Jose Papa — Managing Director, Cannes Lions
Jose talks to TheNextGag about what to expect from the Cannes Lions 2018 and what changes are being made to this year’s edition.
Jose Papa is the Managing Director of the Cannes Lions in the UK.
Jose Papa was named in October 2016 as the new Managing Director of Cannes Lions, encompassing Cannes Lions, Lions Health, Lions Innovation, Lions Entertainment, plus its regional events of Eurobest, Dubai Lynx, Spikes Asia and the Tangrams.
Prior to that, Jose was CEO of WGSN, Ascential’s global fashion trend forecasting service. Previously, he was Ascential’s Regional Director for Latin America.
Before joining Ascential, Jose Papa ran corporate strategy with Cannes Lions’ Official Representative in Brazil, Estadão, and held director level positions at T4F, ESPN Brazil and Vex, some of the largest companies in Brazil.
THENEXTGAG: LAST YEAR WAS YOUR FIRST TIME MANAGING THE CANNES LIONS. HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE ?
JOSE PAPA: It was a unique year. My first exciting one was a new journey in a unique moment. I try to excel so I would never rate myself high because I am always raising my bar.
But, it was a quite interesting and unique year given the circumstances of all the debates that we were having in Cannes. It was quite a unique year.
The open call for content gave us more opportunities to ultimately filter the unique, really, innovative, mind-blowing, industry-transforming, ideas.
TNG: THIS YEAR, YOU INTRODUCED AN OPEN CALL FOR CONTENT WHERE EVERYBODY COULD SUBMIT AN IDEA TO BE ON STAGE. DO YOU THINK THAT IT ELEVATED THE LEVEL OF SUBMISSIONS ?
JP: The idea of doing the open call for content was for us to make it 1) more diverse 2) more imaginative, because it gave a chance to anyone to engage. It gave us more work, because we had more entries, but it gave us more opportunities to ultimately filter the unique, really, innovative, mind-blowing, industry-transforming, ideas.
Having jury presidents from large technological firms is a reality that we need to all face, everyone that is within the creative industry.
TNG: YOU RELEASED THE JURY PRESIDENTS. THIS YEAR, THERE IS SOMEONE FROM APPLE AND FROM FACEBOOK. IS THAT A SIGNAL TO THE INDUSTRY ?
JP: It doesn’t need to be a signal, it’s a reality. The ecosystem is much more complex, much more varied. It is not even a signal. It is a reality that we need to all face, everyone that is within the creative industry.
TNG: LAST YEAR, ASCENTIAL ACQUIRED MEDIALINK. HOW WILL THIS PLAY OUT THIS YEAR AT CANNES ?
JP: Medialink will continue to be a strong partner at Cannes, as they’ve always been. They have a major intellectual capital marketing backbone and they will drive still marketing strategies there, the way they’ve been doing for many years. It won’t change the nature of how they’ve engaged with us because we are now part of the same group.
TNG: LAST YEAR, YOU INTRODUCED MANY INNOVATIONS SUCH AS THE CONNECTED BRACELET, THE NEW APP, THE CHATBOT AND THE PODCAST. ARE YOU PREPARING SOME NEW STUFF FOR 2018 ?
JP: We are. But, let’s wait. It’s going to be the surprises of the year. But yes, we are.
TNG: WILL TERRY SAVAGE BE HERE THIS YEAR TOO ?
JP: He will.
TNG: WILL IT BE HIS FINAL YEAR ?
JP: It will never be his final, because he will always be part of our story, our legacy and our DNA. He is always going to be part of Cannes Lions.
TNG: ARE YOU GOING TO RE-CONDUCT THE ONLINE-ONLY JURY MEMBERS ? OR WILL IT ONLY BE PHYSICAL JURY MEMBERS ?
JP: We are going to do both. Like last year.
TNG: WHO IS GOING TO WIN THE WORLD CUP ?
JP: I’m biased, so that is an easy one.
TNG: SO BRAZIL ?
JP: It has to, no ? Because, after that disaster, it is the minimum thing they can do. If they don’t win this World Cup … my God !
Jose Papa
Managing Director
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