CANNES LIONS FEVER!

Karen Lim, PR Director, Asia Pacific, Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide reports FRESH from Cannes                               

I could feel the same unmistakable buzz of energy as I approached the Palais des Festivals on Day One of the 57th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Even though the bulk of delegates typically do not arrive until day two, there was already a snaking queue at the registration counter.

Close to 9,000 delegates from 90 countries, representing the most brilliant of the advertising industry, stood in the exact same queue to pick up their access passes to what is known as the ‘Oscars’ of the advertising world.

It is a privilege to lose yourself in the long list of top notch seminars and workshops, learning from the world’s leading brains in advertising as well as industry  gurus, including the iconic Yoko Ono and the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

LB clocked a first with David on Demand (www.davidondemand.com) 1st ever twitter-driven experiential campaign that allowed thousands of people to experience Cannes Lions Festival without being there physically - all through the eyes and ears of David Perez, a creative recruiter with the agency.  It was a bold social media experiment that got the attention of the world (including CNN and Forbes) even before David got to Cannes and set the stage for Leo Burnett’s annual Widlfire Seminar: The Here and Now/ Spontaneity in Modern Marketing.

Attempting to go through the extensive exhibitions and showcase of finalists was mind-boggling, but one campaign that stood out for me and left me inspired was the "Replay" campaign developed for Gatorade by TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. Stellar work like this reminded me of why I chose to work in this business.

Did I also mention the beach, the famous gutter bar and the endless parties that took place throughout the week? Moderation is key to surviving the Cannes Lions Festival week - you really do not want to waste the 14 hours’ flight time not taking in such world-class content and learning from the best brains in the world – otherwise, you’d just be walking away with a massive hangover and a really bad sunburn!

Before the exquisite Lion statues got into the hands of  winners, a group of jurors worked really hard. They included LB Worldwide Mark Tutssel, Global Chief Creative Officer, who presided over the prestigious Film and Press Lions; from Singapore, Tay Guan Hin, Regional Creative Director of JWT, the first Singaporean to preside as President of a Jury (Outdoor Category in this case) in Cannes Lions’ prestigious 57-year history, as well as Ng Tian It, Chief Creative Officer from Lowe Singapore, a member of the film jury.     

The end of the week saw agencies from Asia picking up a total of 163 Cannes Lions. Singapore agencies submitted a total of 288 entries (mostly in the press and outdoor categories) and were awarded 8 Lions - including 2 Golds, 5 Silvers and 1 Bronze. Leo Burnett became the first agency from Singapore to win 2 Gold Lions in the inaugural Film Craft category for their joint effort work with Leo Burnett Malaysia on the long format TV spot "Funeral" created for MCYS. Other winning agencies from our homeland included DDB, which picked up 2 Silver and 1 Bronze Lion, while JWT, Ogilvy and Y&R picked up one Silver Lion each.     

As a Burnetter, being right there was a very special experience. It was a remarkable year for Leo Burnett on the awards front with a total haul of 52 Lions, more than half of which were won by Leo Burnett offices in Asia Pacific.

As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, similarly, world-class, award-winning creativity is a fruition of dedication and consistent hard work focused on developing creatively strong and effective work. I salute my colleagues in Leo Burnett, my peers in the industry for their outstanding work this year in continuing to push the boundaries of creativity to reach new heights with greater depths of passion.

1) Cannes Lions Palais - Outside the Palais  2) Awards Nite 3) LB APAC team (Tom Bernardin, CEO. LB Worldwide made a special appearance at the party hosted by Jarek Ziebinski, President of LB & Arc Worldwide Asia Pac) 4) Wall Signing (LB team writing down their  achievements on the wall of the loft and signing their names) 5) DDB's Bose campaign

FootNote : DDB’s Bose campaign was awarded a Silver Lion in the Outdoor category as well as a Bronze Lion in the Press category (the only Lion awarded to a Singapore agency for that category). The Penguin Books Budget travel guide was awarded a Silver Lion in the Outdoor category.

SILVER LION (Outdoor/Campaign)

Campaign Title: Hear nothing you don’t want to.

Client: BOSE NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES  

Agency: DDB SINGAPORE

BRONZE LION (Press /Campaign)

Campaign Title: Hear nothing you don’t want to.

Client: BOSE NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES  

Agency: DDB SINGAPORE

SILVER LION (Outdoor/Campaign)

Campaign Title: Spend less, see more.

Client: PENGUIN BOOKS BUDGET TRAVEL GUIDE  

Agency: DDB SINGAPORE