The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity can feel like a parallel universe. Where the work is everything. Where there is an equal mix of competition and admiration with our frenemy agencies. Where the clients are available, inspired, curious and have the head space to talk about what’s next. Where our creatives feel that anything is possible. The challenge is keeping this energy, focus and action-orientated progress going once we all return home.
A month on from the festival is a good time to check into that Cannes universe and see if we are bringing our full potential home. Because of the challenges of the environments that we find ourselves in both externally and internally in real life, too often great creative is restricted by the paralysis of indecision. This is particularly true at the moment, with the world in flux and marketing decisions being tainted by social forum mistrust.
We opened Cannes week with Richard Edelman announcing our new positioning: Act With Certainty. We see that companies and brands must act, not simply communicate. It is our job to support our clients in these decisions. Our theme both on the main Palais stage and in our private CMO brunch was “Fame or Fail? Promoting, Protecting and Entertaining in Untrusted Times.” Our bespoke Edelman Trust Barometer data for Cannes revealed the worrying extent of this mistrust, particularly in social platforms, which is a big challenge given how much marketers rely on the power of social media to engage. The violation of privacy, fake news and hate speech mean that only one in four actually trust it. Ellen Pompeo, uberstar of TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, joined this session, and she spoke passionately and from the heart on the need for total transparency and keeping it authentic. She may be a star made by the system of Hollywood, but she is a woman with a global and environmentally astute view driven by reality, not show business. Interestingly, she is approached by brands often because she is so trusted, courtesy of her leading role in a 13-year-running hit show appearing in 220 countries. That is creative punch! She is the embodiment of what we see at Cannes: impact possible from the intersection of creative, purpose and insight with a good dollop of fame.
At an all-agency meeting we just had in London, updating the troops on Cannes this year, I challenged the teams to think more proactively and not wait for the client brief or the client ask. Where we know the client’s business challenges it should be on us to instigate creative solutions—as long as we can show what we are solving and what success looks like. I have done this several times recently for global clients and they have responded with gratitude, confirmation and a budget!
Together we are creating fresh work that is energetically creative and commercially effective, with earned at its very core. Earned fame has integrity; not paid for but given because it’s deserving. As in any human relationship, we have to continue to show initiative, be passionate and keep that element of surprise. And we need to help the client have reassuring reasons to say “yes,” and not let these untrusting times lead to the paralysis of indecision, thereby diluting the potential impact.
That impact for good is increasingly reliant on brands and corporations — consumers expect it. The world needs it. And we can deliver it. With certainty!
Jackie Cooper is senior advisor, Edelman.