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

As I write this from cold, grey and wet London, it’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks the world’s marketing and communications geniuses will descend on the sunny South of France in droves for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The PR community has been making itself felt at Cannes with increasing numbers and influence for the past few years, and there is every reason to think 2014 may be the break-through year we’ve been waiting for.  So while the creative are choosing which ironic t-shirts to pack and local restaurants are stockpiling crates of rose, let’s make a few predictions:

1. 2014 becomes the year many PR people say they ‘got’ Cannes.  While our interest has been mostly around the awards competition and the mainstage speakers, 2014 marks the first year of a Young PR Lions competition.  Two-member teams from agencies around the world, thanks to sponsorship of ICCO and the underwriting support of global agency leaders Ogilvy,GolinHarris, H+K Strategies and my own employer, Ketchum, will answer a brief and demonstrate the problem-solving power of PR before a jury of global experts.  This is not a prediction, but a fact, but I believe it will mark the beginning of a tipping point, when sufficient numbers of PR people – especially our young influential – are engaged in the Cannes phenomena to make it part of their annual ‘inspiration diet’ for years to come.
2. A PR agency wins a Gold Lion in a non-PR category. I’m not sure – this may have already happened – but with the quality of PR agency submissions year on year, and with greater familiarity with the overall workings of the festival, I think this will be the year where one of us wins big in another category.  And why not?  Most great campaigns are designed to be shareable and newsworthy from the get-go.
3. AVE continues to decline as a measure of campaign effectiveness.  Last year’s jury made a point of frowning on advertising value equivalency – AVE, the dubious practice of assigning editorial news coverage an advertising value as an evaluation metric.  We urged future competitors to use real business, policy, behavioural  or social outcomes as the yardsticks for effectiveness.  I doubt AVE will die completely this year, but I hope it’s in in its last throe
4. A PR agency will win the PR Grand Prix!  Last year I predicted this would happen within two competitions, but that was a hedge.  After visiting many top agencies and national ICCO member associations, I am convinced that this is the year one of us takes home the biggest prize of all from the festival’s Monday ceremony. Network agencies are finding their best work to enter, and smaller independents are stepping into the ring with remarkable entries; surely one of theme will prevail this year.

In any case, this year’s festival promises to be a memorable and inspiring demonstration of global creativity, and for the first time ICCO will be on hand to welcome members of the PR community with hospitality and networking.  Please look for the ICCO booth in the Palais for information on ICCO activities and events.

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.

International PR trade body to partner with Cannes Lions on the new contest for the up-and-coming PR stars

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will this year launch a new Young Lions PR competition, providing young professionals in PR agencies with the chance to test their skills and showcase their talent.

Supported by The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), the Young Lions PR competition will see teams of two people – PR professionals aged 28 years or younger working as Assistant Account Executives, Account Executives, Senior Account Executives or Account Managers for PR agencies and consultancies – who have been through a pre-selection process in their own country, set up the by local Cannes Lions representatives, put their skills to the test and compete at an international level.

Once in Cannes, the competing teams will be set a brief by a charity or non-profit organisation that will act as the ‘client’. The aim of the 24-hour competition is to show how PR is effectively used to engage audiences with an organisation or a specific topic that the ‘client’ is dealing with. The competition will allow some elements of creative to be produced by the contestants that can be used when they present their strategy to a selected jury.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be presented to the winners with the Gold winners being honoured during the Creative Effectiveness, Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions Awards on Monday 16 June.

Once in Cannes, the competing teams will be set a brief by a charity or non-profit organisation that will act as the ‘client’. The aim of the 24-hour competition is to show how PR is effectively used to engage audiences with an organisation or a specific topic that the ‘client’ is dealing with. The competition will allow some elements of creative to be produced by the contestants that can be used when they present their strategy to a selected jury.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be presented to the winners with the Gold winners being honoured during the Creative Effectiveness, Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions Awards on Monday 16 June.

“As we continue to strengthen and amplify Cannes Lions’ efforts to provide rising stars with unique learning opportunities, the Young Lions PR competition will complement our existing contest offerings and give budding PR professionals a unique experience and a global platform that will help their career prospects. We are delighted to count on the support of the ICCO for this competition.”

Steve Latham, Cannes Lions’ Director of Talent and Training

“ICCO is focused on the future of the global PR industry and we see the Cannes Lions festival as a one-of-a-kind world stage to showcase the enormous potential and creativity of our young talent. We are delighted to help debut the Young PR Lions competition and eager to show our stuff among the best and brightest in Cannes this summer.”

David Gallagher, ICCO President; Senior Partner and CEO EMEA of Ketchum

Boilerplate

ICCO is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 29 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Collectively, these associations represent over 1,700 PR firms. www.iccopr.com

 

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will take place 15-21 June 2014, in Cannes, France. A comprehensive learning programme designed to accelerate essential training across all career levels and disciplines is available during the event as well as Young Lions Competitions for Print, Media, Cyber, Film, Design and Marketers. For further information or to register to attend, please visit

www.canneslions.com