Cannes 2016 Day 2 - A day of rain & a deluge of case studies (I'm drowning, not waving)
Not that we cared – we were stuck in our little backstage judging booth, with 170 more case studies raining down on us.
After a while, one case study blends into the next …
“World hunger/the refugee crisis/LGBT rights/global warming/moms whose kids just won’t listen is a burning issue right now.
How do you make this issue cool among Millennials who don’t give a shit about anything, on a shoestring budget/an actual shoestring/23 pesos/10 trillion Zim dollars?
Introducing – The (FANCY PROJECT NAME IN UPPER CASE).
Using cutting-edge technology/the power of social media/people’s love for controversy/drones/a midget with a spoon, we…
(insert world-changing, filibusting, look-how-clever-we-are idea here)
The world’s media picked up on the story.
Then the unthinkable happened.
(Note: if case studies are to be believed, the unthinkable happens a lot. More that you’d think, actually).
Brad Pitt/George Clooney/any number of B&C-grade celebrities tweeted about it.
Jesus Himself posted about us on Instagram.
The results speak for themselves. (Every case study says this, then goes on to speak about them). Potential reach (always potential, never actual) of 20 kazillion. 5000 zerfillion impressions on social media (still not sure what this means). A lot of other incredibly big numbers.
The government, the UN, Bill Gates and God got together and changed the laws of nature.
But best of all, three cute gerbils were rescued from Richard Gere.”
Ok, ok, I’m exaggerating, but not much.
Luckily, once in a while an absolute pearler of an idea comes round, which makes you believe again.
And there are some. But I can’t tell you about them yet (hehe).
So…
One more day of that, then we get into the juicy stuff – proper discussions & debates on what gets canned and what gets Cannes’d.
They say this is where the fur flies and the blood spatters on the walls. But hand on heart, the judges are such a nice bunch of people that I just can’t see it. And so far, we’ve all been pretty much in agreement on what soars and what sucks.
We shall see.
Right now, the only case I want to see is a case of beer.
Til tomorrow …
About Eoin Welsh
Born in Dublin, Ireland, and bred in Johannesburg, Eoin began his career writing property brochures. From these humble beginnings he has risen through the ranks to creative director at such esteemed agencies as Draft FCB, King James, Metropolitan Republic, Lowe & Partners (both in South African and Europe) and now is the chief creative officer executive creative director of the Havas Group of Companies in Southern Africa...
