LiVE LG LG전자 소셜 매거진

본 행사가 칸 국제영화제 개최 후 한 달 만에 같은 장소에서 열리는 데에는 세계스크린광고협회(Screen Advertising World Association)의 역할이 컸다. 1940년대 후반부터 칸에서 개최되기 시작한 칸 영화제에 자극 받은 광고 기획자들은 장편영화 산업에서 주목 받고 있는 동료들과 비슷하게 인정을 받아야 할 필요를 느낀 것이다. (많은 장편영화 감독들이 TV 광고를 제작하면서 경력을 쌓는 점을 고려하면 이러한 생각에 수긍이 간다.)  

우승작은 단 한 점에 그쳤지만 수상작에 버금가는 후보작들이 많이 있었다. 각 부문 우승작은 행사 마지막 날 뉴스 컨퍼런스에서 먼저 발표된 다음, 시상 소식을 열렬히 기다리는 광고팬들에게 공개되었다. 심사위원 자격으로 그 유명한 칸 크리에이티비티 페스티벌에 최초로 참여하게 된 필자의 인상적인 경험은 이로써 마무리되었다.

20년 이상 커뮤니케이션 분야에서 일해온 나조차도 이곳 칸에서 여전히 배울 것이 많았으며 동료 심사위원들과 비교해 볼 때 내가 아직 부족하다는 것을 느꼈다. 광고, 홍보 분야의 명성있는 9,000명이 프랑스의 이 작은 마을에서 그들의 전문성과 가능성, 무엇보다도 ‘창의성’을 나누고 즐겼다. 

난 희망한다. 좀 더 많은 LG인들이 내가 경험한 것을 경험할 수 있게 되기를!  
 

[#M_Click for English Version|접기|Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

 The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world’s biggest celebration of creativity in communications. As the largest and most prestigious international award event of its kind, over 9,000 delegates from advertising, public relations and other marketing fields representing 95 countries as well as 600 journalists from all over the world attended the seven day event. The festival is held annually at the Palais de Festivals in Cannes, France in June.

It’s no coincidence that the Cannes Lions Festival takes place in the same venue and only one month after the Cannes International Film Festival. Inspired by the famous film festival, which had been staged in Cannes since the late 1940s, the Screen Advertising World Association felt that the makers of advertising should receive similar recognition as their colleagues in the feature film industry. (And given that many feature film directors get start their careers directing TV commercials, this thinking was understandable.)

The first event took place in 1954 with 187 film entries from 14 countries competing. This year, the festival saw 29,000 works submitted representing 65 countries. And to more accurately represent how people communicate today, this year the name of the event was changed from the “Cannes International Advertising Festival” to the “Cannes International Festival of Creativity”. 

Another change that was implemented this year was the addition of a new category, Creative Effectiveness, to complement the existing categories. The Creative Effectiveness category was added to recognize winners from the previous year that could show a measurable and proven impact on an organization’s business objectives. In other words, creativity in itself should be the only goal, it should also benefit the company or organization in a clear way. Competitors in this category are by invitation only and must have been shortlisted or have won an award the year before.

As a representative of LG Electronics, I was invited by the Cannes Lions board to sit on the jury for the inaugural Creative Effectiveness Award. This was quite an honor as LG had never had the privilege of judging at Cannes Lions before. As the first Korean company to be invited to send a juror to Cannes Lions, it was apparent to me that the LG brand had come a long way in its half century of existence.

Over a period of three days, the jury would be responsible for reviewing, discussing and selecting the most effective marketing campaigns from among 143 entries in the first ever Creative Effectiveness category. Including myself, the jury consisted of 20 persons, representing some of the best creative agencies in the world as well as companies such as P&G, Philips and Kraft. 

Judging so many great campaigns wasn’t easy. Entries from companies such as Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, IBM, Unilever, Apple, Adidas and Microsoft competed against one another not for the most creative idea, but which ideas contributed the most to the company’s success. Each entry was accompanied by reams of charts, tables and numbers, which the jurors had to review in detail.

After hours and hours of deliberation and debate, the jury decided to award the most prestigious Grand Prix Award to PepsiCo for their Walkers Crisps campaign in the U.K. which was not only incredibly creative, but also immensely effective in growing the brand’s business in the market:Even though we decided to choose only one winner, many of the campaigns were deserving of awards. On the last day of the festival, the winners were announced at a news conference and then in front of an eagerly awaiting audience. And with that, my tenure as the first ever judge for the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity came to an memorable end.

Even after more than 20 years working in the communications industry, I still found much to learn at Cannes Lions. I was sincerely humbled by the depth of knowledge among my juror colleagues. Some of the smartest people I know work in advertising and PR and here were 9,000 of them all in one small, resort town in France to celebrate their profession, their livelihood but most of all, creativity in general. 

I can only hope that more LG employees get to experience what I experienced that week! _M#]