The first mail that hits my eye this morning is: ‘How do you define creativity?’ Claire Bridges sends it to me, one of my fellow jurors on the Cannes PR Lions jury. Put 21 clever creative PR/communications people from all over the globe in one jury room and not a single one will come up with the same definition. I like to think that everybody can be creative, so I send my partner a quick mail with that one question. He is a wine entrepreneur and has a knack of thinking out of the box. It only takes him two minutes to mail me back: When I was seventeen I stumbled upon this quote of jazz musician Charles Mingus. ‘Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.’

 

Not bad.

 

Like every other fussy creative strategist I feel like telling him that something is missing. Something along the lines of: ‘Turning the ordinary into the remarkable – all whilst being truthful’. I will only send him that thought later on, as I reckon that he must be off sharing remarkable stories about wine and the men and women that are producing it.

 

That thought leads me to ‘storytelling’. Read: the delicate art of crafting the right kind of creative content. When storytelling is at its best, it is light years away from the bland content that so often lands on our plates. When stellar, storytelling is about magnetic little gems.

 

Do I see you frowning there? Don’t worry – it must be me: I often get asked what I mean by that. Here’s how I recently explained it to my 69-year-old dad. ‘Magnetic stories have many different faces: it can be articles, pictures, one-liners, art, cartoons or videos that touch you in such a way that it creates a strong emotion of recognition. Or even better: that is creates the urge to share it with others. Not necessarily via social media channels, but even so when having a good old chat.

 

I mostly get people to nod when I put it like that. Some inquisitive souls -including my beloved dad and juniors looking for a job- confront me with questions that grant them access to the next level: how can you tell upfront whether content is good enough to tear the house down – or not?

 

I tell them about context then: about the importance of understanding whom you talk to, about the importance of sharing a story when the time is right. If you know what the dreams and fears are of the people that you are trying to sweep off their feet, you are well on your way to just do that.

 

So how ‘magnetic’ is the content I’ve seen so far in Cannes?

 

Really good.

 

Pretty bad.

 

I find it remarkable to notice how many wonderful creative campaigns don’t make me tick – for the one and simple reason that the content is just not up to par.

 

I had a chat with a young creative girl from Romania on this topic when eating an ice cream on the Croisette. In five minutes she quizzed me about content, context and pitched a story that made me smile and shiver. I forgot to ask her contact details, but in case she ever reads this – here’s my message to you: ‘Call me: talent like yours is rare.’

 

PS: My partner sent me another mail later on – pointing out that creativity is also about authenticity, honesty and empathy. His message made me smile. Creativity is not something people in creative industries own: it is the oxygen that keeps every passionate professional going. 

 

Ann Maes is Managing Director of Ogilvy Public Relations for its Brussels-based operation.

Ann returned to Ogilvy PR after an absence of twelve years. In the intervening time she has demonstrated excellent client counselling and business-building skills through leadership roles at Leads United and most recently as the founder of PrideTBWA.

Ann has worked across a range of sectors and companies in her career – with a focus on integrated campaigns, change communication and reputation management. Ann’s work has won many awards, in Belgium and abroad. Her clients over the years have included: McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Ahold Group, Pfizer, Sabic, Microsoft, Amgen, MasterCard, KBC, Proximus, KPN and Stanley.

 

The H+K Strategies content team is busy in Cannes, doing interviews with various creative industry leaders and opinion-makers, and we will be sharing their content daily!

Listen to their conversation with Aaron Huey, celebrated photographer for National Geographic and others, wearer of gold shoes and the only man we know who got married on a tank…

 

Guest blog post by Charlie Coney, Head of Creative, EMEA, Golin

As the entire marketing world descends on Cannes for its annual bout of back-slapping and mutual admiration, it’s interesting to think about how the PR industry – as the relative newcomer to the party – has fared over the past few years.

After the debacle of 2012, when PR agencies (Prime excluded) failed to pick up any Lions, 2013 saw the discipline fighting back, with PR agencies picking up 17 Lions.  This was down to a number of reasons I think, including:

• Client-led demand to produce work that was creatively brave, innovative and purpose-driven
• The increased number of PR agencies with dedicated creative teams – or a specific focus on creativity
• The industry-wide love-in with the word “storytelling”

Eavesdropping conversations on the terrace of the Carlton Hotel is always interesting – with many folks insisting the industry has moved away from simply shouting messages at people to a place where we tell them stories.

The issue is the majority of these stories are still “one-way” and, when we’re shifting from a broadcast world to one where we seek one-to-one dialogue, we must challenge ourselves to shift our thinking further. Storytelling as it currently stands is, more often than not, simply old-school advertising dressed up in fancier clothing.

Now a world where marketers and brands control both the message and the channel is effective at building brand equity – it’s good when we just want to ‘say stuff’ to people.

But, with the rise of new media formats and increased interactivity between brands and fans, we need to encourage our clients, to move away from just saying something to actually doing something.

And, as the discipline which has always striven to craft and create ‘stories’, PR is perhaps in a better place than our ATL-focused competitors to spark genuine conversations and dialogue with the people we’re trying to reach.

That’s when you start to become more relevant, to build social currency, running programmes that people care about, engage with, and want to share with their friends.  These are the campaigns which have been successful over the past few years – work embedded with social purpose and cultural relevance.

I hope this trend continues, with this year’s winners consisting of creative, brilliant campaigns which are specifically relevant to the audience they’re targeted at.

The subject of relevance is one that’s close to our hearts – and is also the subject of the festival’s opening seminar, the first time a PR agency has been invited to take this prestigious slot.

You see, with millions of messages and images competing for our attention, we have become experts at screening out what is irrelevant to us. Why do some ideas penetrate? Why do some brands and celebrities endure the fickleness of time, while others fade into obscurity?  Why do some campaigns have longevity and resonance, while others become proverbial chip paper?

In our opening seminar, we will conduct a pioneering, live experiment on stage with legendary icon, David Hasselhoff. With our command of the science of relevance and the power of social media, Cannes attendees will be invited to create and share Hoff-based content around the world.

Can we build his brand in real time – can we tap into something culturally relevant, make him more relevant, to more people – can we create a story which resonates and endures?

And, while that’s the challenge facing Golin on Sunday at 10am, it’s also the challenge facing most other people at Cannes – to create relevant campaigns that inform, educate and entertain – work that matters.

Whether you’re presenting, judging, nervously waiting to hear from the panel or simply hoping to be inspire by what you see, let’s hope that PR continues its upward trend, that we continue to do things that make a difference, rather than just talking about making a difference.

 

Charlie Coney is the Head of Creative, EMEA, at Golin

@chesneyc