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What’s The Carbon Footprint on This Back Slap?

This year, total entries at this Cannes International Advertising Festival grew 10.2% to more than 28,000. Every category is up, and the new design Lions attracted about twice as many entries as expected — 1,126 — so the festival had to scramble to add more judges to the jury.
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Americans aren’t deterred by the weak dollar that has pushed delegate fees above $3,000 and room rates at the beachfront hotels such as the Majestic and Carlton to close to $500 a night. It’s estimated up to 800 of this year’s 9,000 or so attendees will be from the U.S., up from almost 700 last year.
Apart from the beach, the ads and the parties, Cannes has evolved into a major business opportunity. That’s why the company that sends the most people to Cannes isn’t an agency like TBWA (175 festival goers) but Microsoft (which won’t give a number but is believed to be sending at least 300).
[via Ad Age]

About David Burn

David Burn is the co-founder, editor, and publisher of Adpulp.com. David joined the ad agency business in 1997 as a copywriter and then worked for seven agencies in five states prior to launching Bonehook in 2010. Today, David is a writer, brand strategist, and leader of creative teams in Austin, TX.

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  1. David Burn says

    Adweek is running an interesting piece on Cannes, wherein we learn that Avenue A/Razorfish, after downplaying the significance of Cannes for years, is coming this year with a 25-person contingent.

    CEO Clark Kokich, who had pooh-poohed the importance of Cannes in the past, said it is now more relevant to the agency as it expands in Europe and looks to build its creative chops well beyond user experience.
    “I wouldn’t send all these people to Europe to go to parties, shake hands and have a good time,” he said. “We think strategically it’s important, given the rising importance of creativity in building imaginative experiences and the leading position of Europe in the agency. It sends a signal to our people and clients and the market we’re committed to our creative product and to Europe.”

    Imaginative experiences, a.k.a. stories. And to become great storytellers one needs to back away from the computer screen and live it up a bit.

  2. David Burn says

    Mark Tutssel, CCO of Leo Burnett and president of the Titanium & Integrated jury at Cannes, says, “Advertising shows have been, and will remain, a barometer of the health of our industry. More importantly, they serve as a compass for the industry to follow into the future.”
    I couldn’t disagree more with those sentiments.

  3. Carl LaFong says

    “To become great storytellers one needs to back away from the computer screen and live it up a bit.” Very true. But is socializing with other advertising professionals in a hermetically sealed conclave the best way to expose oneself to the full range of influences and emotions needed to produce “imaginative experiences?” How does rubbing shoulders with fellow ad execs and creative directors give you the kind of insight to communicate on a meaningful level with, say, a housewife in Des Moines or a retiree in Duluth?
    With these kind of incestuous industry gatherings, it’s no wonder that much of even the best work these days seems so similar, so derivative.