For its 2024 edition, the festival has entered a “post-purpose” era, where advertising must no longer only demonstrate brand commitments but above all its effectiveness.
Is the best the enemy of the good? Overdoing it, yes, according to Marco Venturelli, president in charge of creation at Publicis Conseil, and president of the Outdoor category of the Cannes Lions. For him, “in recent years there have been many examples of campaigns in which the cause being promoted outweighs the contribution of the communication to the brand ecosystem”. To the point of losing sight of the initial objective of advertising: to sell.
Less purpose, more efficiency
The jurors in the different categories were therefore instructed, as part of their online training ahead of the festival, to “do not only reward cases with a dimension of “purpose” which does not serve the business, as if it were a humanitarian campaign”, remembers Clément Scherrer, general manager in charge of strategies at Buzzman and member of the jury for the campaigns shortlisted in the Creative strategy category. The Cannes Lions organization has also introduced a new feature allowing jurors to question the agency behind a campaign, to go further than the information provided in the application file on the effectiveness of the commitments.
A possibility which was used by the jury chaired by Marco Venturelli. In the display category, the “ADoptable” system from the New Zealand agency Colenso BBDO for Pedigree received the Grand Prize for its use of dogs available for adoption in its communications. “This is not a communication stunt because we know that the brand has been committed to adoption for years”, justifies Marco Venturelli. According to him, “the campaigns rewarded this year are those which find the magical combination between usefulness and effectiveness”.
Effectiveness, demonstration
This effectiveness still needs to be demonstrated. If the Effie Awards are focused on advertising effectiveness, the Cannes Lions historically recognize the most creative advertisements. Which is not incompatible according to Caroline Fontaine, general delegate of the AACC: “If brands offer consumers commitments that are sincere, and they use the emotional connection of creation, then there is bound to be an impact on the business”.
The agencies union launched, with Kantar and Media Figaro, a first initiative aimed at proving the business effectiveness of creativity, “Creativity for business”, then a second to demonstrate the impact of communication on societal transformations, ” Creativity for change. The results of the first wave were presented on the stage of the Palais des festivals in 2023 during a speech entitled “French rebellion” intended to demonstrate French creativity.
Pour Marco Venturelli, “there is nothing more measured than the creative idea: via pre-tests, post-tests, etc.”. However, if advertising is able to precisely indicate which click on a site resulted in a magazine sale, creativity can be difficult to objectify, he recognizes.
