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

Guest blog post by Stuart Smith, CEO EMEA of Ogilvy Public Relations Five years after PR got its own category we head again towards Cannes Lions 2014 wondering whether PR agencies will break through in the awards. Surely this will be the year? If it’s not, it will be for all the reasons we have outlined in the past. Can PR scale its great ideas across paid, owned and earned channels? Has PR convinced the CMO that what we do works? Can PR partner peer-to-peer with the other marketing disciplines? Are we adapting fast enough to the new integrated world of marketing and content? The industry conceded its natural territory: A long time ago, no one is quite sure when, PR was implicitly dropped from being included in the phrase “creative industries”. Back in the late 80s PR agencies, good ones, had planning, research and creatives. They occasionally had advertising subsidiaries (specialists admittedly), bought media and even executed large direct mail campaigns. Somewhere in the intervening years PR allowed itself to be pushed into a box where it stood for press releases and stakeholder relations. Every discipline became micro-specialist in what they did. Hence the calls from clients in the 90s for Integration 1.0 where all disciplines came together simply ensure we didn’t trip over each other during a big product launch. Clients know what they want from PR better than most agencies: Fast-forward twenty plus years and we see huge changes in the marketing, publishing and news industries driven by digital and social. Naturally brands are moving their budgets to reflect this and re-designing their own structures. If we are honest, agencies themselves are wrestling with how to adapt and become even more channel neutral and agile. A senior marketing client told me recently that “PR is uniquely placed to act as a bridge between the creative and the media agency for me. PR helps me develop campaign ideas that set the news agenda so we truly earn our media, not just buy it” Clients are already impatient for the PR industry to adapt faster:  That’s why clients are looking for new levels of integration not just across disciplines but in the development of channel-agnostic campaign platforms. Brands want to create real-time, authentic conversations with (and between) their consumers about real issues which mirror their day-to-day, real-world concerns, conversations and the news agenda. That is the PR industry’s heartland. Yet, worryingly a recent UK PRCA survey said that 55% of clients would consider buying PR services from “another type of agency”. A call-to-action (every great campaign needs one): That’s a lot of moving parts and some would say PR should be playing a bigger role in shaping the agenda. So how should PR respond? I will leave you with the challenge to complete this thought: “Brands and corporations would be better served by PR if….” There is no more pertinent time like the Cannes Lions 2014 festival for us to consider how to complete that sentence. @stuartsmith   Stuart Smith is the CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He has over twenty years experience in communications. In that time he has held senior positions within consultancies and in-house and has worked across many industries and geographies in both the private and public sectors. His experience with media brands covers PR for CNBC Europe, The Economist conferences and the BBC (who he advised on digital and blogging strategies prior to their launch). He is also a keen follower of the changing face of the media and its business model and how this is influencing the art and science of marketing. His experience of developing strategy spans a wide range of disciplines: change management programmes, acquisitions, disposals and rebranding; crisis management and issues preparedness; organisational effectiveness audits; communications and marketing; issues-led and public affairs campaigns; managing stakeholder relations across a range of NGOs; and the alignment of internal communications with brand repositioning programmes.оформить кредитную карту visa

Guest blog post by 2014 Young PR Lions contestants from Ireland This time next week, we will be attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity representing Ireland at the inaugural Young PR Lions competition. The festival, now in its 61st year, is the foremost industry event in creative communications and advertising. As part of our preparation for the competition, we have been reading up on festivals past. It seems that industry experts have been predicting that every year (since PR first became part of the festival in 2009) ‘will be PR’s year’. We thought it would be interesting to share our thoughts about what evidence there is to indicate that 2014 will be different. In the first instance, one clear indication that PR is becoming a more inherent part of the Cannes Lions discourse is the inaugural Young PR Lions competition which was launched this year with support from ICCO, GolinHarris, H+K Strategies, Ketchum and Ogilvy PR. Setting up this competition is a very clear commitment by the industry to foster and cultivate emerging PR talent. Secondly, 2014 is the 6^th year that PR has competed at Cannes. Over this time, the PR industry has become more attuned to what will really appeal to the Jurors at Cannes and how best to showcase our industry. 2012 was a watershed year for PR at Cannes. After another year of disappointment for PR, the judges expressed disappointment in the entries from PR firms which lacked ‘big ideas’, being too tactical, stuck in historic structures of “having one person who is the client contact, the idea generator and also the budget keeper”. We’ve had time to reflect on this disappointment and build on it. Lastly, everyone in the industry would agree that the PR industry is in a state of flux. We have to find new and more effective ways to identify and communicate to our audiences. As an industry, we have risen to that challenge and our imagination and innovation will be what sets us apart in years to come. Hopefully 2014 will be PR’s year.   Niamh O’Keeffe @niamh_okeeffe and Martyn Rosney @martynrosney are both Account Managers at Wilson Hartnell, Ireland’s leading PR agency and Ogilvy PR’s Irish office. They will be representing Ireland at the inaugural Young PR Lions competition at the 2014 Cannes International Festival of Creativity.срочно нужны деньги днепропетровск

Guest blog post by Petra Sammer, Chief Creative Officer, Ketchum Pleon & 2014 PR Lions Juror

Cannes Lions jury-members are generally asked two questions:  “How do I win?” and “Does PR really fit into the Cannes Lions Festival?” This year I have the honour of serving as a jury member on the PR Lion Awards and, true to form, I’ve been asked these questions many times. Here are my humble replies:

How do I win?

The first thing to remember is that the Cannes Lions competition organisers select new juries each year.  So there isn’t an entirely consistent winning formula, given that each new mix of professionals brings with them a slightly different focus and breadth of experience.

With a jury of 21 judges in the PR category alone, that focus can be really complex. This year the PR category jury brings together representatives from different networks, big agencies and small. There are judges across all global regions spreading from the Americas, to Europe, to Asia-Pacific. There are seven men and fourteen women from a host of different PR disciplines. There are 10 judges from network agencies and 11 from smaller agencies.  Five are from the Americas, twelve are from Europe, plus there are others from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India. It’s impossible to predict exactly what focus this “always-new-mix” may have until us judges get to work.

But I don’t want to disappoint you, and leave you with an unhelpful reply. Yes, of course there is a basic winning recipe, no matter who is on the jury. It’s what we call at Ketchum, the RISC-Factor. Judges will always look for strong Research behind a campaign. They will expect work to be built on a single Insight.  They will seek out a compelling Strategy and then want a wow moment of breakthrough Creativity. The trick is to present your award submissions in a very simple story that makes the RISC-Factor sing!  Jury members might see up to 10,000 campaigns during Cannes. So the simpler your story, and the clearer your evidence, the better.

Does PR fit into the Cannes Lions?

The simplicity you need to stand out at Cannes challenges many PR programmes. A lot of PR disciplines, like ongoing media issues or crisis PR, don’t fit easily into the Cannes format. Because of this, some people accuse Cannes Lions of forcing entrants to simplify PR and value the fancy, lifestyle-ish side of our profession above the deeper, more complex but no less worthy corporate work we do. My view is that we shouldn’t fall into the trap of regarding even Cannes Lions as the ultimate judgment of our creativity, or our profession for that matter.

There is so much creativity out there in PR, and so many different ways in which PR is not covered by Cannes. But does that mean we shouldn’t go there? Of course not!  The Cannes Lions Festival throws a spotlight on some of the strongest work in PR. It inspires our creatives and helps our industry recharge its batteries. It shows the power of PR and acts as a shop window for our clients and their brands, as well as other organizations and causes. Ultimately Cannes Lions draws attention to some of the wonderful campaigns that help make this world a better place.  And that´s the reason why I go. I hope I’ll see you there.

 

Petra Sammer, Partner & Chief Creative Officer, joined Ketchum 1992, was named Managing Director Ketchum Germany in 2006 and became a “Creative Hub” of the agency in Germany and Europe after Ketchum and Pleon merged in 2010.

As Chief Creative Officer Petra promotes the areas or creativity, strategy and planning to fulfil the agency´s promise of “break through ideas”. With more than 20 years of experience in marketing and PR, she is constantly building solutions at the intersection of business, communication and entertainment – a recognized leader with the ability to successfully inspire teams, drive business goals and serve storytellers, marketeers, digital experts and communication professionals – within the agency and clients.

Petra has provided award-winning thought leadership to major brands including Burger King, Bosch, BMW, Kodak, IBM, Mattel, Merck, Pixar, Starbucks and Sennheiser to name a few.

Petra is part of the 2014 PR Lions Jury at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Guest blog post by David Gallagher, ICCO President & CEO EMEA, Ketchum

In my experience, PR people respond to the Cannes Lions Festival in one of three ways:

• The doubters:  ‘Not for me. It’s really an advertising festival and not where serious PR should be.’
• The curious:  ‘It sounds interesting, but I’d need to know more before investing that kind of money.’
• The true believers: ‘Cannes is where the action is, and love it or hate it, we need to be in the thick of things.’

As a delegate from the devout faction, I’m pretty sure nothing comes close to matching the Festival as a source for inspiration, insight and foreshadowing for our increasingly integrated and global business. But in the past I’ve looked at Cannes Lions as both doubter and curious voyeur, so I’m pleased to see ICCO throwing back the curtains on the festival with useful information and perspectives for the Festival first-timers, grizzled veterans and even the stay-at-home critics.

Wherever your opinion sits, here are five good reasons to stay close to ICCO during the Festival through our onsite booth, this website and social media:

1. Strength in numbers.  Even Cannes old-timers can find the sheer crowds at the Festival overwhelming, and it’s always nice to see a familiar face.  Use the ICCO booth 12.01 in the Palais as a rallying point for networking and meetings, and for the latest on PR-related news and information.
2. All the news that’s fit to share.  We’ll be collating and sharing perspectives on what’s hot – trends, learnings and analysis – from a range of sources, including our four main agency supporters:  GolinHarris, H+K Strategies, Ogilvy and Ketchum (go team).
3. It’s a festival in the South of France, after all. We’ll be socialising in advance of the PR Awards celebration on Monday night, toasting what should be a great showing for the whole industry. If you haven’t yet RSVP’d, there’s still time.
4. Meet the Young Lions.  For the first time, teams of two under-28s from up to 20 countries will vie to win the golden Young PR Lions accolade at an on-site competition. We’ll toast their success and wish them well in this glimpse of the future of our business.
5. There’s a world outside PR, you know.  One of the great opportunities of Cannes Lions is to see creativity expressed through work of those trained in other disciplines  We’ll encourage participants to share what they liked (or didn’t) throughout the festival with the hashtags #ICCOCannes for general observations and #WeLovePR for professing your industry support.

See you on the Croisette!

 

As a Senior Partner and CEO of Ketchum’s European operations and chairman of the UK agency, David Gallagher brings more than 20 years of public relations experience, both as a client and as a senior agency adviser, to some of the world’s leading brands and companies.

David Gallagher oversees Ketchum’s nine European agencies and their specialist services, which include consumer public relations, healthcare communications, corporate affairs and social responsibility, public affairs, change management, and clinical trial recruitment.

He is president of the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO), the global umbrella network of 30 national PR agency trade associations, and a fellow and past chairman of the UK Public Relations Consultants Association.  He chairs the World Economic Forum’s global agenda council on the future of media, and was the 2014 PR jury president for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.