Monsters and mayors. It’s media day at Cannes
For those of us in media, Wednesday is our day in the Cannes sun. The Media Lions are announced, so I make no apology for making today’s blog all about the work.
There was plenty that impressed — with its simplicity, with its purposeful use of data, and with great stories of collaboration between big brands and smaller organisations. But the painful fact is that the judges saw more clouds than silver linings. Just seven Gold Lions awarded and a sobering message that many entries simply lacked excellence in media execution.
It’s a concern, but I’m staying positive. We have to take that criticism and use it as an opportunity to reclaim this category for media agencies and the best of our craft. And if it’s positivity you want, look no further than Vizeum client, Burger King. Digiday calls Fernando Machado the most loved CMO in marketing. I can see why. Teaming up with Head of Brand, Marcelo Pascoa, they rocked the Palais with The Survivors Guide to the Adpocalypse. It was entertaining, it was thought-provoking and it was educational. But most of all, it was stunning work. The stand-out was the Whopper Detour — Burger King doing what it does best (poking fun at McDonalds) with a fresh, digital twist. Or as Fernando and Marcelo put it, “new monsters, new weapons!”.
What really hit home was the effort people are willing to put into engaging with a brand…if the experience is cool enough. Fernando and Marcelo walked off stage to an ovation — and a few very deserved Gold Lions.
In the end though, the burger kings lost out to the sneaker pimps, as Nike picked up the Grand Prix. The Air Max Graffiti Stores campaign is a smart piece of thinking, beautifully executed through media. I took from it two lessons. Lesson one: the power of tapping into a city’s culture to drive relevance. Is there any better endorsement of Vizeum’s view that marketers must look to cities first, than a Grand Prix with the street culture of Sao Paulo at its very heart? Lesson two: a little luck goes a long way. Even Nike’s media budget could not match the good fortune of Sao Paulo’s City Governor being arrested for banning graffiti, just as the campaign went live!
The final mention goes to Volvo. No Media Lions this time, but a lesson in enduring brand purpose. In 1959, having just invented a life-saving USP for its products, Volvo gave away the patent — the three-point safety-belt has since saved millions of lives not just in Volvos, but in every make of car from Ferrari to Ford. Fast forward to 2019 and through the Eva Project, the company is staying true to its ideals. Uniquely, Volvo uses female crash test dummies to understand how women’s bodies differ to men’s in terms of potential injury. Volvo’s data showed very clearly that there are major differences — with huge implications for car manufacturers and their approach to safety…and so it made that data public.
In doing so, Volvo has once again created huge competitive advantage by giving away its most valuable commercial secrets. They say it’s not a principle, until it costs you money, but for Volvo — in the long term — the benefits will far outweigh the costs.
Paul Wilson, Global CSO, Vizeum
