Cannes in Crisis? The Industry Reacts

Jose Papa, MD, Cannes Lion 

"It's important to keep all this in perspective. Publicis have repeatedly stressed their plans only relate to the 2018 Festival. While this story has obviously dominated the trade headlines near the end of the week, we know in the long-term it will be the creative legacy of this year's winning work that becomes the defining story.

Having said that, we are obviously listening to the concerns being voiced and so announced last week that we are in discussion with creative leaders from across the industry to hear their views on the festival so we can continue to improve it. We know our industry is changing rapidly and we want to mirror that change, while remembering that Cannes Lions has creativity at its heart.

 Creativity is what matters most to our audience because it’s a force for good in the world, but also a powerful force for business. We recently worked with McKinsey to prove a direct link between business results and winning Lions, and it's clear why this is the case when you look at the work that’s on display in the Palais each year. There is a huge amount of exceptional creative work being done all over the world and so it's important to us that we preserve the sanctity of the Lion, ensuring that it remains as the ultimate achievement in our industry.

 The festival allows us to award and celebrate that achievement, while giving us all the opportunity to learn new things and make new connections. Ahead of 2018 we will be working with partners such as P&G, Burger King, Unilever, Heineken and AT&T, alongside many representatives from our global community and the city of Cannes, to preserve that while remaining relevant, useful and valuable to our clients."

Anna Carpen, ECD, 18 Feet and Rising

"This year Cannes felt like it entered period of reflection. Most people I spoke to were there to soak up the production company parties and solidify those relationships. The excitement and creative energy was felt across these parties, and it was inspiring to be side by side with the world’s greatest craftspeople.

When you walked up to any building requiring a delegate pass you could feel the energy dissipate. The big barrier for agencies is cost, so it doesn’t surprise me that Publicis want to pump their pounds into something different. From an independent agency point of view this gives us an opportunity.

Great things come out of periods of chaos and it feels like the Lions need shaking up to return to their former glory. The good news is that the creative people that should sit at the heart of the festival are still there, I just hope they are at the centre of any new guise the festival takes."

Patrick Scissons, global CCO, KBS

"I think Cannes Lions has made a significant and successful shift over the past decade to be more than just an advertising show for more than just the agency audience. The inclusion of more clients every year in the program and now even the juries is important because it demonstrates that creativity can be a powerful tool for driving business transformation, not just for winning shiny objects. I applaud them for this. What we are seeing this year is a tipping point on the level of commercialisation of Cannes and where to draw the line.

The people that will be the most impacted by [Publicis' withdrawal from Cannes 2018] are the rising stars of talent that are in the most important development stage of their careers. Awards are a proving ground for their creativity and are key to their profile and career growth. These employees living below the six-figure pay grade are the same individuals that help agencies meet the increasingly competitive blended fee rates that clients are demanding. If you take away the carrots (aka Lions) they are chasing you may also lose them in the process. Time will tell."

Aisling White, festival director, Kinsale Sharks

"From Kinsale’s perspective the Publicis Groupe withdrawal will hurt a little, not so much financially, but we will definitely be poorer by not being able to showcase and reward inspiring work from agencies like Saatchi, BBH, Publicis & Leo Burnett. 

Assuming they continue to produce ‘great work’ that is. To a data-munching accountant obsessed with ROI scores this decision will make sense. However, if you are an agency creative who regularly works late and weekends for the cause, you will be scratching your head working out how to stay motivated. From a productivity angle, I suspect a lot of briefs will be solved before lunchtime! Lets get this straight, it will hardly improve their creative output, it’s about saving money as they have stated. To publicly say "we don’t care" about awards is a risky strategy for any company, especially one that made £1.1 billion profit in 2016. 

From shareholders to clients to staff there will be a lot of people with a vested interest waiting to see how this plays out in the short-term.

With Cannes specifically, it's been clear to many people that Cannes is eye-wateringly expensive and a criminally wasteful piss-up masquerading as an awards show, and supporting it through entries and/or attendance is an increasingly difficult decision to justify. 

My hope is that, at last, agencies will get back to the proverbial garden, and enter work in shows not motivated by profit.  D&AD and The One Show are shining lights. In our own idiosyncratic way, it's what The Kinsale Sharks aims for, too."