A Tale of Two Cannes

It’s been just over a week since I returned from Cannes, and now the haze is clearing (I wish I could say it was a party haze, but those days are long behind me, thank you C19), an overall impression is starting to form.?

Something struck me about half-way through the week, (the day it started raining if you can believe it):? this year the divide between the two Cannes – i.e. what happens in the Palais ?and everything 'off broadway', was starker than ever.?

Down on la Croisette it was kind of a media circus. To be fair, I love the media and I love circuses, but together at Cannes, where we were supposed to be celebrating the best of the world’s creativity, it felt a bit overdone.?

To see a melting pot of people that are more interested in coming to Cannes for the beers and bonjours than to seek out award-winning work in the Palais felt a little disappointing.?

This trend was already happening a few years back but got even more visible this year. I think that is a pity, because the essence of Cannes should be about celebrating the best work in the world.

Then there's the other Cannes. The one we came here for: to drown ourselves in the kind of brilliant work that meets that elusive Cannes Lions award benchmark.?

Likewise, purpose-driven work was already a big thing in the before-times has only become stronger. It's a great sign that we have turned the corner in reflecting these powerful conversations in the work we do.?

I did get a sense that what happened in the Palais doesn’t affect many people that were in town for the week. I remember back in the day it was different.?

But before you know it I sound like an old advertising guy and I don’t want that.?

So to make sure that others go into the Palais and get to experience the Cannes we remember, and the Cannes that began it all, my message is that it's critical to ensure young creatives get to witness first hand what award-winning work looks like. And then try and better it next time a similar brief comes across their desk.?

Together with RAW, we were able to get two young creatives with less than 5 years experience to attend this year. Next to that three other young creatives won a Jonge Honden pitch and also got some tickets to enter the Palais. So while I had lunch meetings they absorbed the talks and the work - the perfect mix of conversation, inspiration and perspiration - the way Cannes should always be.