Five Reasons I Love Cannes Lions: Simon White, Chief Strategy Officer, FCB Inferno

No, much better to stay home and gripe about it instead.

I hated the air kissing, over priced Rose, rampant egos, opulent excess when people are being laid off, the hob-knobbing, and people thinking they’re rock stars just for having made an ad.

Never having been didn’t stop me making envious assumptions.

And then, eventually, I got invited. Amazingly I got over my high-minded principles almost immediately and threw myself into it.

So how did it compare to my expectations? Both better and worse.

But let’s focus on the good, because that’s what I’ve been asked about. So to justify my complete U-turn here’s five reasons I keep going back:

1) You get to catch-up with tons of people you’ve been meaning to for ages but never get round to. Walking along the Croisette has the surreal experience of being on holiday whilst continuously bumping into people you know. I realise this isn’t the best business reason to justify the expense, so for my CFO, that also means clients, current and previous, who might be future clients.

2) And so onto clients. I think it’s great that around a quarter of delegates are now clients. I’ve heard discontented grumbling that it’s changed the festival, but I’ve found it hugely beneficial for clients to immerse themselves in the best advertising in the world. Ambition is the key ingredient to great work, and Cannes is brilliant at raising ambition.

3) Right, this one is geeky. There are brilliant talks every day. Many never make it into the auditorium to hear them but I lap them up. CEO’s and CMO’s, pop icons, film stars, leading academics in various fields share the latest thinking. Admittedly, they’re a bit hit and miss with too many feeling like a sales pitch or that someone booked space before checking they actually had something interesting to say. But, there are brilliant talks too. Humberto Polar, CCO of FCB Peru told me how on returning from sabbatical he went to Cannes and did nothing but go to talks, then based on what he learnt he returned the following year to collect 4 Golds and a Bronze. So it’s not just for geeks.

4) Obviously the awards themselves. I used to be wary of them because I worried we’d be put under pressure to win awards rather than do what was right for our client. I’ve now completely changed my view. Firstly, there is a proven correlation between awards and business effectiveness. Winning awards is tough, it takes genuinely original standout work that engages and gets talked about. Finding something genuinely original is tough, and getting tougher all the time. So if the awards motivate the industry to keep on searching rather than falling back on tired formulas, then I’m all for them.

And seeing outstanding work keeps me motivated. Being involved in great work gives you a dangerously addictive high, and seeking the next one is what keeps us going through long hours and pressure. Seeing someone else’s inspirational work is a substitute hit, clearly not as good, but it keeps you interested and searching.

5) Finally, the gutter bar in the early hours. For all the glamour and excess it’s all we really want. It serves beer and the queues are shorter. What’s not to love?