Today kicked off the first day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. I started the day by attending the Young Lions kickoff event where I was given advice on how to get the most out of my week here in Cannes. The President of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity reminded our group that networking is the most important thing for us to do this week, as we are young in our careers. He continued to say that we are surrounded by some of the most creative, successful people in our industry, therefore we should take every opportunity to network and connect with those who are experienced leaders of our industry.
I continued my day by attending other events such as the Visual Diet where the impact of media on mental health was discussed by a panel. The panel expressed how information is visually consumed daily, which impacts the way we see ourselves and the world around us. My favorite thing that was said throughout the event was “you are what you see, not what you eat.” It was an eye opening talk that expressed how as an industry we should start producing realistic content that conveys a positive social message, and examples on how to do so were provided. This was by far my favorite session of the day because it has always been a topic that interests me, and it was comforting that this message was conveyed to creators of future advertisements and campaigns.
Around lunch time, I took the time to explore the grounds of the festival where I was amazed by the art, technology, and diverse group of people I was surrounded by. I enjoyed learning more about some of the companies that are here at the festival as well as the people who are representing the companies.
Later in the afternoon, I attended an event called Why Did We Stop Thinking? This talk emphasized the importance of behavioral science when creating content for consumers. The east framework model consisted of four parts: timely, social, attractive, and easy. Tesa Aragones, Chief Marketing Officer of VSCO, then talked about her company’s methods of marketing, which where simply spending time with their consumers to see how VSCO fits into the consumer’s daily life. The piece of information that stuck out to me during this session was that in order for a company to reach its fullest potential it must commit to listening to its consumers.
Lastly, I attended the sessions Creating a New World of Tiffany and A Circle Big Enough for Us All by Target. Both companies touched on the importance of making their consumers connect emotionally to their brands through advertisements. It was neat to hear the strategies of each company and put faces to such large, well-known brands.
I ended my day by attending the awards show that was focused on health and wellness, healthcare, print and publishing, outdoors, and design. It was very inspiring to see the campaigns and products that won awards, and it was very easy to see why they won. Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is where the future is displayed and imagined. There is creativity in the air and it is so inspiring to be here. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this week holds!
Keeping up with Katherine 