same mediums – Print, Promotions, PR, TV, Web for nearly 60 years. Yet we are supposed to be the edgy, frontier-testing cowboys. His, agency, Party, is finding new ways to work, which are producing incredible and smart solutions to client problems. Not ads so much as product ideas, design solutions, strategy interventions. He showed us some of this work and it really is very good, best of all very little of it could be classified as ads, creative yes, ads – definitely not.

That really has been the theme so far this year- changing the way we do everything. As the nice, softly spoken Swede (they’re bloody everywhere aren’t they?) said in the goviraltalk this morning, “We are in the middle of the single greatest change in consumer behaviour in the history of advertising.” The key themes are shaping up already. Social is everywhere, in everything, it’s about groups not individuals. Brand utility, doing something or being something for people, is more important than ever. Content and entertainment and interactive storytelling are the most common tools. And boy does it show when you look at the work. For years I have been coming here listening to people spouting on about digital and social and how interactivity will change everything. Well now it bloody has. The king is dead folks, long live the king.

Take a look at the shortlisted work in the direct category. It is astounding in it’s breadth and quality, in the deep tech that is embedded in so many of the ideas, in the wonderful twisty, unpredictable nature of the storytelling. There is the potential Grand Prix in the “Connecting Lifelines” work for Honda out of Japan. They updated GPS systems to include only the roads that were open after the tsunami hit. Once again a brand going beyond advertising and doing something that builds true affinity. The Audi “Fan messenger” from Kempertrautmann is a wonderful example of how new tech can breed brilliant possibilities. Also a potential Gold, I think, even if it does have hints of Nike “Chalkbot”. Then there’s the “Blood relations” activation created by Baumann Ber Rivnay Saatchi and Saatchi Israel. We often talk about social tension, but this piece has it in buckets. The South African work is there too, which is quite an achievement on this Rolls Royce of Shortlists. Our very own Be the Coach piece seems to be popular, thank heavens. And Metro’s Wimpy Braille Burgers is popping up everywhere. KingJames are in the game too with their superb “Back at ya” work for Sanlam. In all some of the best work I have seen for a long time.

Whatever this thing is that we’ve been banging on about for the past few years, it’s definitely here. Tech is hooking up with social, interactivity is serving the drinks and digital is providing the 5 star accommodation. If you’re not embracing all of these things, if they are not truly (I say truly because a lot of us are still pretending) part of the DNA of your agency, then run as fast as you can towards it. Or alternatively you should just run away. Now I am going to go to bed, and contemplate my shitness. And think what the bloody hell I’m going to do about it.

June 15, 2012

Chris Gotz: A Mannes in Cannes

Actually I’m not. A man in Cannes, that is. For the time being I am a man in Salt River, which is altogether less glamorous, although it is a whole bunch cheaper. There is probably a gutter bar somewhere around here too, or at least a bar in a gutter. On Friday night, however, I will be squeezing myself into an Emirates bucket seat and zooming off to the Riviera to swan around with the world’s ad larneys. I have packed my favourite t-shirts with the coolest possible motifs, a black jacket in case I get asked to pick up something gold and lion-shaped (it’s the hope that kills you) and some swimming trunks so I can plunge into the warm, murky waters of the Med.

I truly hope SA has a brilliant week. I hope we win big in radio again but also up our creds in categories beyond the “old” media stalwarts. A Cyber Lion would be huge, as would lifting the case of Champagne off Warsop’s couch (does it come with a dog?). Any Lions in Promo, Design and Mobile would also have me air punching like an 80’s tribute band. A Titanium or Integrated win and I’ll buy a round of drinks at the Gutter Bar. There, I said it. Take that overzealous finance guy.

So what are we up against ? I must admit there is some pretty daunting opposition this year.

Of course there will be the usual raft of Brazilian/Chinese/Malaysian print (mostly posters) lovingly crafted by hordes of child-illustrators and art directors over months and months. And it will be good. And we will never have seen it before, ever, chances are no-one else will have either. However, some of the work that’s been out there for a while is frighteningly excellent.

In Film there’s the wonderful Guardian “3 Little Pigs” spot from BBH London, Chipotle’s beautifully crafted “Back to the Start” which will surely also win big in craft (almost a certainty for Craft Grand Prix) – I think by the end of the week we’ll all be singing along with Willie Nelson.

Promo and Activations are suddenly tres, tres sexy. Clients love them (especially if they … altogether now … “Go Viral!!!”). In first place on that count, with over 50 million hits, is the amazing TNT “Dramatic surprise on a quiet square.” stunt. Watch it and weep. Although there’s also the Tic-tac “Worst breath in the world.” flash mob from Ogilvy Paris. Breathtaking is the only way to describe the Mercedes Benz “Invisible car” activation from those very clever people at Jung Von Matt, it will feature all week, I think.

Elsewhere there’s the genius of RGA and their “Google wallet”, a tap payment system for smart phones, which looks a sure bet for a Titanium. You know our industry is changing at light speed when a digital payment system is in contention at Cannes. The “Hibernating bear” for Volkswagen (a winter promo that lasts until a live web-cammed hibernating bear wakes up) from DDB Oslo is a fabulous, wish-I’d-done-that digital promotion. In radio the beautifully simple “The absolute pitch” for the Hannover Academy of Music and Theatre is sure to seduce the jury. And so it goes on.

By the end of next week, whether you’re in Cannes or not, you will be inspired and excited by the world’s best work, which always makes the strip ad for direct-dial insurance you’re working on seem even more depressing. The technology revolution and the rise of digital as a channel have been like creative steroids for our industry. And keeping up with it all has become more important to our very survival than ever before.

As Hyper Island said last week, “Today is faster than yesterday, and tomorrow will be faster than today.”

So I’d better get going.

See you in Cannes.