I arrived in Cannes for the 56th International Advertising Festival being held here from 21-27 June, 2009. (www.canneslions.com). I arrived a day before the beginning of the festival. An early arrival gave a good half day to get settled in to my hotel and check out the local sights and sounds. My hotel, a small boutique called 3.14 is just off the Marina and a 10 minute walk to the festival venue, Palais des festivals, on the Croisette, one of the prettiest Marinas that I have seen. This will certainly be a place to come for a vacation with the family.
I decided to walk to the venue and to register. Very smoothly done in 5 minutes and I got this bag full of goodies and promotional material of almost anybody who was somebody and holding a session in the festival. Most of it was ‘mark the date and time’ to ensure you didn’t get lost in the range of seminars, workshops, master classes, screenings, etc., etc. All very nicely done but not very useful for me as I had already marked the sessions that I wanted to attend! The programmes and venues are all available online (http://www.canneslions.com/festival/schedule.cfm)
However, what grabbed my attention was a book in the delegate back titled “The Fall of PR & The Rise of Advertising” by Stefan Engeseth. Being a Public Relations professional it grabbed my attention. According to the author, this was his response to Al Ries’ book written half a decade earlier “The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR”. The author argues that PR has lost credibility and failed to live up to its potential. This is the book in brief.
I am yet to read beyond this but to me it seemed ironical that the festival was introducing its first ever PR Lion and yet delegates were getting a book on its fall! Seems that at one hand public relations is finding its place in the mix but on the other it is propounding its fall! A contradiction in itself but as AL RIES in his note to Stefan says, “Controversy is what build the brand. The more controversy, the better”! Public Relations is still a small minority!! A very interesting introduction to the festival. It certainly whet my appetite and I am looking forward to more over the next few days.
A bit on the festival. One look at the agenda and its seems to have only one USP : Digital, Digital and more Digital! That’s the impression, I get. Yes, the festival also has discussions and debates on creativity, future of the agency, business, recession, climate change, and more - all things that would pre-occupy the minds of the advertising fraternity. Group Chief Executive of WPP Sir, Martin Sorrel will be moderating a debate on the future of the agency on 26th June. However, the over arching theme seems to be around the digital imperative. Clearly the stakes are high as both the mediums (Google, facebook and many more) and the intermediaries (advertising agencies, media investment firms and a few more) look to grab not only the mind share of the marketer but also a significant share of their wallet. A look at the line up will tell you why I feel this way: Chairman and CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft are amongst the big guns of the digita0
Tags: 56th cannes advertising festival, advertising festival, Brand Communication, cannes, cannes international advertising festival, cannes lion, cannes lions, Corporate Communication, international advertising festival, PR Lions, Public Relations
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Rahul Mishra
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ash
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Richa Dwivedi
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Arcopol
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Mohan Vijayan
