I had the honor of serving on the Cannes Lions Media shortlisting jury, a role and responsibility I took very seriously. Creating the shortlist may seem less important than the final judging for medals, but in reality, it is more difficult for a case to make the shortlist than to win a medal once shortlisted. Only 1 in 10 entries makes the shortlist, while approximately 3 in 10 shortlisted cases go on to win metals. Over a few weeks, I reviewed more than 250 cases, and it quickly became clear that a case is either strong from the outset or it does not pass the shortlist filter.
In my category, I looked for a genuinely strong media idea - the creative use of the power of media. Creativity in media is much different from simply being creative.
This is my main insight: many, too many, cases were creative but did not demonstrate the power of media and therefore did not belong in this category. It seems that some agencies choose to gamble by entering the same case into multiple categories. I believe, as do many at dentsu, that media should be the flywheel that drives brand growth, so I have been very diligent in ensuring that cases in the Media category truly demonstrate the power of media.
Another key insight: creative use of media is not limited to social platforms, the most obvious choice. I’ve seen brilliant examples across Out of Home, Television, Search, Mobile apps, Cinema, and even Print. This reinforces the creative power of all media, which is one of the objectives we should be rewarding in Cannes.
Read Rafael’s Cannes Lions jury bio here.
For more about dentsu @ Cannes, click here.
