Marilyn Manson, Shakespeare, stand-up, erotica, Jung & Harry Potter. Just another day at the office at Cannes Lions 2015

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By Claire Bridges, Founder Now Go Create and Cannes Lions Mentor 2015

claire4Print@nowgocreate

 

 

 

 

If you’re headed down to Cannes, then no doubt the big name creative rock stars (and maybe the actual rock stars) are grabbing your attention. Here are some picks including workshops and talks across the week from the edges too. If you’re not going but you want the inside skinny I’ll be sharing some of the best bits from Cannes via podcasts and blogs throughout the week too from the ICCO House of PR.

Get warmed up Ease in to the Festival gently and embrace the clichés early by unleashing your inner child with the Lego workshop on Sunday morning exploring co-creation from 11:30.

Get inspired Cannes is all about inspiring new lines of thought and exploring topics you probably wouldn’t otherwise consider. On Tuesday Professor Brian Cox is going to be talking through some of the key scientific principles that help us unlock some of the mysteries around us. The session will then attempt to show how these laws also apply to advertising. Sounds right up my street.

Get out of your comfort zone There aren’t many occasions where you’ll be permitted, nay, encouraged to talk erotica at work and this workshop looks fascinating. No idea how to apply it back at the office but that’s kind of the point. Erotica Before Internet – how muscles changed the world. Sunday 16:45.

Braille celeb culture – camera-phones at the ready…..Monday sees Marilyn Manson take the stage for the Grey annual music seminar – expect provocation and ‘outrage’. The music business is well represented at Cannes across the rest of the week with Will.I.Am, Mark Ronson, Natalie Imbruglia, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta all featuring.

Wednesday is an action-packed and celeb-tastic day with Kim Kardashian talking digital, Kenneth Branagh talking Hamlet to Harry Potter to The Guardian and the talent from HBO’s hit comedy VEEP discussing why political satire is a timeless form of comedy. Richard Curtis is in conversation with legendary ad man John Heggarty about the new UN campaign and that’s bound to be rammed. Jamie Oliver, Samantha Morton and Adrian Grenier also all featuring in workshops during the week. It’s not always immediately obvious what the celeb is bringing to the creative smorgasbord but it’s fun to rubberneck.

Channel creativity as a force for good 2014’s theme continues with many of the seminars leveraging this topic including Monica Lewinsky, the oft-described “Patient Zero” of online shaming, calling for an end to cyberbullying – Thursday 1230 Partnerships that galvanise social change sees Entourage’s Adrian Grenier and Aimee Mullins taking part in a debate about how celebrities and brands can work together to tackle society’s biggest problems and the opportunities this presents for both sides.

Get practical Whilst Cannes is all about sharing extraordinary creative there’s also a chance to hear from the strategists behind some of the leading campaigns on this year’s Warc 100 ranking to correlate that with what delivers commercially. Find out what they learned, and how they’ve applied those insights elsewhere.

Ideas in a hurry Given time is always an issue for PR folk it’s got to be worth spending 90 minutes at the ‘You only need 48 hours to solve a brief’ workshop between 11:30 – 1pm on Monday and at other various times during the week.

I’ll take up the invitation to ‘Become an ass-kicking copywriter in 25 minutes’ too. Thursday 1230 – 1300 and other times Lions Lounge.

Hear the client view Creative agencies may lead the way but clients are increasingly getting in on the action. Get an insight into the client’s perspective from brands including Nestle, Mars and airbnb in Wake Up With The Economist daily briefing 10:30.

Last year Heineken won 2015 Creative Marketer of the Year. Hear from 2 of their global team what principles the company is using to drive creativity and what we mere mortals might learn. Thirst for creativity 1700 – 1745.

Allow wiggle room Whilst you do need to plan if you really, really want to get into something, my advice is to leave wiggle room. Some of my most memorable bits have been things I stumbled upon or decided to go to at the last minute.

Make it last Keep a journal throughout the week to help remember what inspired you and to reflect in the weeks afterwards about what you learned and what you can take into your day-to-day work life post-Cannes.

Claire is founder of the UK’s leading creative training consultancy www.nowgocreate.co.uk and is the only PR professional globally working as part of the training faculty at Cannes 2015 a mentor for the Masters of Creativity 2015 programme alongside world-class industry experts following a stint on the PR Jury last year. Claire is an ex-WPP Consumer MD and Creative Director with over 20 year’s industry experience as a creative leader. She is the only person in the UK PR industry to hold an MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership from City University London. Claire runs Unleash Your Inner Creative training for ICCO/PRCA.

For more information- www.nowgocreate.co.uk

The Many Faces of Cannes Man

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Written by Bill Reihl, Director of Ketchum’s Global Brand Practice

Ben ReihlPrint@billyreihl

 

The Cannes Lions Festival is where the world’s top communicators come to share ideas, gather inspiration and compete for awards.  Cannes Lions, like the creatives who are drawn there, is complex and sometimes contradictory.  The hidden depths, nuances, and surprises of the festival and its participants are a big part of what make the festival a success.

 

There has been much focus in recent years around equality for women in the industry with organizations like the 3% Conference; and many campaigns that aim to improve the lives and portrayal of women and girls have deservedly received awards and accolades for their creativity and impact. Indeed this is the inaugural year of the Glass Lion which recognizes work that addresses issues of gender inequality or prejudice, through the conscious representation of gender in marketing – campaigns that in some way represent a shift towards more positive, progressive and gender-aware communication. The odds makers are also predicting victory and buzz for campaigns like Procter & Gamble’s Always brand #LikeAGirl and Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” featuring Gisele Bündchen.

 

So it may seem odd to stop and think about how men are evolving and changing as society advances and whether or not they are portrayed accurately in marketing today.  Are we still using the same old stereotypes for guys and are those messages resonating with the target consumers or are we presenting men as shallow archetypal figures short on complexity and big on classic clichés?

 

As with women, things are starting to move in the right direction.  Last year the NFL Superbowl was called the Superbowl of “Dadvertising” because of the more evolved portrayals of men in numerous campaigns from brands like Tide showing a dad playing Princess with his daughter (and cleaning her dress) and the Cheerios father setting the example with #HowToDad.  I am hoping to see this trend continue at Cannes and see an evolved and more accurate portrayal of real men in marketing.

 

In our multi-year “Language of Men” study, we found that while some basic tenants of how the media portray men are still true, the male consumer is a sophisticated animal.  On the Dad side, he is not playing Mr. Mom, he is Dad with a capital D!  For those men without families it’s not all about beer, babes and sports (although those themes are still relevant) modern man has more diverse interests, passions and viewpoints.  He has as many female friends as he does male friends and sometimes he needs emotional support and understanding.  He is not, and does not aspire to be, Alpha Male 24/7/365.

 

Some of this is driven by how as the gender gap has begun to close, more men have stepped in to take on household duties.  We believe that by 2020 these “new roles” will be normalised and men will no longer be balancing “traditional male roles” versus new ones.  Helping at home, raising children and being emotionally available to friends and family will all be authentic masculine traits. I hope the evolved portrayal of women can act as a lightning rod for a revised portrayal of men.

 

Ultimately the risk for marketers is that if consumers can’t see themselves in the work they will turn away and ignore our campaigns.  I believe marketers have to think about, not just gender and demographics, but also life stages and today’s psychographics.

 

The Cannes Lions Festival is a magnet for creatives from around the world because it is multifaceted and a reflection of what is happening in society at large.  Perhaps it’s time for the gentlemen to shine at Cannes too?

Pride of the Lions

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Written by Emily Andrews

EmilyPrint@thatsmeemily

 

The Cannes Lions Festival has a storied history of recognising the best in advertising and marketing. In recent years, it has honoured more work in the PR, brand and corporate communications space. Emily Andrews reports.

Once an awards festival that was predominantly geared toward the advertising community, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in its 62nd year, now caters to professionals from across the creative communications industries. These days, public relations professionals receive greater recognition by the organisations that they operate and collaborate with. Because of this and because of the increased integration of communications disciplines, the PR industry is also beginning to receive due representation and recognition at the prestigious Cannes Lions event.

Cannes Lions offers a packed, week-long programme of awards and events including workshops, exhibitions, screenings, masterclasses and seminars. Sam Lythgoe, MD at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, says, “The Cannes Lions Festival is unique because it goes beyond being just an awards show, it builds a community for a whole week that allows creativity to be shared between people from all kinds of backgrounds who ultimately share the same goal.” The festival is truly global with over 13,500 delegates attending from around 90 different countries.

Cannes_Lions2.jpegFor some, the networking opportunities available are the main draw, and around a third of those in attendance don’t actually go along to the scheduled talks. The event allows industry leaders from brands and agencies around the world to meet and share ideas. David Gallagher, CEO at Ketchum Europe and ICCO president, says, “Some come to be inspired, others to network. For me it’s a little bit of both, plus an opportunity to peek at great work from other disciplines and agencies.”

This year delegates are looking forward to the inaugural Glass Lion award. The award recognises work that implicitly or explicitly addresses issues of gender inequality or prejudice. The winning campaign should represent a shift towards more positive, progressive and gender-aware communications. Lauren Crampsie, worldwide chief marketing officer at Ogilvy & Mather, says, “I am most looking forward to the inaugural Glass Lion award, which I hope will eventually broaden its focus from gender inequality to all cultural injustices we face as a society. Marketers have a responsibility now, more than ever, to lead the charge for global change.” In its launch year, the Glass Lion category has received 166 entries.

Also new this year is the Lions Innovation Festival, a two-day event which will explore data and technology as catalysts for creativity. Fenot Tekle, senior corporate communications manager at LinkedIn, says, “This year, I’m expecting to hear about the intersection of technology and creativity. At LinkedIn, we consider this the core of our own business, so we’re excited to learn about how others in the industry are thinking about it.”

Cannes_Lions3.jpgAt this year’s Cannes Lions, the best place to network will be on the new Official Cannes Lions Beach, directly opposite the renowned Carlton Hotel. In the morning, delegates will be able to hear the CMOs of major global brands in conversation with the Economist, and at five o’clock in the evening, ‘Meet the Winners’ sessions will take place. Cannes sponsor, ICCO, will, for the first time, act as a host and convener for the PR and communications community at its House of PR on the beachfront.

ICCO will also be sponsoring the Young Lions PR Competition for the second time this year. The competition sees teams of young PR professionals briefed by a charity or non-profit organisation acting as the ‘client.’ The entries are judged and winners will receive tickets to next year’s Cannes Lions as well as the invaluable exposure that the festival provides.

The Cannes Lions programme covers a wide range of topics. The highlights for PR professionals will depend on the sector they operate in, whether their clients are mostly B2B or B2C, and other factors, however, a yearly favourite is the Saatchi & Saatchi presentation, which surprised people last year with heart rate monitors and a screening of hugely creative video content. The event, which celebrates new directing talent, is celebrating its 25th year at the festival.

Cannes_Lions4.jpgCannes Lions also has its fair share of celebrity speakers with this year’s line-up including Pharrell Williams on ‘creativity through collaboration,’ David Guetta on ‘authenticity and influence through celebrity endorsements’ and Marilyn Manson at the ninth annual Grey Music Seminar. These talks add to the glitz and the glamour of the event which takes place in a part of France that has long been associated with celebrity and luxury.

Many of the PR agencies in attendance will contribute to the packed festival schedule by hosting their own talks and panels, and many more have entered into at least one of the 17 Cannes Lions awards categories and will be hoping to take home a prestigious Lion trophy. Ketchum, the most awarded PR agency at Cannes, has entered 23 projects this year. It is also hosting three different sessions, including the Young Lions Marketers Competition, where some of the globe’s best young talent will compete to develop a creative brief for a worldwide charity.

Across Cannes Lions, Lions Health and Lions Innovation, the prestigious awards have received more than 40,000 entries. At the festival, entries are judged by over 300 creative leaders before winners are awarded in five separate ceremonys. Shortlisted work is showcased in exhibitions and screenings for the duration of the event. A Cannes Lions trophy is a symbol of quality around the world and in every creative industry.

Cannes_Lions5.jpgThe main Cannes Lion festival is preceded by Lions Health on 19-20 June, it is a mini festival, launched in 2014, that is exclusively for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. The event was introduced to give due recognition to the previously overlooked health sector, an area with a wide range of unique communications challenges and one where strong creative strategy has the power to change lives. The inaugural Lions Innovation mini-festival will run on 25-26 June, overlapping with the main festival which runs from 21-27 June.

Each brand will come to Cannes Lions with separate motives and ideas about what it wants to take away from the event, whether it’s making new connections, learning from peers or gaining recognition for good work. The breadth of the festival programme and the variety of attendees offers a veritable feast for those that are passionate about communications.

Lythgoe says, “Apart from the great opportunity to be inspired by the work, the events and the people there. Cannes offers the chance for PR pros to be included in the conversation with the ‘traditional’ creative agencies – to be celebrated for the creativity that we also produce. But we’re still the new kids on the block, and need to do a better job of selling the idea, versus the execution.”

While PR at Cannes Lions remains largely overshadowed by advertising behemoths, the growing inclusion of PR professionals contributes to the strength of the event as it embraces more creative disciplines. As communications becomes more integrated in the post-digital age, there is less need to differentiate between disciplines. It is far more lucrative to celebrate outstanding, innovative work that achieves what it sets out to, whatever shape the creative process behind it takes.

Karen Strauss, partner and chief strategy officer at Ketchum, says, “The Cannes Lions Festival is the purest celebration of great ideas. No other marketing services gathering honours the blurring of the lines between disciplines like Cannes, with the most original work rising to the top.” This year’s event will offer some new attractions, but overall the principle intention is the same as ever; to exhibit and share the world’s most extraordinary creative work.

 

Article extracted from Communicate Magazine.

Evaluating an Evaluation Conference

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By Francis Ingham MPRCA, Chief Executive, ICCO

Print@PRCAIngham

Last week was the annual measurement-fest that is AMEC’s annual summit. As befits an organisation that yearns for clarity and order, the event was hosted in ever-so-clean, ever-so-polite, and ever-so-organised Stockholm. And as befits a serious organisation, the agenda was deliberative and, well, serious.

Two days of debate. What did I take away?

First, for a necessarily dry subject, AMEC attendees are passionate in their desire for change. They have a vision of the future, and are determined to get there.

Second, for all of that passion, they recognise the complexity of the matter in hand. The search for some silver bullet is long gone. This is now about principles, frameworks, understanding.

Third, they have a plan. Namely:

“AMEC commits:

• To develop and launch a new measurement framework to reflect the reality of integrated communications.

• To invest in a global PR and education campaign to reaffirm our support for the Barcelona Principles and the new “integrated (communications) measurement framework and educate the market about the importance of measurement.

• To work harder with all AMEC members internationally and with our partner PR association members, clients, and academics, throughout the world to make measurement mainstream.”

During the closing session at which these commitments were unveiled, ICCO’s CEO and Chairman, Barry Leggetter and Jeremy Thompson, singled me out in the audience and asked me if I could commits ICCO’s 31 Associations to work closely with AMEC and deliver these plans. As Chief Executive of an organisation representing over 2,000 agencies world-wide, my answer was an unequivocal yes. ICCO is uniquely placed as the premier international PR body to help make these pledges a reality.

We will now work to do so. Because what is clear from our ICCO and PRCA research is that measurement and evaluation lie at the heart of PR’s future –if we cannot explain exactly what our efforts have delivered, then we will never achieve our full potential.

A final thought… The next AMEC summit is in London. What an outstanding choice. Representing as I do both ICCO, the largest international body for PR associations; and also the PRCA, easily Europe’s largest such association, both based here in London, there could be no more appropriate location to make good on the Stockholm agenda. London should be a summit to remember.

 

Boilerplate

About ICCO

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 31 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Collectively, these associations represent over 2,000 PR firms.

Contact Binta Kristin Hammerich, ICCO Global General Manager

Public Relations Lacks Confidence

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By Stephen Waddington 

new-profile

 

@Wadds

 

Public relations has a confidence issue and yet our value to organisations has never been clearer.

Comedy and satire are characteristics of a healthy democratic society. The same applies to an industry.

We have some way to go in public relations.

Satire in public relations is this article How kids ruin your PR career in PRMomentor Move over Edwina Monsoon:meet today’s six mighty beasts of PR in The Guardian.

Both columns are anonymous. Very few people have the nerve to call out our profession and when they do they often get it wrong.

Critical analysis, another lifeblood of a healthy society, is confused with personal criticism in the public relations business. It is holding back our development.

It is very different to satire and critical analysis in accountancy, HR, marketing, design, or mainstream business media.

It belies a much bigger issue. The simple fact is that public relations lacks confidence.

 

Markets are conversations

The public relations industry must cease being introspective and define its value to organisations as the reputational and relationship adviser.

It must confidently assert its contribution to the broader economy if it is to consolidate the place that it is securing as a management discipline.

Markets are conversations. They are created and nurtured through dialogue. The Cluetrain Manifesto taught us this in 1999.

Modern organisations recognise the opportunity that new forms of media provide to engage directly with publics. And they recognise the potential reputational hit if they don’t.

The public relations industry has the opportunity to take the lead role in the communication between an organisation and its audiences.

Dynamic and forward thinking communication teams, and agencies, such as my own are firmly grasping the opportunity.

 

“Unassuming and self-effacing”

Public relations practitioners need to be braver and modernise more swiftly if they want to grasp this opportunity.

My fear is that the public relations isn’t moving fast enough and is unassuming and self-effacing. These are admirable characteristics in a human being but not in a boardroom.

There’s a turf war taking place between advertising, public relations and digital.

I don’t use that term lightly; it is a war. The battles are taking place in pitches and the reorganisation of communication and marketing departments day-in day-out.

The battle lines are being drawn by media change and audience consumption and the positions that advertising, public relations and digital professionals assume.

 

Customers don’t care

In many instances the lines between the disciplines are blurring to the extent that it not possible to tell one from the other.

If a County Council posts an editorial news update in its Facebook newsfeed and then pays to promote it to ensure that all its follower see the message, is that advertising?

If a retail brand works with a network analysis tool to identify the key influencers in its niche and then pays the company to manage an influencer campaign on its behalf, is that public relations?

If a mobile phone company alerts customers and prospects to a new service offer via email and a paid campaign via Facebook advertising is that customer relationship marketing, direct marketing or public relations?

One thing is for sure. The customer doesn’t care and the C-suite is following her lead.

 

Missed opportunities

The threat to public relations taking the lead or even having a role in either the reputational or marketing mix is its previous failure to adapt to new forms of media as quickly as other disciplines.

We’ve been here before.

In 1998 a company called Google launched with the purpose of enabling Internet users to find the most relevant content online.

Its vision of organising the world’s information and making it universally accessibly and useful has remained consistent for more than 17 years.

The rest as they say is history.

Google created an opportunity for a new industry to help organisations create content and build relationships online.

In 2011 that industry was worth $3billion in the UK (econsultancy, 2011) and $16 billion in the US (econsultancy, 2010).

It’s called search engine optimisation and is a growing segment of the burgeoning digital industry. Public relation has the opportunity to take back some of this market as Google tweaks its algorithms.

 

Potent proposition

The marketing industry isn’t waiting for permission to become the adviser to brands as its experts seek to start and engage in conversations with their audiences.

Advertisers have been quick to recognise how their discipline’s strengths in planning, creativity and production can be used in the new media environment.

The public relations industry for its part has the most potent proposition for organisations.

Public relations has always worked in the editorial environment, listening and crafting a narrative to enable organisations to build their reputation by earning attention and integrating paid wherever appropriate.

The industry needs to be brave enough to align its business model from the hierarchical structures of old to the new challenges that organisations face.

 

New public relations

An army of agencies and communication teams are adopting agile techniques and adding new skills.

They are rooting campaigns in objectives aligned to the organisation. They are using data and analytics to plan and evaluate, in real time.

They aren’t scared of integrating earned, paid and social media.

They are addressing professionalism through qualifications, standards and continuous professional development.

They are working collectively to tackle the issues that our business such as gender equality, diversity and workflow.

We must drive home our value through action. We also need to get a genuine sense of humour.

These characteristics will be a sure sign of a confident profession and one that is fit for the future.

 

This post was originally published on Stephen’s personal blog.

 

About Stephen Waddington

 Stephen is Chief Engagement Officer, Ketchum and Visiting Professor in Practice at the University of Newcastle. He’s Past President, CIPR and the author of #BrandVandals, Brand Anarchy, Chartered Public Relations, Share This and Share This Too.

State of the Market Pulse Check™: ICCO reports global PR growth; highlights the need to retain talent

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ICCO, the organisation representing 2,000 PR agencies in 31 countries around the world, today released its latest State of The Market Pulse Check™ findings.

Highlights: Continued growth; the need to retain talent; the rise of digital media; and challenges securing the right fees.

Following the biannual ICCO Board Meeting in Vienna April 2015,  board members were asked to complete the ICCO State of The Market Pulse Check™ to gain valuable insight into current developments of our industry. ICCO State of the Market

PR agencies reported continued growth in their local markets, with digital highlighted as the leading driver of expansion, and the main opportunity in the future (55%). Content generation was identified as the second most important factor (36%).

ICCO board members acknowledged talent retention as a key need in order to retain such growth (59%), and consultancies are beginning to acknowledge the importance of developing skills for the future (27%).

While reporting a mix of challenges, the ability to secure adequate fees for the work undertaken was the most frequently mentioned (32%), followed by general economic conditions (23%).

Commenting, ICCO Chief Executive Francis Ingham said:

“PR remains a global success story, with agencies in every part of the world reporting expansion. Digital is driving that growth strongly –agency heads who are investing in their agency’s digital skills can seize the moment and build their businesses.

What is highly encouraging is that agencies recognise the need to invest in the skills of their people. Our industry recognises that staff retention is key to client retention; and that people remain with their employers when their employers are investing in them –a neat and very virtuous circle.

The abiding challenge facing the industry remains as it ever has been –convincing clients to pay an appropriate amount for the excellent advice given to them by their agencies. That’s an area where there is still much to do.”

Open the ICCO State of the Market Pulse Check™ here

The ICCO ‘State of the Market’ Pulse Check was carried out in May 2015 by Question and Retain, the online Pulse Check™ company.

About ICCO

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 31 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Collectively, these associations represent over 2,000 PR firms.

Contact Binta Kristin Hammerich, ICCO Global General Manager

World PR Report: Global PR Industry Remains Bullish On Growth

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Research: Optimism & Attitudes

  • Global PR industry remains bullish on growth

  • Europe rebounds

  • Marketers continue to increase PR spend

Rankings: Top 10 | Top 250 | Fast Movers | Holding Groups/Networks
Analysis: Growth | Gender | CEO View

Public relations agency leaders from around the world remain generally bullish on the outlook for their business, with continuing optimism about the growth of the PR market in general and—to a slightly lesser extent—about their own agencies’ profitability.

The most significant shift saw less of a gap between the Americas and Asia (more optimistic in recent years) and Europe (where agency leaders have been inclined to pessimism).

Global optimism levels declined just a little from last year’s survey, with agency principals averaging a 7.62 (on a scale of one to 10) when asked whether they were optimistic about the future of public relations in their market (compared to 7.69 last year and 7.50 in 2013) and a 7.52 (down from 7.60) when asked whether they expected profits to increase this year.

12-OPTIMISMThe research—conducted by The Holmes Report and the International Communications Consultancies Organisation(ICCO) among nearly 500 PR agency principals as part of the World PR Report—found the gap between the Americas and Europe narrowing. Last year, North American agencies were considerably more optimistic than those in Western Europe (8.46 compared to 7.28) but this year optimism levels were more similar (7.89 for North America, 7.44 for Western Europe.

Once again, Latin America was the most optimistic region (7.90) and Eastern Europe the most pessimistic (7.16)—although again, the gap between the two narrowed significantly.

“For the past couple of years, Europe has lagged behind the rest of the world in part because of slower growth in the economy overall and in part because firms have not seen quite the same benefit from the social media revolution,” said Paul Holmes, founder and CEO of The Holmes Group. “But over the past 12 months, there has been an increase in optimism in Europe, in both the marketing and corporate communications realms.”

“Europe has undoubtedly been the most challenging region over the last few years. But from both this data, and what I see when visiting our European ICCO members, better times are definitely here, and growth and optimism are returning to European markets,” said David Gallagher, ICCO president and Ketchum EMEA CEO.

Globally, agencies are still broadly optimistic that marketers are increasing their spending on PR relative to other disciplines (6.05, down slightly from 6.19 the previous year). The biggest change was in Asia, which last year was most optimistic on this score (6.56) but this year was among the more pessimistic regions (5.76). North American agencies (6.33) remained the most optimistic about PR’s role in marketing.

16-MarketingSpend
Agencies are also optimistic about the willingness of clients to turn to PR for non-traditional services (a category that includes advertising, digital and social media support, and word-of-mouth marketing). Firms in the Americas and Asia (7.29) were most likely to report demand for such services, but Western European firms were significantly more optimistic on this score (6.95 compared to 6.65) than they were 12 months ago.

17- non-traditional-services
Similarly, Western European firms were increasingly more optimistic about their ability to meet clients’ digital needs (6.47).

On the corporate front, there is still a gap between the Anglo-Saxon markets and Asia—all of which report that CEOs in their regions take corporate reputation seriously—and other regions. North American agency principals are most likely (7.69) to say CEOs take reputation seriously, while agency heads in Eastern Europe are less convinced (6.88).

“One of the great opportunities for PR practitioners is to convince clients of the direct impact corporate reputation has on corporate success”, said Francis Ingham, ICCO chief executive and PRCA director general.

Agency leaders in Asia, meanwhile, were most likely to agree that companies in their region take corporate social responsibility seriously (7.41) compared to those in Eastern Europe (6.32), who see companies as least interested in CSR.

 

Read more via Holmes Report 

BULGARIAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES ANNOUNCES ITS NEW CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARD

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BAPRA (Bulagarian Association of Public Relations Agencies) are delighted to announce that Mrs. Denitsa Sacheva, Founder of PR agency Intelday Solutions, has assumed the role of the Chairwoman of BAPRA Board. Mrs. Sacheva was appointed to the position, which carries a two-year term, on May 12, 2015, during the annual General meeting in Sofia. She previously served a two-year term as Vice Chairwoman on the BAPRA Board.

Getting ready for your first Cannes Lions?

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by Gabriela Lungu, integrated creative director & Cannes Lions veteran

gabriela lungu

@GabrielaLungu

 

 

Congratulations! Your firm is sending you to Cannes Lions!  It’s the most important International Festival of Creativity for the Marcom industry, so you should be very proud that you were chosen (the pass for the festival, plus the transport, the accommodation and other expenses, are quite a significant investment for any company; and yours is investing in you!).

The best thing to do now is to make the most out of this awesome experience. But the truth is that going to Cannes Lions for the first time can be quite intimidating.

This is no small event. It’s one who practically takes over an entire city for a full week. Huge main venue, and many other smaller ones. 12,000 people attending. Lots of things, all very interesting, happening in parallel. Amazing superstars, from the industry and beyond, to see and meet at the different gatherings – some official and some not so official. And all the temptations of the French Riviera at walking distance. What to choose? How to make sure you’re not missing out?

As a Cannes Lions veteran, I’m asked lots of questions every year.

Here are my top 7 tips:

  1. Download the official Cannes Lions App. This app is your best friend. Read what’s happening at this year’s edition and start planning. Decide who you want to see, where you want to go and put together a personalized agenda. Make a plan A, but also a plan B. You’ll have to be flexible to fully enjoy the week
  2. When you get there, take the official “HOW TO CANNES DAILY TOUR” to find your way around the Festival’s main venue, Le Palais des Festivals. After you know your Grand Audi from your Debussy, you’ll instantly feel more confident.
  3. From the Palais, take a walk on the Croisette and maybe even a little sightseeing tour around Cannes. Remember where the biggest hotels (especially Majestic, Carlton and Martinez) and the beaches are. Many events, especially the evening ones, are happening outside the Palais, in one of these locations.
  4. Keep in mind that you’ll be one of the 12,000 people who come to be inspired at Cannes Lions. If a seminar sounds very interesting to you, chances are the other 11,999 people will think the same. If you really want to be in the same room with an inspiring speaker, make sure you are in that room really early (with 2-3 hours in advance) and you don’t leave it. Not even for bathroom breaks.
  5. If you can’t get in for one of the big seminars, don’t be disappointed. Go to a workshop instead. Many times, the most valuable and practical information are shared in the smaller sessions.
  6. Go to the parties you’re invited to. There are amazing networking opportunities. Go to the after-parties too; there are many planned and unplanned ones all over the city. Enjoy the rosé (they call it ‘the Festival’s water’). But make sure you’re up and running again early in the morning. There must be parties all the time where you’re coming from; but there’s only one Cannes Lions Festival every year.
  7. Go to The House of PR (Grand Palais Beach, Cabana 11), a fun and comfortable meeting space for the PR community. Get involved with the scheduled activities from Monday 22nd June to Wednesday 24th June, from 9am till 6pm. Throughout the festival the House of PR will play host to interviews, live streaming and much more. Look out for the live updates – twitter: @ICCOpr, #WELOVEPR.

Of course, the most important thing is to… relax. If you ever feel confused, remember that even the smug veterans had their first Cannes Lions once. Enjoy it to the maximum, let yourself be inspired, and then share this inspiration with your colleagues back home.

See you there!

TWO UK CONSULTANTS ARGUE THE CASE FOR A FRESH LOOK AT BUSINESS LEADERSHIP IN THE DECADER AHEAD

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BOOK TITLE: Reframing the Leadership Landscape: Creating a Culture of Collaboration.

In an uncertain and complex world leaders should not only respond to the speed of change but anticipate it. Sometimes it is unexpected, sometimes the signs are there but the dots are not joined.  Leaders need to adapt to a changing ecosystem in which the biggest challenges cross boundaries of the public, private and non-public sectors requiring closer collaboration.

Aggressive individualism is no longer a sustainable basis for companies needing to deliver social and economic value beyond narrow self-interest and short termism to balance shareholder stakeholder conflict.

Despite advances in business education in terms of supply and availability, organisational leaders cannot rest on their educational achievements they must become lifelong students.

Dr Roger Hayes (visiting fellow Greenwich University and fellow at Henley Business school) and Dr Reginald Watts onetime CEO of Burson Marsteller and who is a past chair of the PRCA and a Past President of CIPR:  LONDON, argue there are significant strands that need attention by ambitious managers  who seek the business heights. The tools are described in their book Reframing the Leadership Landscape: Creating a Culture of Collaboration in some detail and as they say “the tools are ready to be unpacked”. The only question is whether aspirant leaders are sensitive enough to read the signals and develop new skills to create the collaborative paradigm that will help them fill the leadership void.

Dr Roger Barker, Director of Corporate Governance at the UK Institute of Directors says in his Forward “the book provides business leaders with guidance and inspiration on how to nurture a culture which can help build trust in business”.  John Board, Dean of Henley Business School says “this well written book leads the way in promoting the changes required to maintain business growth and profitability”.

The book in its global emphasis outlines a new face for capitalism and launched 1st June 2015.

 

ICCO members get a 35% discount on this book by using the discount code: G15JLD35 when buying the book directly from the publisher here.