Day 6-Friday, June 24th
The last day of the festival was nothing short of incredible!
10:30 am: IKEA's Instruction Manual on How to Assemble a Global Circularity Movement
IKEA & Accenture Song Nordic
This talk was given by Adam Kerj, Chief Creative Officer for Accenture Song Nordic, and Anne Krogh, Chief Marketing Officer for IKEA DK. The talk was centered around their sustainability campaign in which IKEA customers could sell back their old IKEA furniture instead of throwing it out. The idea was really cool because it benefited both parties and created, as was their goal, a circular model for IKEA furniture. Another fun part of this talk was that they actually gave out vintage IKEA items displayed on the stage at the end. Unfortunately, none of us went home with a new side table or chair, but we did get a lot of valuable insight on creating a sustainable campaign.
11:30 am: Unleashing the New Logic of Creativity
VIRTUE Worldwide & Logitech
This talk was given by Chris Garbutt, Chief Creative Officer and Co-President of VIRTUE Worldwide, Najoh Tita-Reid, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Logitech, Shannon Miller, Creative and Inclusion Editor of Adweek, and Bretman Rock, content creator. I've been seeing Bretman Rock online for many years, and have always admired his spunky personality and how he truly seems to not care about what others think whatsoever. He is amazing at makeup and is notorious for his flawless hair (which he kept apologizing for, saying it was "flat" when it was literally 200x more voluminous than I could ever get mine to be...). The Logitech people focused on how the world of advertising is changing, and how people like Bretman are the pioneers for the new world of marketing. Old school advertising consisted of major brands with huge budgets working with huge agencies to broadcast on major networks—now, a simple Tiktok of an influencer talking about a product they like could have a bigger impact than this old traditional style. People are over ads—so they must turn to creator-first models. Logitech and Bretman paired up for a series of ads, and they actually just announced that now he has an official position there. Bretman stated that his goal is to create a seat at the table for more lgbtq & minorities. I really respected this as well as his story of being a first generation immigrant from the Phillippines. We got the chance to talk with him after and he was literally so kind and cool!
12: 15 pm: Film Lions Shortlist Screening
Cannes Lions
In between talks I stopped at the Film Lions Shortlist Screening in the Debussy Theatre. Since I enjoyed the Saatchi New Creators Showcase so much, I definitely wanted to check out some of these. I really enjoyed all of them, especially the ones that were clearly from other cultures—it was interesting to gain that perspective on how advertising varies from place to place and inter-culturally.
1:30 pm: Everyone Needs a Seat at the Table
Papel & Caneta
This discussion was held by Cindy Gallop, Founder & CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, Stacie Graham, Global Racial Equity Program Director WPP, Raphaella Martins, Program Manager of Creative X at Meta, and Joana Mendes, President of Clube de Criacao. This discussion was very raw and bold. All of the women speaking were so passionate about the topic, the audience was undeniably fired up. The main topics discussed were the racism and sexism within the industry, which is definitely a taboo topic to be discussing at Cannes Lions. They talked about the "Dear Simon" letter, which is a letter to the CEO of Cannes Lions asking why there is only one black juror representing Brazil when more than half the Brazilian population is black. The letter is linked here. This was really eye-opening to me. Cindy Gallop gave a fiery statement on the matter, stating over and over that the industry is "blatantly racist as f***". Following her, it was so interesting to hear from Joana Mendes, a black Brazilian woman born and raised in an Amazonian colony. She worked her way up and is now President of a successful non-profit that aims to preserve the creativity in Brazilian advertising. Her story was so inspiring, yet really sad because she was describing the racism she deals with in Brazil on a daily basis. This discussion was so necessary, and I can't believe I hadn't''t heard of the "Dear Simon" letter beforehand.
2:15 pm: Bold & Undeterred - The NFL is Transforming its Brand
National Football League
The last talk of the week was one of the best ones. It was put on by Kimmi Chex, On air host for NFL Network and NFL Media, Tim Ellis, CMO and EVP of the NFL, Kelvin Beachum, NFL Athlete, board member, advisor, philanthropist of the Arizona Cardinals, Cam Jordan, Player for the New Orleans Saints, and Russell Wilson, Player for the Denver Broncos. I am a HUGE football fan (Shoutout to the Carolina Panthers) and so obviously I was ecstatic to snag a front row seat. This conversation was all about how the NFL is reinventing itself to be more conscientious, empathetic, and socially aware. A few years ago the NFL handled the situation with Colin Kaepernick very poorly, and they have recognized that. They are now working to make the NFL an inclusive place that uses their platform and audience for the right messaging. Additionally, they want the players and the league to be more of allies—in the past, the players and the league have a tough relationship due to fines, contract stuff, etc. Now, the league wants to enable players to be more of their own brand than in the past. One of the most well-spoken athletes I've ever seen was Kelvin Beachum. He was so insightful, authentic, and is extremely active in his community and making himself more than just a football player. While the other athletes just came for the talk, Kelvin actually had been in the South of France for a week networking and learning about business. I thought this was really admirable and that he truly just seemed like a great guy. This conversation was so cool to witness and it really seems like a huge year as a turning point for the NFL. I even got to talk to Russell Wilson after it ended and actually later saw myself on his Instagram story lol. Overall such an amazing discussion and gave me utmost respect for all of the players.
