Last week Strat House spent the week at the Cannes Festival, hosted by the excellent Pumpkin PR Agency. Here are the highlights of our week.

In The House

Innovations and initiatives from Strat House clients and partners.

• Unilever helping women farmers to grow pineapples and their incomes
• Adidas takes on Samsung’s controversial ‘Night Owls’ ad in women’s safety campaign
• Unilever Study Reveals Influence of Influencers in Sustainable Behavior Change
• Dove are standing up for #KidsOnlineSafety
• Gong cha named best food & drink franchise at the 2023 Global Franchise Awards
• Find out why LinkedIn And Dove Are In It Together To Help End Hair Discrimination

Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity

Co-founder, Melanie Welsh

This was my third Cannes, so I knew to bring flat shoes and to pace myself, especially because we had so much planned. (I always think Cannes is a bit like a ski trip: the temptation is to go crazy on the first night because it’s so lovely to have arrived and you’re excited about the week ahead. Sadly, I’m too old for that to be viable 😟).

What differed for 2022 was the energy: it was intense. This was the most vibrant Cannes I’ve experienced (despite the rain). Undoubtedly the pent-up demand was a response to the last three years but the end result was a festival where it felt people were even more open to exploring opportunities and to happy coincidences.

As ever, one of the biggest themes was ‘change’: be that in relation to  sustainability, diversity and equality or to the creative process itself. What felt jarring however was that, whilst progress is undoubtedly sought by many (hence the discussions), nevertheless it was noticeable that a significant proportion of really quite senior, experienced and presumably well-researched people still appear to feel they must be convinced of the need for change. Yes, I get that we’re  all running businesses but evidence of the necessity is comprehensive and freely available …it just feels a bit of a shame that our wonderfully creative and inventive industry is not wholeheartedly leading the charge, to inspire others. I’m hoping for more change; further-reaching, more meaningful and more rapidly enacted over the next year. Why wait for the next festival?

Co-Founder, Rachel Clarke

Did Cannes meet my expectations?  Yes, very much so. We’d prepared well, setting up the relevant meetings, including first face-to-face sessions with clients we’d spent the last few years working remotely with.  It was similar to SXSW in a way – the central official conference surrounded by many side events, connected by lots of walking. The same approach was needed, be choiceful in what you were trying to see, wear comfortable shoes and drink lots of water. So my highlights?

• The 7am runs along the Croisette. Definitely wakes you up for the day!

• The Equality Lounge run by The Female Quotient Great space, great talks. Spent time there most days just connecting with amazing people.

• The random conversations with people you wouldn’t normally get to meet.

But most important was spending time with “the work”. I tried to make sure I spent time every day dipping into the case studies and looking for great examples. Being back at the desk reduces the time available for that.  There was a clear trend – as Ben Kay wrote this week –  where activities and initiatives that had purpose, were trying to change the world, were consistent winners, rather than activities that directly sold the product. We know that almost everything is PR and these winners confirmed it.

Strategy Partner, Victoria Herrick

Cannes is fabulous for discovery and learning.  If all classrooms were like Cannes I’d have done better at School.  It’s an absolute privilege to be able to access such a diverse spread of know-how from brilliant  niche experts through to A-list celebrity. There is something very warm and generous about the Cannes experience.  

I picked up on a  recurring theme of re-writing and reinvention, from the reinvention of  online experience, through to the rules of work and finally the very existence of the traditional ad industry model.  

I stepped into the metaverse courtesy of the Meta where I re- discovered how uncomfortable it is when you don’t quite fit in.  From the awkwardness  of having to admit that I couldn’t see anything because I wear super high strength varifocal contact lenses, to my complete inability to shoot a basketball, or fist bump an avatar – it was like being back in Year 9 at school.  Awkward, humiliating and something I was keen to flee from. It felt as if the metaverse was being constructed by the school PE teachers and the bullies. We’ll need to watch that one. 

Strategy Director, Helen Spencer

Having only encountered Cannes previously through case studies I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was hit by the scale, energy and a slight sense of the surreal being there. It was wonderful being in a space where everyone is open to learn, talk and explore.

My highlights:

• It was the longest time I’ve spent with some of the team in a few years! Great to have the time to chat, digest what we had seen and practice our queuing skills together.

• The phrase “Data is the language of business. Stories are the language of people” has stuck with me. It was in reference to the value of long term research with individual people for YouTube. You have to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes for good product design, but this is hampered when you’re looking at quant averages. The Equality Lounge, “Highlighting the Lived Experience: How Reaching Billions Is About Reaching One”.

• Testing out Meta’s AR experiences and how easy it is through integration with IG filters to develop deeper experiences.

• Seeing Greenpeace in action. An important reminder that everything is not fine and although purpose was very much on the agenda, we need to push to do more.