June 20, 2018—Your calm will be put to the test today, Leo. Try not to fall into this trap. You should try to show people that you’re a thoughtful person and your past experiences have given you wisdom. You don’t necessarily have to respond to aggression. However, you shouldn’t forget about your own point of view. Try assert yourself calmly and steadily.
My third day of the Cannes Lions Festival started with a Coca-Cola and a pain au chocolat, waking me up for my first session of the day, Fashion as a Cultural Influence, hosted by Naomi Campbell and Tania Bryer. Naomi Campbell, supermodel, explained how her role in advertising for print and walking in fashion shows has changed to advertising for herself, an influencer. Her whole point of the talk was to exhibit her philanthropic efforts which she has been a part of since the beginning of her career which now associate her brand with being an authentic person. Her whole point was using your platform as a brand with a social cause to create a more authentic, trustworthy, and transparent brand. What I wish Campbell went more into that she barely dusted over was her impact on diversity, specifically in the fashion industry, and how creating diversity in such a monetarily and socially prominent landscape creates a domino effect onto society itself. Her message of how her own brand of herself is specifically philanthropic with all her different involvements, but I did not see how she—as well as the industry—utilized their power for the betterment of social issues such as diversity, poverty, lack of education, and so on. However, I found it interesting that she continued to go back to the importance of using new photographers and modeling for designers before they got famous, to continue to give back to the creative internal society of the fashion world.
After this session, I had an incredible and random run-in with a woman from Ascential, the company that helps put on the Cannes Lions Festival, while waiting in the Lumiére stage. We bonded over fashion, and at the end of the conversation, she revealed her position and willing Linked with me on LinkedIn. Needless to say, I did not think my day could have gotten better. However, the next talk I went to, Reimagining the Retail Experience, hosted by
Apple was the most intriguing talk I have been to thus far. Angela Ahrendts, the SVP of Retail at Apple, described Today at Apple which is Apple’s initiative in stores to create a “Town Hall Experience” where it is the apex point of a city and people can come and learn and be inspired there. She points this new retail idea as an direct reaction of Steve Job’s emphasis on the Geniuses in stores to not be able to sell, rather enrich lives. Apple is now moving their quantitative measurements to measurements of how well they enrich lives of others. This is something I wish Ahrendts went into more detail with because how do you quantify a purely qualitative measure of data? However, I think her insight into the idea that “retail is dying” was one of incredible logic. She recognized that digital is growing and 75% of shoppingis done online, but 75% of the buyingis still in stores. What I think is incredible is how Apple is creating a seemingly experiential experience in a native environment, creating a subliminal intrigue to these Apple stores. My only critique on this almost perfect session was that I wish Ahrendts had gone more into all the creative opportunities that Apple is using these new retail stores for outreach. What kind of classes are being taught and how do these classes and facilitations help with the brand of Apple?
Apple was the most intriguing talk I have been to thus far. Angela Ahrendts, the SVP of Retail at Apple, described Today at Apple which is Apple’s initiative in stores to create a “Town Hall Experience” where it is the apex point of a city and people can come and learn and be inspired there. She points this new retail idea as an direct reaction of Steve Job’s emphasis on the Geniuses in stores to not be able to sell, rather enrich lives. Apple is now moving their quantitative measurements to measurements of how well they enrich lives of others. This is something I wish Ahrendts went into more detail with because how do you quantify a purely qualitative measure of data? However, I think her insight into the idea that “retail is dying” was one of incredible logic. She recognized that digital is growing and 75% of shoppingis done online, but 75% of the buyingis still in stores. What I think is incredible is how Apple is creating a seemingly experiential experience in a native environment, creating a subliminal intrigue to these Apple stores. My only critique on this almost perfect session was that I wish Ahrendts had gone more into all the creative opportunities that Apple is using these new retail stores for outreach. What kind of classes are being taught and how do these classes and facilitations help with the brand of Apple?
My next session I went to was Finding Film in Fact, Fiction, and Feeling, hosted by Pulse Films, which was an incredible session from a non-advertising perspective, but I was even more inspired by the next session I went to: Conan and Shaq—Jacks of All Trades, Masters of Some, hosted by Turner. Honestly, Shaq did not add much to the conversation of how he views his own brand and expands it, but Conan had some great insights from personal conversation. Although he is a comedian first and foremost, he has to act as a kind of influencer and person of substantial social persuasion in order to stay relevant. He talked about his personal experiences of incorporating movies like Get Hard 2 into his “driving instructor” bit as well as his travel pieces of learning about different cultures with a humorous spin on it. Something I was still left wondering was how Conan and his team chooses certain brand and entertainment promotions and how they know they are right for the “Conan” brand. I also would love to know how much of the content that goes on Conan’s different social media platforms is prompted by endorsements or brands, just to see how well Conan’s brand creates these subliminal promotions.
The last session I went to was called Johnny Marr: A Life in Music, hosted by ATC Management. This whole session was based on how Marr, former guitarist of The Smiths and Modest Mouse, uses his creativity to make his art. What I found most interesting from this session is what he defined as “good” in any creative field. Using Hey Ya! by OutKast as an example, he said that although the song lacks in emotion and great content, it still makes you feel something, which makes it great. I found this impactful because advertising is the same way. Although much of the winning advertisements that we see are rooted in making a heartfelt or heart-wrenching creation, some of them are great because the audience was entertained and laughed. On the other hand, I wish Marr had gone more into how he has built his and maintained his own brand and identity aside from his connection to the bands he has been a part of. Also, he put much emphasis on how he was still unsure how he tries to not define his brand, as a way to keep his audience wide, which I just did not agree with his logic. I think in order to have a true brand, stances have to be taken to maintain and engage an audience long-term.
Finally, my day ended in the most random yet magical way. I was eyeing the food I had just received from CNN, and a woman across from the bar asked me if it was any good and a conversation spurred. She asked me about my goals in advertising, and I told her my “dream dream” is doing in-house advertising in strategy for a fashion brand, in which she, in return, revealed to me that she is a digital strategist for Burberry. Then, I went to the awards ceremony and got to see incredible talent, and strut on the red carpet (where the Leo, center of attention part of me thrived). All I can say is Cannes is a magical, unreal place that is actually an augmented reality, and we are all playing a part in the simulation.
good thanks,.
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