The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is one of the world’s largest advertising and communication festivals, held every June in Cannes, France.
Every year, more than 15,000 creators and advertising professionals gather to hold awards to recognize outstanding works from among tens of thousands of exhibited works. In addition, GAFA companies such as Google, Apple, and Facebook as well as other famous companies from around the world will also be participating, as well as talk sessions with CxO classes, marketers, and world-renowned artists.This advertising is worthy of being called the world’s best in both name and reality.・It is a festival of communication.
Tetsuya Honda, who we interview this time, has been participating in Cannes Lions for over 10 years. He is known as a PR strategist who was selected as one of the “300 Most Influential PR Professionals in the World” by PR WeeK, the world’s leading advertising industry media. Mr. Honda has held various roles so far, including being an official speaker at Cannes Lions, a judge in the PR department, and a lecturer at the Young Creative Academy for young creators. And in 2018, as a session moderator, he had a track record of successfully hosting the largest talk session among LDH members at the venue.
This time, Mr. Honda, who is well-versed in Cannes Lions, will explain the history and history behind the establishment of Cannes Lions, the significance of the event in terms of marketing, and provide a basic explanation of “What is Cannes Lions?” as well as the world as seen at Cannes Lions 2024. We also talked about trends in creativity and marketing issues in Japan.
The world’s largest advertising and communication festival held in Cannes, the city of film festivals.
— Cannes Lions (official name: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity) is known as the “world’s largest advertising festival.” Until now, Mr. Honda has been deeply involved as an award judge and as a speaker at talk sessions. First of all, could you please tell me what Cannes Lions is?
Honda
Cannes Lions is one of the world’s largest festivals of creativity, held every June in the French resort town of Cannes for several days.
As you know, Cannes is generally known as the host of the Cannes Film Festival. Cannes Lions was established in 1954 as an award to recognize advertising films shown during the festival.
At the beginning, there were only a few departments, but as the times changed, new departments were added one after another as the times changed, including the film department, press department, outdoor department, cyber (Internet) department, and the PR department, which is my area of expertise. Divisions have been added, and this year in 2024, the division has progressed to 30 divisions.
Previously, it was held under the name “Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival,” and in Japanese media it was called “Cannes International Advertising Festival,” but since 2011 it has been renamed “Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.” , the aspect of “creativity” has come to be emphasized, rather than just a festival of advertising.
It attracts more than 15,000 visitors each year, and its influence as one of the world’s top advertising, communication, and creative awards is growing year by year.
–So it’s changing from an advertising festival to a festival of creativity. Mr. Honda, how did you become deeply involved with Cannes Lions?
I have been visiting
the Honda
site since the 2010s, and have exchanged opinions with marketers and creators from around the world at the venue. I became more involved in it after I took the stage as an official speaker in 2015.
Cannes Lions is not only a competition for creative works, but also a hugely popular event every year, with talk sessions featuring advertising and communication industry experts from around the world. In 2015, I gave a lecture titled “OPENING THE KIMONO ON KILLER JAPANESE CRETIVITY.”
Since then, the number of people in Europe and the United States who have a strong interest in Japanese content and culture has been increasing, but there were few opportunities to disseminate information about Japan in these places. I’m glad I was able to listen to it!” and received high praise.
The following year, in 2016, he served as a lecturer at the Young Creative Academy, where professionals from the advertising, PR, and creative industries provide guidance to young creators. He was selected as one of the members and judged the entries together with the world’s top PR people.
In 2018, he took on a multifaceted role, including supporting the realization of sessions for LDH (an entertainment company led by former EXILE HIRO) as a session moderator.
–So far, you have been involved in Cannes Lions in various ways, including as an official speaker, lecturer, judge, and session moderator.
The story behind LDH’s appearance at the Cannes Lions: Why was Japanese content sought after?
――What was the impetus for LDH, which includes artists such as EXILE, to appear at the Cannes Lions talk session?
The 2018 session came about when HIRO, the representative of
Honda
LDH, consulted us and said, “As part of our global strategy, we would like to further increase our presence in the world.”
I regularly discuss with everyone at LDH how to raise LDH’s profile overseas, and we talked about how we would like to have a session at the Cannes Lions, which I know well. I proposed this idea because I thought that if we could highlight the efforts and global strategies of Japan’s leading artist group at Cannes, it would lead to increased global recognition.
However, Cannes is not a world where connections work, the jurors change every year, and talk session slots are decided on a proposal basis. It’s not something you can buy no matter how much money you have. You can only win by competing head-on to find out how you can create a proposal that will stick with the management side.
――Even though you have been deeply involved with Cannes Lions as an official speaker, judge, and lecturer, getting a slot isn’t that easy, is it?
Honda:
That’s right. GAFAM-class companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, as well as globally known global companies such as Tencent and Huawei, will be on stage, so the presentation will not be easy.
However, the live performances and production capabilities of LDH’s artists, the multifaceted business strategies that go beyond music and dance, the huge economic effects that come from this, and the presence of a leader with the foresight to draw up a global strategy like HIRO. , there are many powerful weapons unique to LDH.
Based on this, we created a straightforward proposal stating, “LDH can do these kinds of sessions and presentations,” and submitted an entry. As a result, the organizers immediately responded, “This is interesting!” and I was invited to the event without any hesitation.
–What do you think was the key point in LDH’s proposal for a talk session being adopted?
Honda:
I can think of several reasons, but while there are many people in Western countries who have a strong interest in Japanese content and culture, there is not enough information dissemination from the Japanese side, so their information needs are not fully met. There may be a major reason why this is not the case.
In addition, the “economic effect” generated by LDH artists may have been one of the deciding factors.
The annual live attendance of EXILE and other LDH artists was on the same scale as Coldplay, the British rock band that is overwhelmingly popular around the world. I think that’s why the Cannes Lions management was interested in the kind of mysterious impact that “a little-known Japanese entertainment group with the popularity of Coldplay is coming.”
The response was bigger than expected! LDH’s potential was shown on stage with 3,000 people
–And now it’s time for the talk session.
Honda:
After many meetings, the panel consisted of VERBAL from m-flo, Afrojack, the world-famous DJ who is CEO of LDH EUROPE, Luke Wood, president of Beats Electronics, and myself. I took the stage and took charge of the whole event as a moderator. And for the session, HIRO, the head of LDH, appeared.
Needless to say, HIRO is the head of LDH and the core of this session. VERBAL is a native English speaker and has a wealth of experience overseas and on the international stage, so we decided to have him lead the session as the face of LDH.
AforoJack is a world-famous DJ from the Netherlands, and is also the CEO of LDH Europe, as well as a celebrity with outstanding recognition in Europe.
Luke Wood is the global CEO of Beats Electronics, an American audio equipment brand that is a subsidiary of Apple. He has long had connections with LDH, such as using LDH artists in Beats advertisements in Japan, and because Cannes Lions tends to favor key people from operating companies like Apple and Google, he is an important member. I was asked to participate as a.
–The members held a talk session on the theme of “LDH’s global strategy.” What kind of response did you feel at that time?
Honda:
“My honest impression is that it was more successful than I expected.”
Just being able to appear in the talk session slot at Cannes Lions was a huge accomplishment, but the organizers had a much better reputation in advance than we could have imagined, and from the stage originally allocated to 400 people, to the main stage of the film festival. The venue was changed to a large theater with a capacity of 3,000 people.
What’s more, there was a big surprise: LDH’s session was selected as one of the top 5 sessions of the year, along with Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.
–It’s a great accomplishment to be selected in the top 5! Why did LDH, which was not well known in Europe at the time, attract so much attention?
Honda:
As I mentioned earlier, while there are many people who are interested in Japanese content and culture, I think this is largely because Japanese companies and organizations have not actively disseminated information.
With this background in mind, I believe that by structuring the event in a way that hinted at the mystery of “an unknown Japanese entertainment group taking the stage,” it strongly aroused the interest of local people and became a hot topic.
During the session, LED performance team SAMURIZE (SAMURIZE from EXILE TRIBE) belonging to LDH also cooperated, and they performed a dance performance at the end of the session. The unique performance, which combines light and dance, performed by dancers wearing full-body LED costumes, filled the venue with excitement, and was praised with a standing ovation, something we never expected. The event ended on a high note.
What’s more, this is the great thing about Cannes Lions: we receive interview offers from Western media, selection for online broadcasts that cover only a limited number of sessions, and performances by people from global entertainment companies who watched the stage. They were so impressed that they later contacted LDH, resulting in a number of responses and new connections.
Trends in 2024 will change from seriousness to humor, and from AI to humanity.
――From your perspective, Mr. Honda, who has been deeply involved with Cannes Lions up until now, what kind of trends did you see at Cannes Lions this year (2024)?
Honda:
My impression is that European and American works were overwhelmingly strong this year. Although there were a certain number of nominations and talk sessions held for creative works from Asia, including Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, and India, there was a strong tendency for European and American works to receive high praise. The works that stuck in my mind were all from Europe and America.
By the way, Japan received one gold award, two silver awards, and eight bronze awards out of the 30 categories for which there were entries, which seems a bit lonely compared to the past awards awarded to Japanese companies.
However, this year, not only Japan but Asia as a whole was on the decline. Under such circumstances, the number of entries from Singapore approximately doubled, and a work from Singapore won the Grand Prix in the glass category, making for a remarkable breakthrough.
–So the powers in Asia, including Japan, were weak this year. What do you think of the overall trend of your work?
Honda:
I felt strongly that there were two main trends.
The first one is “humor”.
In recent years, there has been a strong tendency for serious works with themes of global issues such as SDGs and sustainability to be highly praised, and there was a feeling that many people were becoming dissatisfied with serious works. Perhaps it’s because of a change in style, but this year we’ve seen a tendency for works that take a bolder approach to humorousness to receive high acclaim. This may be due to the fact that the social situation has changed from pessimism to optimism after overcoming the coronavirus pandemic.
The second is a return to basics: “From AI to humanity.”
Last year, there were a large number of works with the theme of AI, including a work by an Australian law firm that used generative AI to raise social issues (*1), and a work that skillfully exploited the weaknesses of AI to highlight the history of the brand. It was a year in which the presence of AI stood out, with a variety of AI-related works entered, including Heinz’s work (*2), which created a virtual game video of athletes using machine learning, and Nike’s work (*3), which created a virtual game video of athletes using machine learning. I did.
*1:
Cannes Lions 2023 Maurice Blackburn “Exhibit AI”
*2:
Heinz AI Ketchup
*3:
CANNES LIONS 2023 GRAND PRIX DIGITAL CRAFT – NEVER DONE EVOLVING FEAT SERENA
Perhaps as a reaction to this, the word “humanity” was being thrown around a lot at the venue and sessions this year, and I felt that many of the entry entries had themes such as “things that only humans can do that AI cannot do” and “humanity.”
Tetsuya Honda chooses the 3 most impressive films at Cannes Lions in 2024
–Among this year’s entries, which one particularly left an impression on you?
HondaA
total of 26,753 works were entered into this year’s Cannes Lions. Out of such a huge number of entries, only 3% receive an award, and even more so, only 0.1% of all entries receive a so-called multiple award, in which one work wins Grand Prix in multiple categories. Therefore, works that win the Grand Prix can be said to be without a doubt the world’s best works.
Among these, the following three works particularly impressed me.
Have a fun time with hit songs from yesteryear!? Get rid of your reluctance to get your hearing tested!
Specsavers – The Misheard Version (case study)
HondaThe
first one is a commercial used for a campaign called “The Misheard Version” by Specsavers, a British eyewear retail chain.
Specsavers is known as a retail eyewear chain that not only offers vision testing but also hearing testing services. However, because of its strong image as an eyeglass chain, there was a problem in that fewer people took hearing tests. This piece was created as part of a campaign to increase awareness of hearing testing services and increase the number of people receiving them.
The song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” which is a signature song by Rick Astley, a leading vocalist of the 80’s dance-pop scene, and is very famous among people in their 50s and 60s, is skillfully used to raise awareness about hearing loss. This is a commercial that says.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” is famous for being misheard due to Rick’s singing style and voice quality, so he dared Rick Astley to record “Never Gonna Give You Up” with the wrong lyrics. I received it. The aim was to create a sense of crisis in people who heard the song in the commercial and thought, “Huh? The lyrics sound different. Maybe I have hearing loss…”
The impact of the commercial was far greater than Specsavers could have imagined, with people across the UK asking, “Did you hear the song in that commercial?” and “(quoting the wrong lyrics) Rick Astley would be happy to sing it lol.” The reaction spread mainly on SNS. In addition, Specsavers’ hearing test reservations exceeded the original goal by 1220%, making it a huge success.
This work won the Grand Prix in the PR category at Cannes Lions 2024.
Jugenmu’s long promo code that fooled Super Bowl viewers
DoorDash – DoorDash All The Ads (case study)
Honda
: The second commercial is for the American food delivery chain DOORDASH called “DOORDASH-ALL-THE-ADS.”
DOORDASH, known for its food delivery services, wanted to increase awareness of its newly launched service “Your Door to More,” which delivers everything other than food, and secured a commercial slot for the Super Bowl, which is attracting national attention. did.
The Super Bowl is America’s largest sporting event, watched by a total of 180 million viewers. It is expected that large, well-known companies will all participate and a commercial battle will take place, so in order to make a big impact on viewers, it is necessary to come up with innovative ideas with a twist rather than a straightforward approach.
Therefore, for three months before the Super Bowl, DOORDASH has been running teaser ads that offer “Win luxury prizes such as cars, travel, clothing, and miscellaneous goods!” and “Enter the promo code that will be played in commercials on the day of the game.” As a result, people’s expectations continued to rise.
On the day of the Super Bowl, a promotional code was announced in a commercial, but what was played was a strange long sentence of 1813 characters, reminiscent of “Shougenmu”. If you enter all of this information into a promotional site, you will win a prize, so many people ignore the game and concentrate on their notes. However, there are 1813 characters, and the codes are divided into blocks randomly in the commercial, so it is impossible to write down everything correctly.
Americans love humor, so the joke of the century was spread on social media and became a hot topic across the United States, with a wry smile and a laugh. It also won the Grand Prix of the Titanium Award at Cannes Lions, a category that recognizes innovative measures.
Succeeded in improving the image of women’s soccer by fooling viewers with videos using VFX technology
Orange – WoMen’s Football (case study)
HondaAnd
the third one is a commercial called “WOMEN’S FOOTBALL” by Orange, a French telecommunications company.
Orange is a company that has been sponsoring French soccer for many years. Through these activities, I have witnessed the reality that women’s soccer is less popular than men’s soccer. We believe that the reason for the unpopularity of women’s soccer is that there is a preconception that “the level is lower than men’s soccer and it is not interesting,” and we created this work to dispel that image.
The content is to process video of the French women’s national soccer team’s soccer team using VFX (isual effects) technology, and to play a commercial with male players superimposed on female players. The first half is a normal match between top-notch male soccer players, but in the second half, the VFX reveal is made: “Actually, this match was between women, not men!”
The faces and bodies of the players after processing are not fictitious players, but real world-class male soccer players such as Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele. The French women’s national soccer team has a level of skill and speed that is on par with the men’s, and everyone is fooled into thinking, “The French men’s soccer team is amazing!”
In the second half of the commercial, when the VFX processing is explained, viewers are astonished, saying things like, “Is the French national women’s soccer team really that high of a level?” and “It was even more of a spectacle than I expected!”
The commercial ends with the message, “If you love football you love ‘Wo’ men’s football” (If you love soccer, you also love women’s soccer), a style that is full of French wit and spirit.
This work won the Grand Prix in the Entertainment Lions for Sports category.
–Certainly, all three works are full of humor.
There are many other works by
Honda
that won the Grand Prix, but personally, these three works left a particularly strong impression on me. I felt that these works strongly expressed the two trends that were particularly prominent at this year’s Cannes Lions: humor and humanity.
Lessons Japanese companies learned from Cannes Lions: The importance of courage and humor, and the active participation of clients!
――After participating in this year’s Cannes Lions, what do you think is lacking or the issue in the marketing of Japanese companies today?
HondaAs I
mentioned earlier, this year I got the impression that there were a lot of bold works that went all out with humor, and I felt that Japanese people are not good at expressing this kind of humor.
To be more precise, it’s a lack of courage on the part of the client who has the final decision-making power, but the production side, such as advertising agencies, has a strong desire to do something interesting, and they even make quite unconventional plans at the proposal stage. Although I create pieces, the client tends to be hesitant, perhaps due to soil or temperament, and end up with a mediocre product with a muted tone.
Japan is a country with a long-established humorous culture called “tonchi” and “rakugo” based on it, which is similar to Western jokes and wit, so you should be able to find the same kind of entertainment as the previous three works. is. However, at the very end, his conservative nature rears his head and gets in the way. I feel frustrated about that part.
–The bad part is that it seems too serious.
Honda:
That’s right. Based on the global trends that I noticed through this year’s Cannes Lions, the key thing Japan should learn is to “have courage and take the plunge when it’s time to take the plunge.”
–In that sense, it’s important for not only creators but also clients to actively participate in events like Cannes Lions and experience as many works as possible that are highly acclaimed around the world.
The Japan office of
Honda
Cannes Lions is run by Nikkei Shimbun, and Nikkei Shimbun itself says, “Not only people involved in advertising, but also domestic manufacturers and business companies who are clients, should participate in Cannes Lions more and be exposed to the work.” “It’s important,” and I think that’s exactly right.
Observing global trends directly at the world’s most prestigious venue will provide us with extremely important lessons when considering future marketing strategies. I hope that many people involved in creativity, not just creators, will participate.
Looking forward to Japan’s future being pioneered by young marketers
–In our discussions so far, we have seen the issue of “Although there are many people who are interested in Japan, the information dissemination from Japan is not keeping up.” For example, how does Japan compare to countries such as South Korea, which have strong overseas strategies?
Honda:
At this year’s Cannes Lions, there was a tendency for Asian teams to perform poorly, but there is something to be learned from South Korea’s outward-looking ability to communicate. Due to differences in English education and other factors, it is unavoidable to some extent that Japan will be at a disadvantage at Cannes, where speaking in English is essential. The ability to communicate in English is another challenge for Japanese marketers.
However, when I look at young Japanese people I have met at events such as the Young Lions Competition (a gateway to success for young people in the communication industry), where I am the chairperson of the judging committee that selects the Japanese representatives, I find that they are able to give presentations in English at a native level. It has also increased considerably.
In the future, there is a possibility that the situation at Cannes will change as young Japanese marketers make strides due to generational changes.
–You mean that young marketers who will be responsible for the future of Japan will be responsible for the future of Japan. Thank you very much for today!