Cannes Lions Wednesday Key Points: Conan O'Brien insults the Cannes audience, Diddy discusses being an international brand and Microsoft reveals how the TV will become more personal
Today at the Cannes Lion Awards 2013, the audience were treated to speeches from the likes of Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, international musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, late-night comedian Conan O’Brian and Alan Rusburger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, just to name a few.
Mofilm opened the day with their seminar - Is the Advertising Industry as We Know It Destined for the Same History Pages at the Encyclopaedia? - speaker Jimmy Wales discussed how Wikipedia, a free open source knowledge bank and one of the internet’s most visited sites, arguably banished encyclopaedias to the history books.
On innovation, Wales said: “Great ideas don't just come from creatives anymore...now they can come from anywhere or anyone."
Next up was Time Warner Inc. Presents: What Connects In Comedy featuring Conan O'Brien who drew from decades of comedy experience to impress (and insult) the crowd, he opened with: “Advertisers are scum, they need to be told what to do and when to do it...There are none here I am told.”
O'Brien, who once described himself as a social media luddite now has almost eight million Twitter followers, so he was well suited discussing both comedy and connectivity, he said: “If you're not entertaining, no size of team is going to make you ‘go viral’, technology has changed, but the important things haven't changed.
“You're either funny, or you're not.”
Kicking off at noon was New York-based creative agency Translation’s seminar - Culture as a Creative Catalyst - which featured Diddy who discussed his transformation from artist and musician to an international brand with an array of award winning fragrances, menswear and vodka products to his name.
Diddy said: “My own personal brand is constantly evolving; I could do a better job in terms of managing and sharing with people how my brand has evolved. The polarising aspect of the way I was, what I used to do in the late Nineties, people actually think that I'm that same person.
“As a person you evolve. I'm a really introverted person in an extroverted body, so it's hard for me to share. I don't do a lot of public speaking and sharing my thoughts, but that's something that I feel is important for me to develop.”
“I hate watching ads like most people. Brands need to touch my soul, move me emotionally.”
Next was the Guardian’s seminar - From Soho to Sunset Boulevard: Sir Alan Parker in Conversation with Alan Rusbridger - featuring the duo discussing the narrative behind UK’s creative force through the utilisation of storytelling and striking images.
Speaker, director Alan Parker, admitted early in his career he had no ambition to direct but instead wanted to be in advertising, he said that for an advert to be effective “every moment matters. You can’t waste a second because it’s such a short period of time to communicate.
“The best work is currently being done on TV.”
This was followed by Microsoft’s seminar Beyond the Device: How Entertainment is Becoming More Personal, speaker, Yusuf Mehdi, CVP marketing and strategy for Microsoft said: “The TV experience is going to be a lot more personalized and integrated [in the future], 77 per cent of time watching TV is done while using another device.
Mehdi then used the Xbox One’s integrated Kinect voice recognition to control his television ultimately voiding the need for a remote control.
Last night saw the Innovation, Media, Mobile and Outdoor Lions announced. The winners included:
Innovation Lions: Cinder, an open source software tool, entered by the Barbarian Group New York picked up the Grand Prix for its contribution to media. The free software is widely used in developing mobile apps, music visualizers, and screensavers.
Media Lions: Advert ‘Why Wait Until It Is Too Late’ produced by Dutch firm Ogilvy and Mather Amsterdam for funeral insurance company Dela picked up a Grand Prix for the emotional connection it made with viewers. The campaign boosted Dela website visitors by 66 per cent, and Facebook likes by 96 per cent. The ad offered ordinary people the chance to record messages for loved ones and as a result it captured the imagination of both the Dutch audience and Cannes.
Mobile Lions: The ‘Txtbks’ initiative by Smart Communications picked up the Grand Prix for its work in providing an inexpensive method of using out-dated analogue mobiles as e-readers in developing world schools. Children’s’ school backs were 50 percent lighter than before, saving them the burden of having to carry heavy books and pay for expensive e-readers.
Outdoor Lions: Ogilvy France Paris picked up the Grand Prix for a series of creative billboards. These include rain shelters, benches and ramps that offer physical assistance to citizens while also offering innovative advertising in the urban environment.
Tonight's the night for the Press, Design, Radio and Cyber Lions. YouTube's Salar Kamangar will be honoured with the Media Person of the Year award, and another set of Cannes Chimera winners will receive trophies in recognition of their creative projects for global good