Calculating the return on investment of a trip to Cannes is not easy. Rather than look at that, I’d like to ask a few questions that can help those that have decided to attend a trade fair in Cannes, notably how do you get the most from your visit?

Plan for success

At the risk of stating the obvious, the “secret” of success is to plan. But plan for what? And how? This very much depends on what brings you to Cannes and how you define success. Take a second to think of the one big reason you have to attend either Midem or the Film Market (the other events work along similar lines). Let’s say you have a new product you think you can license worldwide. If you are reading this, you are probably a relative newcomer, so what are your realistic expectations?

Nearly everyone you might want to reach will be there. So how do you reach them? How do you then approach them? With what, and with what expectations?

You should know that very few deals are done directly at Midem or the Film Market. Although you are entitled to try, it is far more likely that what you are getting at Cannes is two very simple but precious things: access to interesting people and – hopefully – the permission to keep in contact with them afterwards. That’s it.

Wait, what about my sales figures? I’m not going to Cannes to waltz around the Croisette! Nope, you are going to build partnerships, to find the perfect fit for your product or service in a few if not dozens of territories. You are going to find people that need you in some way. This is not to say you won’t sell stuff – the trade fairs would crumble overnight if that was the case, and some companies report 75% of their annual sales are a direct result of contacts made at the fairs – but you have to focus on connecting with people first.

 

Midem, TFWA and MAPIC offer great networking opportunities

How do I meet the right people in Cannes?

Don’t wait for Cannes to come around to meet the right people. Start as soon as possible. I strongly advise getting one of the early bird event rates for two reasons: you save money (sometimes enough to cover a cheap hotel); and you have a head start in mining the database. Again, with your new product, you go looking for licensors. First, pick off the big names in territories you know. That part is easy (although getting a reply from them is more difficult). Then comes the time-consuming but fun part: investigating the hundreds of smaller players in each region. This could well be where your business comes from.

Why? Because these people are usually more open to deals. There are far more of them. They are less courted and might have more time for you. Check their profiles completely. Visit their website. Check every angle of their work. What other activities are they involved in? Google/Bing/EntireWeb them. Have they sent out press releases recently? What does that tell you about them? Is there  something else you can suggest them? Think wide.

Offer more to stay in the game

Although some companies can afford to attend Cannes with one hot product, I strongly advise against it. There is  nothing more gutting than to realise after the first three meetings that your product is totally dead in the water for whatever reason and you have three more days of spending money to look forward to. If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know the people you are meeting are also active in character licensing, physical distribution, packaging, music supervision or whatever. Move the subject in that direction and hit them with the back-up plan. Rep someone else, if necessary. Mention your next upcoming project (if it is notably different from the one you did not impress them with right now). It could pay for the trip and more.

And when all else fails…

Never let yourself feel down when all else fails – there’s time enough for that in the plane going home. Analyse what people are telling you. Look for new angles. How could your idea be re-packaged? And in your time off, attend the conferences, they are a source of great ideas and also offer great networking opportunities. Read the dailies and determine to try and meet at least one company mentioned in them per day (I have a trick for that, more of which later).

And lastly, I strongly recommend doing what only about 15% of people do properly: follow up every contact 10 days later and see who is still open to some sort of business situation. Remember also that your Cannes event is usually about five days. The database, however, is open for 12 months. Armed with your new knowledge, you can develop products that fit what you learnt and can then go find exactly the right person to contact in each territory. The fact that you did not make a sale this time does not mean you never will – on the contrary. A slap in the face is often  a great stimulus for business. You are now armed with greater insights and access to the people that can make them work.

I’d really love to get some debate going. So feel free to make comments ask questions (below). I deal with specific aspects of travelling to Cannes on the rest of the site. Keep up to date using the RSS feed, follow me on Twitter or why not get Cannes news straight to your mailbox. I cover Cannes, music and movie biz news.

Michael Leahy

Photo © 2009 Kjetil Ree, some rights reserved.

While the financial quasi-meltdown caught most people by surprise, it was not news for Nouriel Roubini. He is one of the few analysts to have foreseen the problem. He will be addressing Mipim on Thursday, March 10 2011 to assess the global economics outlook and its impact on real estate.

Roubini is the co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an economic and geo-strategic information service and consultancy hailed by Business Week, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and The Economist. He is also a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Dr. Roubini has extensive policy experience as well as broad academic credentials. From 1998-2000, he served as the Senior Economist for International Affairs at the White House Council of Economic Advisors and then the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department, helping to resolve the Asian and global financial crises among other issues. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and numerous other prominent public and private institutions have drawn upon his consulting expertise.

Roubini has published over 70 theoretical empirical and policy papers on international macroeconomic issues and co-authored the books “Political Cycles: Theory and Evidence” (M.I.T. Press, 1997) and “Bailouts or Bail-ins, Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Markets” (Institute for International Economics, 2004), and Crisis Economics – A Crash Course in the Future of Finance (Penguin Press, 2010). Dr. Roubini’s views on global economics issues are widely cited by the media, and he is a frequent commentator on various business news programs.  The Financial Times has also provided extensive coverage of Dr. Roubini’s viewpoints.
Dr. Roubini received an undergraduate degree at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University. Prior to joining Stern, he was on the faculty of Yale University’s department of economics.

Interest in his talk will be high, reflected in the fact that he will be addressing the main hall in the Palais des Festivals.

This is the theme developed by The Write Stuff & Consorcom, who have worked on 6 MIDEM campaigns, as well as several for MIPTV and MIPCOM over the years. The company has also worked for EAS in Amsterdam as well as developing the names for Amazia in Hong Kong and MIPIM Horizons. A little disclosure is in order as the same company runs Cannes or Bust!

To see more of their work, visit The Write Stuff.

Many of these debates will spill over in real time through Twitter and the blogs. On this point, it’s interesting to note how enthusiastically the UK property sector has adopted Twitter. Follow the Tweets. The backstage photo is from David Lisnard, taken from his office at the back of the Palais this morning.

I’ve always known people who attend Cannes fairs without paying the entrance fee. I can remember seeing Freddy Cousaert (who got Marvin Gaye back into the record business) holding court from a kerbside table, calling over passing acquaintences to do business. Organisers Reed Midem exert quite an influence on the town and during the Cannes film festival, people without a badge cannot enter many of the major hotels. They take these things seriously in this town.

Squatting a restaurant looked like a great idea. But I doubt they will be trying it again any time soon. There’s a clear  line between entertaining people outside the Palais and riding piggyback on a major event. If you’re attending Cannes and want to organise something like this, my tip is to play safe and take passes to the event in addition to entertaining in the café/restaurant/club. The key point seems to be that they were not even registered with MIPIM, and were therefore perceived to be leeching the event. Drivers Jonas is considering an appeal.

Specifically, the market was taking courage from the fact that German banks have started lending again – at high rates and very selectively – but money is circulating. Companies benefiting from stronger currencies were in a good position to avail of the new opportunities, such as London’s City district.

A quick look at the hotel bookings in Cannes shows that there are still rooms available close to town.

On its site, Mipim points out that a downturn in property value offers better opportunities for investors. It also highlights a number of interesting projects in Shanghai, Paris, Duisburg and Cologne.

A quick look at a few hotels, gave prices from €455 (Hotel Thomas) to €5200 (Villa Garbo – much closer, much nicer) for four nights. As ever, the best value is outside town in La Bocca, with the Residhotel Cannes Festival posting rates of €472. All prices are single, with only a few rooms left per hotel.

To check availability, check Cannes hotels for Mipim.

Last year, an amazing 10% of participants were from Russia. MIPIM will be held March 10-13, 2009.