Cannes 2008 Day X: R/GA

Like I said, seminars are getting better. The R/GA one about Nike+ and three other Nike projects was interesting. Though perhaps a bit shallow (hey, they only had 45 minutes), their projects are impressive.

For the sheer scale of it, The Human Race-project is also interesting, gathering 1 million people to run on one single day.

The Nike ID-project was nicely executed, but it really didn't get my juices flowing. I've seen it before.

Most interesting to me was their new Ballers Network project, which can most accurately be described as NIke+ for basketball. Cool.

Cannes 2008 Day X: Wunderman

The Wunderman talk, featuring Nick Moore was one of the better ones this far. Clearly one of the not so many who has really put thought into digital communications (or simply 2008 situation for communicators). Interesting company as well. I'll keep a closer eye on them.

Nick's statement of "don't make big campaigns, create ongoing conversations" is one that we've been talking about for a while on this blog and elsewhere, but it's a good (though simple) premise for creating good brand relationships.

Cannes 2008 Day X: Invasion & Psychology

Cannes is now under siege. There are so many advertising people here now, from Sweden and elsewhere, it's just ridiculous. Counting days doesn't feel relevant anymore. It's just intense.

Seminars seem to have picked up ever so slightly in quality. MRM Worldwide at least had the sense to put psychology at the center of their media map. Correctly so of course. For anyone trying to use people as their vehicle of viral (I prefer the word "social", but "viral" seems to be the standard) spread, psychology is simply earth, wind, and fire.

So – Walter Naeslund tip of the day: Next time you recruit a planner, look in the psychology department, not the marketing one.

Cannes 2008 Day 2: Inspiration

Identity Works were enjoying the perks of Cannes yesterday. (In the pics: Creative Director Helena, Chairman of The Board Johan, CEO Catarina and... me!

Design is also a hot topic in Cannes as it has it's own category for the first time in Cannes Lions history. After running into several people eager to discuss branding and design (among them the CEO of Happy F&B and a small army of journalists) we had all kinds of reasons to be inspired. Fingers are itching to get back to work back home in Sweden. Several of the ongoing projects will get a new boost of energy put into them, and there are also several new ideas for existing and new clients lined up. Fun!

Cannes 2008 Day 2: Dada. Data. Alpha. Beta.

Ogilvy held a massively promoted talk today called Dada. Data. Alpha. Beta. It's basically Ogilvy's view on the communication of today. Interesting of course to see where Ogilvy is at in their thinking.

As expected, the talk provided nothing new, but did have its benefits. It was a nicely packaged view on what has happened over the past few years. It could just as well had been held last year though, as pretty much none of the the earth shattering changes of the past 12 months were present. But still.

In short:

Dada: The dadaism-metaphor was used to explain mash-ups.

Data: Use the massive amounts of data available today to leverage storytelling.

Alpha: Target the alphas. The leaders of the pack. The talkers. The communicators.

Beta: Be in perpetual beta mode. Always. There is no such thing as a finished communications effort. This is brilliant of course, but has severe consequences for how we get payed.

Cannes 2008 Day 2: Breakfast & Schedule

Breakfast in the sun by the sea. Next stop: The Festival Palace. At the palace we're watching some some film right now. Mixed highs and lows. In 20 minutes we'll check out some digital workshops by Wunderman and MySpace and later a seminar by Ogilvy.

Stay tuned and I'll be back with my reviews of these events.

Ciao!

Identity har landat i Cannes

Sååå – Identity Works har landat i Cannes. Förtruppen som jag hör till (resten kommer imorgon) har varit uppdelad i två team. Ofrivilligt. Jag och Johan har haft lite svårt att synka. Men vi har tillsammans täckt in en hel del. Allt från designsemiarium som var felfritt, men kanske inte lyfte taket, via social responsibility (även det på en relativt enkel nivå) till seminarium om viral marketing som faktiskt höll en riktigt luddig nivå.

Vi hoppas på nya tag imorgon. Schemat ser riktigt späckat ut med bra grejor. Förmiddagens tonvikt kommer vara på Kina. Intressant.

Imorgon kommer Catarina och Helena. Kommer bli kul. För mig och Johan blir det nog någon drink senare ikväll för att stämma av dagens intryck.