The document summarizes the major takeaways from the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival. It discusses that (1) diversity and inclusion was a major topic of discussion, (2) brands are increasingly taking social stands on polarizing issues, and (3) understanding Chinese culture is becoming more important for marketers. It also notes that (4) experience is more important than technology for connecting with consumers, (5) voice will become an important brand-building tool, and (6) ignoring best practices can help foster creativity.

1. CANNES 2018
SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM
THE FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY

2. This year’s Cannes Lions Festival
took a back-to-basics approach
with a renewed spirit of creativity.
It was a smaller festival but, still
filled with big ideas.
HERE ARE OUR MAJOR TAKEAWAYS.

3. SPEAKING UP
FOR THE VOICES
NOT IN THE ROOM
Diversity and inclusion is the issue of the year in the advertising industry. This
year at Cannes, it was not only the subject of a handful of conferences and
panels, but also the underlying topic of most talks. Questions of gender and racial
diversity and inclusion—in agencies, in the client’s marketing team, on air—are
on everyone’s lips.
This necessary discussion is key for our industry, because we need to
continuously offer our clients a different creative angle on their business
problems. Ad agencies have always been more diverse than their clients, and it
is our collective responsibility to make sure that we maintain a broader point of
view and an openness to new ideas. Diversity is not only a good business strategy
(because diverse teams generate better work), but also a great way to maintain
our creative lead over new competitors.
Ultimately, brands and companies will have to work on creating inclusive
environments that promote gender equality to support people in being their
authentic selves—however they define their gender.
Futurist and consultant Faith Popcorn said it best in her panel “The Death of
Masculinity and Its Impact on Creativity,” “This is a fact: change or die out.”
ONE

4. BRANDS ARE
TAKING SOCIAL
STANDS ON
POLARIZING ISSUES
Trying to be everything for everyone has always led to uninspiring and
“beige” creative. As more companies jump into social-oriented marketing,
we are observing firsthand the way brands can become agents for positive
social change. This crop of creative pieces addresses LGBTQA+ equal rights
(specifically regarding same-sex marriage) and protecting animals.
The cause that we should keep on our radar for years to come is our attention,
or lack thereof, in the ever-distracting era of smartphones and social media.
“Throughout my entire career, I’ve always believed in the power of what we do
and the power of creativity,” David Droga, Co-Founder and Creative Chairman
at Droga5 said during his keynote.. “Good intentions, talent, and ethics—they
will power through anything.”
TWO

5. THE GOLDEN AGE
OF B2C: BUSINESS
TO CHINESE
The influence of the Chinese market, the rise of new technology, and China’s
new openness to the world have made understanding Chinese culture key for
many marketers and advertisers. With scores of conferences about Chinese
consumers, attitudes, and perception of the famous “Made in China” label,
China was on everyone’s lips at Cannes Lions.
In China, a new generation is transforming consumption and brand building
like never before. Previously, emerging individualism launched the conspicuous
strutting of luxury logos for fashion, but that was recently replaced by more
discrete forms of brand bragging. Today, the desire to balance individualism
and cultural collectivism has led to the revival of traditional Chinese culture in
brand building. Instead of going for recognized international brands, the Chinese
consumers are increasingly buying brands that proudly depict Chinese names
and celebrate their heritage.
In her talk, “Finding Meaning in China’s Post-Consumerism Culture,” Laura
Liang, Chief Strategy Officer of DDB China Group, explained the new attitudes of
the emerging middle-class, highlighting how the new generation is progressively
changing its consumption behavior from luxury to experience, from ostentatious
to meaningful, from showy to purpose-driven brands.
THREE

6. MAKING
MEANINGFUL
CONNECTIONS IS
NOT ABOUT TECH
When brands have an authentic voice that taps into a shared topic of
interest, that’s when they become relevant to consumers.
Maria Garrido, Senior Vice-President of Brand Marketing at Vivendi,
led the talk “Meaningful Connections Across Print, Digital, Film, Music,
and Entertainment,” with an all-female panel who have roles in music,
entertainment, and communications—all industries with master storytellers
who know how to create content that moves people.
“When we talk about meaningful content, meaningful brands, we’re not just
talking about something that we think has meaning,” said Kamal Sinclair,
Director of the New Frontier Labs Program at the Sundance Institute, on
the topic of meaningful content. “We’re talking about adding meaning to
people’s lives.”
And with the awarded work, it was pretty evident that experience over
technology is the new standard. The days of using new technology just to use
it are over. Instead, agencies and brands are now using that technology in
a natural way that provides a real value to consumers. If you’re not thinking
about the consumer experience, you’re out of the game.
FOUR

7. VOICE IS
THE PACKAGING
OF THE FUTURE
By 2020, we will be more likely to speak our keywords rather than type them
when searching online. The rising popularity of voice assistants makes voice one
of the most overlooked brand-building tools available. Customers like voice for
its speed, accuracy, and natural feel. With the right tone, the right accent, and a
brand-aligned strategy, brands can create a deep emotional bond through voice.
During “The Tongue Paints What Eyes Can’t See: Power of Voice,” Verra
Budimlija, Chief Strategy Officer of Wavemaker, and Thom Noble, neuroscientist
and Co-founder of NeuroStrata, observed that voices are decoded at a
subconscious level. When tested against a human voice on specific value
associations, synthetic voices lose emotional matchups by 17 to one. And brands
not only need an actual human voice, they need the right one—one that fits a
brand’s desired value associations.
With the growing use of voice assistants and voice devices in connected objects,
marketers will soon be forced to revise their brand books to include the values
and sentiments they want their brand voice to represent…and to design that
voice accordingly.
FIVE

8. TO FEED YOUR
CREATIVE
TODDLER BRAIN,
IGNORE BEST
PRACTICES
Children are born creative but begin to lose this ability through the enforcement
of social norms—we’ve known this for a long time. In trying to prevent toddlers
from hurting themselves despite their creative explorations, we are also teaching
them to avoid risk. As we age, we tend to ignore possibilities, and we become
overtaken by our focus on limits.
Conducting broad competitive reviews and establishing best practices is the
agency equivalent of “adulting” a brand process. By focusing too much on past
successes, dos and don’ts, and the industry’s sacred cows, we are training our
brains to follow rules. Best practices can quickly get in the way of next practices.
At best, studying best practices leads to being slightly better than average.
In order to build brands, we must rediscover an appetite for going beyond better
than average. Children don’t settle for the ordinary; they are constantly striving
for the magical and the extraordinary. If we want to bring this vitality to the
brands that we manage and build, we must surround ourselves with people who
are as much in love with the problem as they are with the solution. Solution-
seeking inevitably leads to “aging” and losing the fresher perspective of our
inner creative toddlers.
Robert Wong, VP at Google Creative Lab, closed out his “What Creativity Can
Do” talk by saying that creativity, no doubt, can shape our future: “No one knows
what the future looks like, but if we use our creativity, use our hearts, use our
imaginations, hopefully they will know when we’re done.”
SIX

9. By
Stéphane Mailhiot
SVP and Head of Strategy, Havas Montréal
Natasha Smith
Strategic Communications Manager, Havas Group
Sami Viitamaki
Executive Creative Director, Digital, Havas New York