Cannes encompasses the word creativity like nowhere else. The fast-paced environment and packed schedule of events makes it difficult to know where to start on arrival!
The work shown at Cannes has been created in the last twelve months and has been shortlisted by judges from all over the world.
I was lucky enough to take part in the Cannes Young Lions Competition and compete in a UK team against other markets from across the world. This is the only competition where creative and inspiring work is produced right there in Cannes and then gets judged the very next day! If you are under 30- the Young Lions Competition’s are one of the best places at the festival to celebrate your own creativity on a global stage.
The competition is 24 hours, the client comes in and presents their brief (a charity brief) and then you have a limited amount of time to construct a brilliant response. Your response not only has to heighten awareness for the charity, but it must also drive donations -all with zero budget.
The charity brief we were given was for Lotus Flower, a charity that helps rebuild the lives of refugee women by giving them access to a safe space and an education as well as helping empower refugee women to learn to love themselves after what they have been through. Our idea was to create the world’s first ever digital nation, where the refugee women and the everyday woman have a place they can call home.
The layout of our workspace was less than ideal – all 66 countries that were competing were placed in a glass room, sitting on one side of me was the U.S. and on the other side was Turkey. There are no boundaries between teams and to top it all off there is only one laptop between two people.
The competition was incredibly tense and following a nerve-racking presentation in front of a judging panel, it was Colombia who took first place.
In between working for the competition, to blow off some steam I headed to the amazing talks and exhibitions that Cannes had to offer, stand out sessions included an interactive talk on unlocking the future of fashion and debate around 3D gun printing.
The world of Cannes not only allows you to experience a different aspect of the advertising industry but also pushes you to expand your creativity and I was honoured to be a part of it.
