Rock N' Roll Hall of Famer. (should be Fri, 6/24)

We kicked off the last full day of the festival with HP Graphic Arts & BBDO’s Master Class in the Young Lions Zone. Marcos Mederiors, Creative Director at AlmapBBDO in Brazil, told us about his award-winning Billboard Magazine campaign. It won the 2010 Press Grand Prix award. The campaign, “Billboard Yourself”, uses an impressive technology that starts with a simple photograph. After the individual chooses their four favorite artists, the photograph is digitized into a picture made up of images of these artists. We got to see the process first-hand and a few members of the audience participated. I wish I had volunteered! It was very interesting to see.

After the Master Class, Chris Hall, President and CEO of BBDO Atlanta spoke with us. He explained that he wanted us to take away three things from our talk and the festival in general. The first is that creativity and effectiveness produce a competitive edge against competitors. Studies show that he more creative a message, the more effective it will be. Better ads incur better ROI. Secondly, we are in the golden age of creativity. There will be more changes in the next 5 years, than there have been in the last 25 years. We have a thirst for content and this drives creativity. The third take-away is that great work is a team sport. Collaboration is key for orchestration. Without great work, you won’t get anything done. Creative directors need to have humility and recognition of the team to produce great work and form great relationships with clients and themselves. 

We then moved to the screening room to catch the last 30 minutes of the Cannes Debate moderated by Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive at WPP with James Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation and Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of DreamWorks. Again, risk was the main theme. They talked about how both originality and creativity require risk. DUH. I know it’s an important concept, but it seems so obvious. Katzenberg also talked about the power  of tablets. He said that it is arguable the most powerful and impacting device of our time. It is so compelling and genius, but says that Steve Jobs should have called it the “Me Pad” because it is a direct reflection of the owner. As everything is digital these days, the tablet is straightforward and easy and can be used across all industries.

The final seminar of the day was Grey’s 5^th Annual Music Seminar with Patti Smith. It was, hands down, my favorite seminar of the entire festival (with IPG trailing close behind). I have heard Patti Smith’s name before, but I did not know much about her, nor had I heard any of her music, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Patti was the most humble guest from the festival and stated that she is “a fan of the people”. Her demeanor was so natural and easy. Decked out in braids, baggy blue jeans, and a blazer, she looked the part of a rock n’ roll hall of famer. At 67, she has accomplished so much in her life. She was the first to incorporate poetry into rock n’ roll and has rocked out with big names such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and the Allman Brothers. The most moving part of her presentation was when she read a letter from her book Just Kids. She wrote the letter to long-time friend and collaborator, Robert Mapplethorpe. She started crying while reading the letter and so did most of the audience. She then sang a son to the crowd, which I was not expecting. What an incredibly inspirational and interesting woman Patti is. I can’t wait to read her book.