Cannes or Bust » Cannes Lions

Germanwings wins Cannes award with cheeky ad

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:35:27 +0000

German low-cost airline Germanwings won an award at the 2010 Cannes Lions advertising festival with a cheeky guerilla marketing clip that shows comments supposedly being made on the rival airline Easyjet. It’s a cheeky but brilliant idea that is very simple and very effective.

Germanwings fly to many airports in Germany and Greece from Nice airport.

Last-minute hotel deals for Cannes Lions 2010

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:31:36 +0000

The countdown really is on, and with figures up on last year, accommodation has become an issue again. But we have a selection of hotels – from the insanely expensive to cheap and (hopefully) cheerful.

Inside Cannes itself, there is still room at the 5-star Palais Stéphanie (renovated only recently). You’re on the Croisette in total luxury, so expect to pay for that. There’s also a cheap new arrival, the Cannes Gallia. Great prices, but if I read the reviews properly, you’d be well advised to bring ear plugs (which if you think of it, are cheaper than staying at the Stéphanie).

Just outside town, the Avangani Resort is about a 20 minute-walk from the Palais. Walk along the seafront, it’s very invigorating in the morning. There are also regular buses for just €1.

To see the selection, visit our booking engine.

For groups, you might be better served in an apartment. Drop a message below and I’ll get back to you with ideas.

Who is creating and delivering new content?

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:00:17 +0000

Jimmy Maymann, appearing at Cannes Lions 2010

Although it only has a short slot in the seminar programme, our Cannes Lions tip is to put the Go Viral talk on your agenda. The internet puts existing business models on the rack. The newspaper and music businesses in particular have suffered. This seminar explains why the advertising industry could be the next.

Endemol and Simon Cowell have reinvented the music industry by turning it into entertainment. The same is happening in advertising. With the 30-second spot under threat, what options do desperate advertisers have to reach their audience? Online content like Endemol’s Sony-sponsored KateModern, Red Bull’s branded entertainment and Apple product ‘how-to-videos’ are what engage consumers today. The focus has shifted away from ‘me’ on to ‘you’ – the consumer.

The Big Question is who is the best at creating and delivering this content? Advertising agencies? Media agencies? Interactive agencies? Production companies? Hollywood is again the king of audiovisual engagement. It is already creating 360-degree launches for its major blockbuster productions – Avatar being the latest example of this.

Come and learn from them and other branded content innovators about the ‘marketing play-book’ in order to be ready to face the new consumer reality. Jimmy Maymann, chairman of Go Viral, and Daniel Goodall, planning manager at Nokia, will be on stage.

MassiveMusic celebrates 10th anniversary at Cannes Lions

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:17:51 +0000

In the summer of 2000, MassiveMusic heralded its birth with a party on a beach in Cannes during the annual International Advertising Festival, Cannes Lions. On the 23rd of June, MassiveMusic will host its 10th party with clients and friends on that same beach in Cannes.

A lot has happened since 2000. The seed that was planted in Amsterdam, still home to MassiveMusic’s headquarters, started to branch out in 2004 when, again under the starry nights in Cannes: “We had business intercourse with some Americans,” jokes founder and CEO Hans Brouwer. As a result, MassiveMusic NewYork became a fact in 2005. LA quickly followed, opening its doors in 2008 and was soon working on tracks for high-profile clients. A year later, ex-MassiveMusic Amsterdam creative director Diederik van Middelkoop set up a Shanghai studio, becoming the first international music production company in China.

Earlier this year the company reached its ultimate highpoint when they were asked to do the music for Nike’s already famous football campaign ‘Write The Future’. Brouwer: “When we were selected to take part in this advertising saga, we realized this was the perfect crown on our 10 year anniversary.” MassiveMusic, being a music agency, specializes in writing and sourcing music for brands and their advertising campaigns, and for broadcast design and film.

The company chose a 10 year-old guitar virtuoso to star in their Cannes party teaser film. Brouwer: “Working in an industry that is focused on what’s new all the time, becoming 10 might be considered getting old. But when we see kids at the age of 10 master an instrument, we get excited. We thought this was a good way of saying: “Hey, we’re only 10. See what we can do in another 10 years from now.” Some 2,500 people are expected at the party.

MassiveMusic

If you’re on the Croisette, you have to stand out

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:43:16 +0000

I’ve seen some pretty cool delegate bags in Cannes. I’ve also seen some bags that fall apart after a few weeks. But in either case, who wants to walk around town with the same bag as everyone else? Come on, you’ve come this far to melt into the masses? I thought not.

The Cannes or Bust messenger bag ensures you stroll the Croisette with the brightest bag in town. It has a large and a smaller compartment and a discreet Cannes or Bust logo (in American typewriter no less). All this for €23.90 plus shipping. Check it here. Not only does it look good, it’s made for delegates with plenty of room for folders, brochures or – why not – swimming trunks.

Cannes Lions freezes 2010 prices

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:42:02 +0000

Cannes Lions has announced that its prices for 2010 will be frozen at 2009 levels. Like every trade fair, Cannes Lions saw a drop in attendance last year. But there are already questions as to whether a price freeze will be enough to win back participants. When the effects of music “sharing” hit the music industry, Midem froze prices and has continued nonetheless to improve the quantity and quality of conferences and services (MidemNet is included in this year’s event rather than being a separate off-shoot). But even so, numbers fell last year. It wasn’t so much that people didn’t want to come, it was simply that the industries have far less people to send.

The advertising industries is facing similar effects although with a time lag. I’d like to think that a price freeze could turn the situation around, but as a 3-day pass still costs €1,499 (not incl. VAT) I feel there will be many people making a very quick choice. Participants can invite one guest at €300, which is something. But these prices don’t include the costs of entering material for consideration, nor travel and food. I’m still surprised there doesn’t seem to be an early bird rate.

On the positive side, Cannes Lions has teamed up with the Berlin School of Creative Leadership to launch a brand-new venture called The Cannes Creative Leaders Programme, a two-week training initiative taking place in Berlin and Cannes in June for industry executives.

View prices and details on the Cannes Lions site.

Cannes news and tips to your desk

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:44:39 +0000

If you attend Cannes for Midem, Mipim, MipTV or the Cannes Film festival, perhaps you should get the relevant news straight to your desk rather than coming across it by accident on the web. Cannes or Bust runs an occasional newsletter with just that: tips, news, special offers and links to people with bright ideas. If you follow us on Twitter, you know what we’re talking about.

So why get the news straight to your inbox as well ? Because Twitter is the instant media. Instantly there and gone just as fast. You miss things. You might want to get news about the apartments where you set the price (real offer). Or flash ticket sales from airlines. Or the apartment rental company that offered a free pass for every five people (real offer). Or last-minute hotel deals for Midem, MIPIM, MIPCOM or the festival. We don’t sell your address and you can opt-out at any time. The downside? There isn’t one! Sign up below.

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Politics pick up awards at Cannes Lions

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:40:05 +0000

The Zimbabwean billboard

Politics is generally the very last subject that is talked about at Cannes. So I was surprised to find that two political campaigns left Cannes with trophies to put on their mantelpieces. Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign picked up two awards for its combination of new media, door-to-door and grass roots campaigning along with highly tactical use of traditional TV advertising. The campaign picked up a Titanium and an Integrated Lions award. The first goes to campaigns that are “provocative, challenges assumptions and points to a new direction”. The second goes to campaigns that are, well, integrated.

A campaign to boost sales of The Zimbabwean, the newspaper that attacked Robert Mugabe’s regime by using the troubled country’s almost worthless bank notes to make billboard adverts, was awarded a Gold Lion in the Titanium and Integrated Lions category. Created by the South African agency TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris Johannesburg, it also won the grand prix for outdoor advertising. It ran slogans such as “It’s cheaper to print this on money than on paper” (a reference to the country’s chronically devalued currency).

Hotels for Cannes Lions 2009 selling out

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:15:16 +0000

The Cannes Lions has to be one of the most expensive events in Cannes, with the entrance fee of $3500 being the biggest chunk. After also spending to enter some work in one of the categories, it might be an idea to go easy on the hotels. We have good and bad news. First the good news: there are still reasonable deals to be had. The bad news is that it would be best to book your hotel now.

Our advice for people feeling the pinch is obviously to leave the major hotels on the Croisette to people that are not paying their own way. What does that leave you with? Well, the very best deals are to be had in Cannes La Bocca and Golfe Juan/Juan-les-Pins. Both are easy to reach by bus (20 minutes) or train (about 7 minutes!) and have a range of 1-4 star hotels at much better rates.

We recently stayed at Les Strelitzias, a 3-star with large rooms for under €90 for two per night. Admittedly, this was a super-duper budget deal (current rate at just over €100 is still a good deal). Another option is to share with three to four people in the many “résidences”, or self-catering apartments. Most are not exactly luxury. But you’ll be spending all your time in town anyway, so who cares? We’ve stayed at Villa Francia and Cannes Beach (both in La Bocca) and have heard good things about France Résidence (Juan-les-Pins). Check this link for good hotel deals for Cannes Lions.

For specific questions, leave a comment.

Cannes Lions: What are you missing?

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:39:28 +0000

The annual advertising get-together is often portrayed as a gigantic piss-up (excuse my French). But there are nonetheless lots of events there worth a spin. I just checked out the seminar programme here. A few things caught my eye: notably the much-maligned Rupert Murdoch in conversation with Y&R; a talk titled “A day in the life of a mobile phone in Seoul” (I’m presuming there’s more to this than it seems); and a wonderful talk entitled “Don’t create an ad, start a conversation”, signed Nick Moore, EVP, Chief Creative Officer – Wunderman.

I love this idea, but I’m a little wary of the blurb: “The days of the brand monologue are over. Today the consumer is an active participant, passionately engaged in conversations with the brands they love and hate. So today’s ideas have to do more than drive an ad: they have to be capable of reacting in real time to everything the customer says and does.”

That’s nice enough if your audience is passionately engaged. But let’s not forget that the advertising business also relies on generating new traffic and sales. And who has the time and budget to “react in real time to everything”?

Having said that, if I was in town, I’d check this out.