Cannes Lions 2023: Big Perf. Writer’s notes from a Western Australian perspective

The Brand Agency’s ECD, Dean Hunt, shares his Cannes Lions 2023 experience, through a ‘WA Perspective.’

I intended to write an in-depth exclusive about all my learnings from Cannes. I did not intend to sit in front of the giant coughing lung seated in 53B and get Covid (Euro Edition) on my return flight.

So, instead of that in-depth exclusive, here are my writer’s notes. I hope they’re enough to inspire more West Aussies to make the trip to Cannes in 2024… or at least get a covid booster.

“Bouclex votre ceinture, petie gâteau.”
Google translate: French to Western Australian…
“Buckle up, cupcake.”

My Uber driver is a one armed French Moroccan Pierre Gasly type. He can smoke, write a text, mock my Year 7 French, and transfer moi from airport to hotel in under 3.5 seconds. For anyone leaving the cottonwool-like state that is WA, this is a terrifying experience. We’re not in Nedlands anymore, Toto.

One tribe
Strangely familiar faces all around. On the plane, at the airport, on the cobbled streets of Old Town, I recognise people I’ve never met before. No matter their colour, sex, language, accent, size, shape, or persuasion – the black t-shirts, the white trainers, the thick-rimmed glasses are all there – the brand codes of our global tribe. Reassuringly familiar.

Calm before the storm
I try and look comfortable sipping on an Aperol Spritz. For now, there is sense of restraint, like one might imagine a Tour de France cyclist feels the night before Stage 1 from Bilbao. Polite nods and subtle acknowledgements suffice – there will be plenty of time for industry-themed conversation and Gutter Bar induced D&Ms. For now, we wait… tick follows tock.

Cannes International Festival of Creativity.
With an estimated revenue of around 60-odd million dollars, Cannes Lions can afford to put on a show and put some staff behind the bar. This is not their first rodeo. The first Cannes in 1954 took 187 entrants from 14 countries. This year, an estimated 26,992 entrants and 15,000 delegates will pass through the Palais doors.

Coming from WA, I’m not one for queues or crowds. But getting your pass, choosing your talk itinerary, and finding your way to one of the 5 main stages – courtesy of the UX-perfect app – makes the whole experience almost relaxing. Now, with so much to do, what to do?

“Don’t go too hard to early.”
A common tip from experienced ‘Cannessoirs’.
While cynics might assume refers to the rosé one might consume, it’s also applicable to the number of daily talks available. With keynote speakers including Spike Lee, Eva Longoria, Louis Theroux, Halle Berry, Kevin Hart, Sir John Hegarty, David Droga and some of the world’s best CMOs, tech gurus and creators… it can be overwhelming.

Luckily, I had WA friend and client, Haylee, GM Brand & Marketing at RAC to tag along with. “The marketing nerd who wanted to attend all the WARC sessions!” Her words not mine. I was grateful for the guidance and learnt a lot. Although, Spike Lee was my favourite. At 66 years old, he’s still pure creative energy and rebellion controlled. Loved it.

My strategy? Main stage talks in the morning, lunches for networking slash ear-bending, afternoons for WPP related catchups and alternate nights for socialising. Update: In hindsight, maybe I could’ve gone a little harder, earlier. Maybe.

The work is on display in the Palais basement. I was expecting crowds, but with a full five days to look people tend to drift in and out between talks. I was able to view most of the case studies in bite-sized chunks, avoiding ‘case fatigue’.

Women’s and men’s health, global hunger, climate change, artificial intelligence, community engagement – all the big issues are there. But I also saw a surprising amount of idea-lead work less reliant on budgets and big tech. Worth noting for anyone working in a market not known for, either. Ideas can still win.

Cream rises to the top
Once the finalists are announced, the real judging starts. This is where your ‘case’ and your results better stack up. I sneaked quietly into a live judging session, spotting the back of Dave Droga’s head as he probed and questioned the team from The Monkeys. They were presenting FIRST DIGITAL NATION on the small theatre-like stage. Whatever they said, must have worked. They won the Dan Weiden Titanium Grand Prix. A great idea very well executed. Congrats, Barb.

Night of lions
There are award shows every night. They are a slick and glossy affair. I chose the first night featuring the PR and OOH category mainly because our WPP friends at VMLY&R had been given ‘the call’ to be there on the night for their Honest Eggs FITCHIX. This usually means Gold. It did.

I was delighted for them all but mostly Isabel and Amanda, the young team who had the idea in the first place. They worked so hard to make that idea happen and had lots of tonal choices to make along the way. Judging by the results and the smile on their faces, it was all worth it. I imagined what it would be like for a young WA team to have the same experience and what it might do for them.

I’d love to see a young WA team up there next year.

Gen Z roaring
One of the great delights of Cannes was the amount of time I got to spend with the future of Australian advertising. The people getting the most from Cannes are the junior and middleweight teams who had found their way there. Siren’s winners, Young Lions Winners, coming-up-with-great-ideas winners. It was like getting the big ladder in Snakes in Ladders, an Immunity Pin in Masterchef or the elevator direct to Droga’s office. NOTE TO YOUNG WA TEAMS: Find a way to get yourself to Cannes. This will involve coming up with great ideas then working really hard to make them happen. Your career will thank you for it.

A.I.
There are enough articles on A.I. But here’s my two pennies on the subject.
A.I. is an awesome tool that the best creative people will use and embrace.
But it has limits. It can zig and zag. But can it Ziggah-Zig-Ah?

A.I. is a logical program. Creativity is not.
The only brands, agencies and individuals who should be worried about A.I. are those doing formulaic, logical work. Because A.I. will soon do it faster and cheaper.

Solution: embrace lateral and unexpected thinking. Create ideas that outwit A.I.
The demand will be huge for agencies that can offer something that A.I. can’t.
Genuine and unexpected creative thinking.

Further note: Fernando Mechado, Ex Burger CMO, spoke of the need to “Remember the basics of marketing while not being distracted by trends”. Cannes 2022 was all about the Metaverse, and by 2023… SFX: Crickets. Meta crickets.

The long lunch
I’ve always thought the industry has suffered since the loss of the long lunch. The connections made, the honest conversations had, the knowledge shared. Cannes proved it. I leaned just as much (if not more) from talks I had at the couple of lunches attended. CB’s La Colombe d’Or Lunch was a highlight, surrounded by Picasso’s art and Australia’s best creative leaders and production partners. The talks outside of the talks were enlightening and inspiring, and most of all a reminder of just how smart, weird, and wonderful the people in our industry are.

Cannes 2024: Closer than you might think.
When you live and work in the world’s most isolated city, Cannes can feel so far away and winning can feel out of reach. It needn’t. There was not an idea or piece of thinking that I saw at Cannes that was any better than the ideas I’ve seen and heard about in WA.

So, if our thinking is Cannes-worthy, what’s missing? We are. We’re simply not there. And we should be. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. The WA way.

Tu dois être dedans pour le gagne. Google translation: You gotta be in it to win it.

Final notes to self
1. Create a Cannes-worthy idea for 2024.
2. Get a booster before flight.

Mercis
A big thank you The Brand Agency and WPP for getting me to Cannes.
Thank you to Haylee Felton, GM Brand & Marketing, RAC for being such great company and getting me to the best CMO talks.
Thanks to Michael, Kim and Adam for kindly taking me to the finest restaurant in Old Town. And the Gutter Bar origin story.
Kind and generous hosts: The Sweetshop, Campaign Brief, Fin Design + Effects, Photoplay, Rumble Studios and Good Oil.
And mainly to all the old friends and colleagues I bumped into, it was so great to reconnect. Au revoir. Till next time.