Cannes Tries to Tell ‘Great Stories’ to Hype Fest

By Bob Marshall on February 9, 2011 11:59 AM

It’s getting closer to that time of the year when advertising professionals worldwide set sail to the French Riviera and nearly drown in the Mediterranean Sea due to alcohol intoxication. Yes, the 2011 Cannes Lions Festival is fast approaching, and that means the festival’s marketing campaign is underway.

This year, the in-house campaign is “Great Stories in Cannes,” and the festival’s YouTube channel features videos of past award-winners and nominees sharing (in multiple languages) how past Cannes Lions affected their work. For example, if you want to hear AlmapBBDO’s Marcello Serpa talk in English about his time meeting a drunk creative working for Lintas who won that Grand Prix with a Nestle campaign, you would watch this video. If you feel Serpa’s Portuguese would sound better against a soundtrack of Mannheim Steamroller, you would watch this video.

For the next few weeks, Cannes will be rolling out more videos featuring anecdotes from some of advertising’s most decorated people. As Festival CEO Philip Thomas says in a press release, “Who better to give an insight into the ethos of Cannes – the opportunities, the creativity, the relationships, the rewards – but some of those people who know best, and at first-hand, that great advertising and communication is about storytelling.”