Festival completes, in 2023, 70 years of history, and looks to the future with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion
Seventy years after a very glamorous start in the city of Venice, Italy, Cannes Lions begins on the 19th with a schedule full of attractions that promise to attract a larger audience to the Palais des Festivals de Cannes, on the French Riviera, during a week, after the mishaps of the pandemic.
On the agenda are names such as the Olympic medalist (gold) Michael Johnson, Angela Hwang (chief commercial officer of Pfizer), actress Danai Gurira, Tor Myhren (vice president of marketing and communication at Apple), Tiffany Rolfe (global CCO of R/GA), Celso Athayde (Central Única das Favelas), Emma Chiu (global director of Wunderman Thompson Intelligence), Marcus Collins (head of strategy at Wieden+Kennedy) and Lee Clow (chairman emeritus of TBWA Media Arts Lab).
The Venice era added the symbol of the festival of creativity: the winged lion on display in the iconic Praça de São Marcos, which gave its name to one of the event’s main prizes (Lion of Saint Mark) and has already been awarded to Brazilian Marcello Serpa. Venice was a milestone, but its infrastructure did not support the advertising and marketing trade and, a few years later, the festival settled in Cannes. Created by the triad of film exhibitors in Europe, the main one being the Rothschild family chain, the festival was conducted by SAWA (Screen Advertising World Association), responsible for organizing it until its sale to Roger Hatchuel. He subsequently passed the business on to Ascential, which, incidentally, kept Hatchuel’s name as the identifier for its Academy project.
The Brazilian record for delegates was in 2013, with 915 professionals registered. In 2019, more than 30,000 works competed for the awards. But the event has already counted more than 40 thousand registered actions. This year, expectations for post-pandemic production are high, but the global economic crisis still inhibits robust participation. Brazil began to compete effectively in the festival in the 1970s. The first Golden Lion was with the campaign O homem de 40 anos, created by Washington Olivetto and Francesc Petit (DPZ) for the Conselho Nacional de Propaganda. From 2012 to 2022, Brazil received 928 trophies, including 11 Grand Prix, one Innovation Lions and one Titanium.
Ascential is aware of the importance of the seven decades of the festival and has the support of the communication industry, from advertising holdings, to platforms, media, production companies and specialized service providers, including in Brazil. After eight intersections on the main façade of the Palais, Film Brazil, a project by Apro (Brazilian Association for the Production of Audiovisual Works), will not use the space to display the giant banner to draw the attention of the international market to the possibilities of production, co-production and advisory services in the country.
According to Marianna Souza, executive president of Apro, there was a need for the strategy to be rethought. In 2023, the entity invited the visual artist Rafaella Braga, from Goiás and of indigenous descent, to produce a real-time installation on the Terrao do Palais. The work will later be part of the collection of the Brazilian Embassy in France, in Paris. Ampfy developed the campaign for producers and directors to attract business to Brazil, which is experiencing a special moment due to the dollar rate, which favors the foreign market due to the exchange rate, in Marianna’s words. In 2019, US$ 3.4 million were attracted at the festival for productions of commercials and other formats in Brazil. The expectation that this mark will be surpassed this year. We continue with support from Apex and, in addition to the project with the artist Rapha, who lives in Germany, we are going to have a happy hour to welcome the market with shows and drinks, says Marianna.
propmark heard Philip Thomas, CEO of Ascential Futures, organizer of the event, and chairman of the festival, and Simon Cook, CEO of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, who reflect on the direction of the business of advertising, creativity, artificial intelligence, diversity and other topics, such as games and commerce, which are on the extensive agenda for 2023.
Expectations
Simon Cook: This year we are celebrating our 70th edition. It’s amazing to think that, since 1954, Cannes Lions have helped shape careers, foster connections and leverage the power of creativity on a global scale. In 2023, it’s about looking at the next 70 years; supporting those in the making and using creativity to drive progress.
Philip Thomas: Absolutely a special moment. Of course I remember our 60th anniversary celebrations well! If we look at how things have evolved since then, we have Lions who recognize creativity in B2B, gaming, sports, business transformation – evidence of an industry that continues to evolve. That sense of innovation and progress will definitely be felt at the festival and we look forward to welcoming people from across the spectrum of global creative communication.
theme
SC: This year, the program will honor our heritage and our work, but also prepare our community for future success. We’ll delve into areas such as Creative Culture & Talent, Creative Impact and Creative Processes & Tools, and explore the conditions required for impactful work. At the heart of the festival, we will and will continue to champion creativity and ensure that the global community comes away with the tools and
the evidence needed to demonstrate that creativity drives progress in business, people and society.
Brazil
EN: I say this every year and I’ll say it again in 2023: I continue to be surprised by the creative energy and passion of the Brazilian industry. The presence of Brazilians at Cannes Lions – our judges, our delegates and our work – is so important to the festival that it simply would not be the same without the presence of this community.
SC: I will support it! We began ranking country performance annually in 2001, and over the next 22 years, Brazil consistently ranked among the top five best performing countries at Cannes Lions. an incredible and reflective performance by a country that has creativity rooted in its culture.