The upcoming 47th International Advertising Festival (June 18-24) in Cannes is shaping up to be the largest ever, both in terms of the number of entries and attendees expected for the event. The creative work of more than 65 countries will be represented.
“The numbers are quite impressive,” said Susan Lilley, U.S. marketing director for the festival and a staffer at Screenvision Cinema Network, the U.S. sponsor of the event. In the Film/TV competition, for instance, entries rose from 4,757 ’99 to 5,757, Lilley said. A total of 1,358 entries have come from the stateside spot community.
The other Cannes Lion competition categories–Press & Poster, Media and Cyber–rose significantly in size as well, most notably the latter, which doubled. Last year, Cyber entries numbered 592, while this year there are 1,048. About one-third of those originated in the U.S. Lilley expects the category to be a noteworthy competition this year, alluding to the boom in interactive advertising. “They’re a lot more sophisticated” compared to years past, she assessed.
The number of Press & Poster entries is also “way up,” according to Lilley, with a total of 9,040 entries, far exceeding last year’s tally of 7,332. U.S. Press & Poster entries number 1,134 as compared to 844 last year.
The race for Media Lions is gaining momentum as well. Now in its second year, the competition’s entry pool rose from 421 in ’99 to 502. One-fifth of those come from the U.S.
Amanda Benfell, press officer for the Cannes Festival, anticipates a record crowd of between 8,000 and 9,000 delegates to descend on the Palais des Festivals–the center of festival operations. While the festival has attracted more than 7,000 members of the international advertising community in recent years, Lilley suggested that the combination of a strong economy, with the fact that, “from an international point of view, a Cannes win can put you on the map,” has resulted in the ad community’s “commitment” to attend the awards shows.
THE JURY
Three jury presidents–two of them representing the U.S.–will preside over this year’s festival. Jack Klues, CEO of Chicago-based Starcom Worldwide, will serve as Media jury president, while Tim Smith, CEO of Red Sky Interactive, San Francisco, will oversee the Cyber jury. The Film/TV jury is headed up by Marcelo Serpa, co-CEO/creative director, Almap/BBDO, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Two Film/TV judges will represent the U.S.: Cheryl Berman, chairman/chief creative director of Leo Burnett USA, Chicago; and Jim Ferguson, president/chief creative officer of Young & Rubicam, New York.
Ferguson said it was “too early” to make predictions about how U.S. entries might fare in the Film/TV competition, but he expects dot-coin advertising to be prevalent. Pointing to one “surprising” trend he’s observed over the past year, Ferguson said, “It seems that the big companies are doing more promotional and retail advertising, while the dot-coins are doing more brand building. You’d think it would be the other way around.”
Regardless of how commercials from online businesses stack up against blue chip advertiser fare, Ferguson added: “I hope it’s a great show and we pick a great winner.”
Additional U.S. jurors include: Media judge Nasreen Madhany, worldwide media director of Ogilvy One, New York, and IBM for Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, New York; Press & Poster judge David Lubars, president/creative director of Fallon McElligott, Minneapolis; and Cyber judges Colleen Stokes, creative director, MarchFirst, San Francisco; and Kathy Biro, president/vice chairman, Digitas, Boston.
SCHEDULE
Kicking off the festival is the Global Online Advertising Forum, a two-day conference (June 19-20) focused on the online advertising business. The forum is co-hosted by the Cannes Fest and New York-based Internet research firm Jupiter Communications. Keynote speakers include Jerry Yang, Chief Yahoo! of Yahoo!; Mark Schar, VP of global I-ventures at Procter & Gamble; Keith Reinhard, chairman and CEO of DDB World–wide (and last year’s Cannes jury president); and David Moore, CEO of New York-headquartered 24/7 Media.
Additionally, several companies from the ad community are hosting seminars during festival week alongside the awards ceremonies. Scheduled for Tuesday (June 20) are the Press & Poster and Cyber awards ceremonies, as well as the Young Creatives competition party. Representing the U.S. in the Young Creatives competition is the team of freelance copywriter Brian Eddelson, and art director Damaso Crespo of Ogilvy One. Scheduled for the following day (June 21), are the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase as well as seminars sponsored by Leo Burnett Co., Chicago; DDB Worldwide; and 24/7 Media Europe, London. The Media Lions awards dinner follows. Thursday (June 22) includes seminars from USA Today; FCB; Euro RSCG; and Industrial Light + Magic Commercial Productions, Los Angeles and San Rafael, Calif. The Film/TV awards show is slated for Saturday (June 24).
Additional information and updates about the Cannes Fest can be found at its official Web site: www.canneslions.com.
Last year’s International Advertising Festival was topped by the Grand Prix-winning “Litany,” a spot for the U.K.’s Independent daily newspaper. The ad was created by London-based Lowe Howard-Spink, and directed by Rob Sanders of Helen Langridge Associates, London. Bicoastal/international Propaganda and its bicoastal/international sister shop Satellite went home with the Palme d’Or. Agency of the Year honors went to DM9DDB, S[tilde{a}]o Paulo, Brazil.
