Sophie Woods’ Cannes Diary: Day Two

Sophie Woods is a producer for The OTTO Empire and is attending her first Cannes Lions, attending as a ‘Young Lion’ delegate. She reports exclusively for Campaign Brief.

I’ve started telling people I’m a reporter, and they all laugh and go “ha ha yeah tell Campaign Brief about this *debaucherous act* it will be so funny and my boss will be so mad” and I’m like “well I don’t think you understand, I’m taking this job very seriously, so…”

HOT OFF THE PRESS

ADRIAN GRENIER ACTUALLY A GREAT DUDE

METALLICA NOT A SELLOUT

RADIO IS DEAD (BUT NOT REALLY, ACTUALLY V CONFUSING)

MARILYN MANSON SETTLES THE RUMOUR ABOUT THE RIB REMOVAL

Pretty hectic start to the week.

It’s funny, at these kinds of industry things everyone gets really worked up and inspired and for a while you think you’re going to change the world but maybe then you return to the real world and kind of can’t be bothered anymore. Well today I heard from people who are literally changing the world and now maybe I ACTUALLY will, when I can get around to it.

The standout today for me was a session on ‘Collaborating for the Greater Good’ and looked at companies who are helping brands create sustainable strategies and practices, invest in social justice, and balance ethics with ‘the aesthetic’. Adrian Grenier was on the panel and he’s not actually Vinnie Chase in real life?! He partners with brands to spread their message of sustainability, while challenging them to follow through on their mission statements and create socially and ecologically responsible supply chains. Another lady on the panel Livia Firth from Eco-Age manages integrated brand consultancy to help brands develop responsible practices and dished up the rough truth; “you don’t change the world with altruism, you change it with actions”. Try and stop me from getting emotional over here.

In case you were skimming for the good stuff, I’m pretty sure Marilyn Manson didn’t have a rib removed to do you-know-what. He said “if I did I wouldn’t be there” so I guess that settles it but I AM a reporter now so I might need to stalk him to ask some follow-ups. I loved how unashamedly he proclaimed ‘Marilyn Manson is a brand’, how nonchalantly he declared he’s more worried about his music overshadowing his image than vice-versa, all while trying never to become a caricature of yourself. Such fascinating man, c/o the Grey Music Legends Seminar.

My \m/ day continued with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich on the panel for Music and Branding, basically saying it’s ok, as a musician, to partner with brands on events. And if you don’t, you’re an idiot. He added that if he was asked 30 years ago if he’d be here at the Cannes Lions he would’ve said “no f***ing way” because \m/

Someone else on the panel made the point that in the last 10 years, the revenue of branding in music has tripled, while record sales have taken a beating. The panel confirmed my hopes that it’s better for brands to fully engage with musicians to build events and activations over a long period of time, giving it ‘authenticity’, rather than random one-off deals. I mean, otherwise people see right through the bs, right?

The final panel I went to was called ‘Loyalty Is Dead: Creating Content for Today’s Platform Surfers’ and was comprised of media industry stalwarts from BBC Radio 1 and The Economist, and one lovely lady from a new startup. It was that whole thing of ‘how on earth do we reach consumers with the internet and new media and yadda yadda’ but what I did take out of it is that radio will never die; the concept of one-to-one broadcasting is so powerful and will outlast all of the other trends. How to keep up in this crazy evolving digital landscape? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Man Cannes is stunning. I’m a kid in a candy shop. It’s sunny and warm and I’m so sorry to those readers in Australia but god damn I’m having a good time.

Off to the legendary Campaign Brief drinks now so, à demain!

Find Woods at hellootto.com.au.