Cannes Lions Tuesday Key Points: Google uses creativity to bring impossible ideas to life, why the future is a multiplayer game and China's cross-media story-telling
Today at the Cannes Lion Awards 2013, Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots Google took to the stage for the seminar – Taking Moonshots, Telling Stories - The focus of the presentation was on using creativity to bring impossible ideas like self-driving cars and Google Glass to life.
Teller said: “In our lifetime we will have factories for ideas in the same way we have factories for products.
“Storytelling is not the wrapping and the bow that goes around a change-the-world invention – it is the foundation around which the invention can be built.”
Around noon, Facebook’s seminar - Creativity at Scale - revealed that Silicon Valley and Madison Avenue values creativity, and the employees do their utmost to learn from each other.
Speaker David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5, said: “Creativity at scale is a process not a product.
“It doesn't matter if the client loves it [a product] and if we love it. It only matters if people love it.”
Somewhat ‘out there’ was PHD and Jane McGonigal’s seminar - The Future is a Massively Multiplayer Game - which asserted that by 2015, 50 per cent of organisations that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes, and that by 2014, more than 70 per cent of global organisations will have at least one gamified application.
Game designer and author, Jane McGonigal said: “Reality is stuck in the present. Games help us imagine and invent the future together.
“Kids who play video games are more creative, even if they play violent or scary games.”
Lastly, Proximity’s seminar - How to Reach a Billion Eyeballs- showcased the sophistication of China’s cross-media story-telling. Alexie Orlov, chief marketing officer of Volkswagen Group China, said: “Is it right that we should say China is a rising empire? No. China is a returning empire. It takes 500 years to understand one percent of China, as a westerner.”
In China, Orlov asserted that 73 per cent of auto sales come from referral from peers and friends. Word of mouth in China is allegedly more prominent than in the west.
Last night the Creative Effectiveness, PR, Direct, Promo and Activations Lions were announced. The winners included:
Creative Effectiveness Lions: Dutch Firm Wieden and Kennedy Amsterdam picked up the Grand Prix, for its Heineken International campaign. Adam & Eve DDB London/Manning Gottlieb OMD London won for their joint John Lewis campaign and Grey London won with their British Heart Foundation campaign.
PR Lions and Direct Lions: Australian agency McCann Melbourne has won two Grand prix for its train safety campaign ‘Dumb Ways to Die’, created for Metro Train in Victoria. The campaign’s music video received over 20 million YouTube views and the song charted on iTunes in 28 countries.
Promo and Activation Lion: Brazilian Football club, Sport Club Recife picked up the Grand Prix for encouraging organ donation during a major football tie. This resulted in over 51,000 donor cards being issued and an increase of organ donation in the region by 54 percent. Additionally, the waiting list for heart and corneal transplants was reduced to zero.
The Shortlists for Innovation, Media, Mobile, Cyber, Design and Radio Lions have now been announced. The shortlists include:
Innovation Lions: Four UK entries make the shortlist, ‘Tech Ball’ for Standard Chartered bank by Sapientnitro London, ‘Nike+ Kinect Training’, for a Nike Xbox 360 title, by AKQA London, ‘Web Lab’ for Google by Google Creative Lab London/Google UK London and finally, ‘The Feed’ for Getty images by R/GA London.
Media Lions: Seventeen UK entries make the shortlist with McDonald’s ‘We All Make The Games’ by OMD UK London for the Olympic Games and ‘Mariachi Christmas’ for Doritos, again by OMD UK London are among the entrants.
Mobile Lions: Six UK entries have make the shortlist: ‘Super Sync Sports’ by Google UK London, ‘A New Breed of Website for a New Breed of Agency’ by Nimbletank London, ‘Get Cash’ for RBS by Sapientnitro London, ‘Calvin Harris 18 Months’ for Columbia Records by We Make Awesome Sh, ‘BHF – Mini Vinnie’ for The British Heart Foundation by Grey London and ‘The Singing Alphabet’ for The Ministry of Letters by Mother London.
Cyber Lions: Twenty two UK entries make the shortlist with both Google’s ‘Web Lab’ and ‘Jam with Chrome’ among the entries.
Design Lions: Twenty UK entries make the shortlist with Google’s ‘Web Lab’ making yet another appearance.
Radio Lions: Nineteen UK entries make the shortlist with many entrants from Unilever, including Dove’s ‘Big Smacking Kiss’ and several Wall’s Ice Cream adverts.
Media, Mobile, Innovation and Outdoor Lions and another set of Cannes Chimera winners and the Media Agency of the Year will be revealed tonight.