Today I caught some of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase.
On a cinema screen the size of a football pitch, this effort from Jonathan Higgs looked pretty freakin epic.
#CannesLions
My name is Kat Thomas. My job is to create content. Stuff that will entertain you and stuff that you’ll hopefully want to tell your mates about.
So this is a blog dedicated to content – the good stuff I wish I’d thought of, and the shit stuff that I thank god I didn’t.
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There has been huge excitement in Cannes around the awarding of the PR Lions Grand Prix to NAB’s ‘Break up’ campaign, which without doubt sends a very public signal to the world that Australia can produce work deemed excellent at an international level. Bundaberg Rum’s ‘Watermark’ project was also awarded twice, another outstanding home-grown program.
It took two twelve-hour days for the panel to agree both the shortlist and then select the winners, which came after three days spent reviewing the 500 odd entries from the 890 that made it past the preliminary stage.
The process was long and it was meticulous; it provoked hours of discussion and debate, which was to be anticipated with a room full of fervent PR professionals from all around the world.
Nothing was considered at face value. Debate raged around measurement and evaluation; the appropriateness in this day and age to still be judging success on the reach of a campaign or equivalent advertising value. PR agencies need to step away from such rudimentary calculations and challenge clients to invest in properly understanding the effects of their investment; the behavioural changes and real world commercial outcomes.
There is much talk in Cannes today about the lack of representation of work produced by PR agencies. There are several factors contributing to this situation. Firstly the value of earned media has finally resonated; communications campaigns simply cannot be wallpaper, nor a one way broadcast. They should prompt conversations and compel consumers to want to engage. So PR ‘thinking’ is increasingly sitting at the heart of through the line communications and this is fantastic to see.
What potentially gives advertising agencies the upper hand in awards like these is a little more sophistication when it comes to evaluating effectiveness. The stand out campaign entries were those that demonstrated a genuine and tangible outcome and due to the budgets clients spend on advertising, there is simply more inclination to invest in getting a clear understanding of campaign impact. I think it is also important to acknowledge that PR agencies are simply not experienced at putting together awards submissions that effectively communicate their achievements.
Being in its third year, the PR Lions is very much in its infancy still and it was apparent that PR agencies are grappling with the level of sophistication required of an entry to capture the hearts and minds of the judges tasked with attempting to grade excellent. But these things aside, we should be very proud of the recognition given to such fine Australian work and my congratulations go out to the teams bringing home the silverware.
As published by B&T. Pic by fellow Cannes judge @RonMincheff
Got an appetite for delicious kicks? Well these new Air Max 90s are pretty tasty.
Trailer for the short movie “Las Palmas” by Johannes Nyholm.
What a pint sized legend.
When it’s 3.06am, 42 degrees outside and I’m listening to the reassuring rattle of the air conditioning, I occasionally contemplate the fact that my profession, as I know it now, needs to evolve radically to serve a legitimate commercial purpose in years to come. It’s a sobering thought… when I’m sober at least. But then I imagine how this legend feels.
Fellow Britons:
The day Blue Peter got computerized… back when it was avant-garde for sex offenders to moonlight as IT experts.
