On Thursday, after the trains were running behind schedule, we arrived a few minutes late to the Kraft & Crispin Porter + Bogusky Master Class. Earlier in the week, I met the Director of Marketing, Gregory Nesmith, so I was very excited for this presentation. Unfortunately, the Young Lions Zone was so crowded, that we could barely see/hear anything. But it was still interesting to hear Dana Adverson, Senior VP of Marketing Strategy and Communications at Kraft and Rob Reilly, Partner and Creative Officer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, talk about getting new business and how to present to these clients—in other words, “what makes ‘em swoon”.
We left the presentation a few minutes early to go the Saatchi & Saatchi director’s showcase, “Hello Future” and I wish we hadn’t. It was one of the strangest displays I have ever seen and I wish I had stayed at Kraft so I could have talked to Anderson and Reilly. The session started out with loud, futuristic music and a DJ/performer singing. I had no idea what the significance of this was and it only made me want to tune out. Next there was a string “short films”. Most of them did not make sense and I couldn’t tell if they were actually real commercials or just random works by Saatchi & Saatchi. With all of the lights and the loud music, I had a headache for the next hour.
We stayed in the Grand Auditorium for the McCann Worldgroup & MRM Worldwide panel with will.i.am. The moderator was Nick Briend, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup and the other speakers consisted of Marc landsberg, CEO of MRM Worldwide, Tod Machover, Composer, Inventor, and Educator and Johan Jervoe, VP and Director of Crative Services and Digital Marketing at Intel Corporation. will.i.am has recently paired with Intel to be their creative director and the discussion focused on technology and creativity. The famous entertainer how amazing it was that we use technology for creativity, when in the past, technology was a middle step to creativity. It was used as a means of “sending out” creativity. As is the theme of the festival, will.i.am explained how important it is to take risks in creativity. Machover added that for people to do this, we need to get them out of the house and push their creative limits. “People need to be pushed”. I was excited that I got to see will.i.am, but honestly was not blown away by the presentation because I did not learn anything new.
After a much needed lunch break, I attended the 20something master class in the Young Lions Zone. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the Kraft Master Class, and a bunch of us were able to get seats in the front. The master class told the story of 20somehting advertising agency in Belgium. It was started by 6+1 advertising agency, by offering internships to college students. They lured students in with their creative “I’m not your bitch campaign”, saying that students will be able to make their own advertising agency, rather than be stuck in the lower rungs of the corporate ladder. 400 students applied and only 45 were accepted. The 20something advertising agency was born and had the opportunity of having real clients. While I think the idea is very innovative, I don’t think it could ever work in the US, so it was difficult for me to relate to the presentation.
After viewing some commercials (critiques to come), we met with Egyptian Filmmaker, Amr Salama. He spoke about the recent revolution fueled by social media. It was amazing to hear his first-hand account of the revolution. He explained that he was kidnapped and that he was an influential part in beginning the revolution. No one thought that Egyptians would ever revolt. They were though of as lazy. So when they came together for change, everyone was surprised. I took an international mass communication class this past semester, so I was familiar with a lot of things he was saying, but I know everyone was surprised at the censorship and cover-up by the government. In the news and the papers, the revolution was not discussed. It was simply ignored. Facebook and Twitter aided the entire movement, and the government even blocked Internet access for a period of time. The Egyptian people dreamed of the rights that Americans have. I can’t imagine living in a country where this was happening. Salama was such a nice change from our other speakers and I was impressed with his efforts to make changes.
No comments:
Post a Comment