It’s that time of year again. This month, the Middle East’s advertising agencies head to France for the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, hoping to build on the success of recent years: A gold in 2005 and a gold and a silver last year.
 
Vincent Raffray, creative director of Tonic Communications, the first-ever winner of a Gold Lion from the region, reminds us that Cannes “isn’t the only awards show out there.” Which is true. But it’s still the big one.
 
And despite many Dubai agencies’ claims that they don’t really worry too much about awards, well… We don’t believe you. Put it this way: If any of them wins a gold, we expect to be sick of hearing about it within a couple of months.
 
There are reasons for optimism that the Middle East can put in a healthy showing at Cannes this year.
 
One of them is the Dubai Lynx awards. Run by the International Advertising Festival – the same folks that bring us Cannes – the Lynx gave regional agencies a fair idea of how an impartial, international jury would rate their work.
 
Several ads won praise at the Lynx ceremony, and it’s fair to expect that some might gain at least shortlist mentions in Cannes. Look out for the bizarre Melody TV ads from Leo Burnett in Cairo, the ear-catching Chiquita Bananas’ radio campaign from Fortune Promoseven in Dubai, and JWT’s Amnesty International print ads.
 
There’s a surprising disparity between agencies when it comes to how much they’re investing in Cannes entries.
 
Few agencies in the region say they have entered more than 10 ads, but some, like the Dubai offices of Saatchi & Saatchi and Team Y&R, have sent in almost 50 entries each.
 
H&C Leo Burnett in Beirut submitted 39, the highest number of entries from Lebanon. At €580 for a TVC and €310 for each print or outdoor submission, this adds up to a sizable investment.
 
There are several ways of looking at this, of course: Certainly some agencies have simply produced a greater quantity of good work than the others. Others might be accused of going for the approach of “throw everything at them and hope something sticks.” (Some agencies, meanwhile, appear to be counting a campaign as a single entry. The festival guidelines state that each ad should be treated as a unique submission.)
 
Beirut’s horrific year is reflected in the low number of entries from most Lebanese agencies. Many aren’t submitting ads at all. When those agencies say they have bigger worries than awards, this year we do believe them.
 
Communicate contacted creatives at the agencies that submitted the most ads to talk about their chances and those of the region as a whole. Overall, there’s an air of cautious optimism. We’d like to think that will prove justified by the end of the festival on June 23.
 
Team Y&R, Dubai
When it comes to international advertising awards, Team Y&R was one of the first Dubai-based agencies to start gaining recognition. With 48 submissions to Cannes this year, it’s fair to assume that Team places considerable significance on the event. Not so, says creative director Shahir Ahmed.
 
“All of us understand that the judging is random as hell,” he says. “We don’t waste time thinking and hoping and wishing, you know. I’m sure my 22-year-old copywriter is clutching his groin and his heart and his head, hoping against hope, but as a group – as a rule – we don’t talk about it much.
 
“Until the trophies come, we don’t give a fuck about awards per se. It’s great, yeah, but the work’s the main thing.”
 
Ahmed believes that many of the winners will be chosen because of “good PR.” Campaigns that the judges have already seen always stand a better chance, he says. Especially if they’ve already won elsewhere. “It doesn’t matter where the jury’s from, the same sort of work always comes up,” he says. “You can say the cream rises to the top, but…”
 
Ahmed’s cynicism hasn’t prevented him from giving some thought to the agency’s chances at Cannes this year, though. “It would be very rewarding if the ‘Second thing in the morning’ campaign gets a nod. It was a pleasure to do, good to see in print, and Gulf News is a great client,” he says.
 
The ads were produced by copywriter Vikram Divecha. “He loved his idea so much he art-directed it himself,” says Ahmed. “And he illustrated it as well. It’s all him.”
 
And did the creator of Team’s great hope for Cannes get three times the salary for his work?
 
“No he didn’t. But he gets to keep his job for another two months.”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 3
Press - 36
Outdoor - 4
Media - 1
Radio - 4
TOTAL - 48
 
Saatchi & Saatchi, Dubai
After its stellar performance at the inaugural Dubai Lynx awards this year, when it was named agency of the year, Saatchi & Saatchi’s Dubai office is positive about its chances at this year’s Cannes Lions.
 
“If things have won anywhere else – in sensible award schemes – then they clearly have the characteristics that are liable to appeal to the judges,” says Saatchi’s creative director for the Middle East region, Ed Jones. “So, obviously, the stuff that is still eligible from the Lynx we have some hopes for.”
 
The agency’s best shots, he says, are the Pampers “ABC” ad, the anti-obesity ad showing a peeled banana in an “M” shape (“Nothing to do with McDonald’s,” Jones assures us) and the Ariel “Pervert” ad, which he hopes might “tickle the jury’s fancy.”
 
Like all of the creatives we spoke to, however, Jones acknowledges that luck is a vital element in any awards win. “There’s an awful lot of work that has no hope whatsoever,” he says. “But even if only 5 percent of entries are any good, that’s still a lot of good ads. So it can be a bit of a lottery after that. We can be so wrong so often.”
 
Unlike many others, though, Jones isn’t particularly optimistic about the outlook for the region. “In some ways it’s probably been a pretty good year, but I don’t know…” he says. “It’s hard to tell. I suppose Tonic’s Nando’s Ramadan ad was a little bit different for here, and they do occasionally like to do the ‘Global jury pats – not to say patronizes – local agency culture’ thing.”
 
He does, however, expect to see a greater regional presence this year. “Gradually they’ve started appearing from the woodwork,” he says. “So it might be a bit of fun.”
 
“But,” he adds, “it’ll be terribly annoying if anyone else wins.”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 4
Press - 26
Outdoor - 13
TOTAL - 43
 
Fortune Promoseven, Dubai
Having been hired last year specifically to boost Fortune Promoseven’s creative reputation, creative director Marc Lineveldt would be forgiven for feeling under pressure going into this year’s Cannes Lions festival. After all, he has other people’s promises to live up to – which might not be so bad if they weren’t the people who pay his wages.
 
His managing director, Phil Lynagh, has said the agency “must at least get some points” at this year’s Lions, a slightly less bullish prediction than promised one year ago by Tom Roychoudury, executive director of the Promoseven network, that the agency will win a Lion “without a doubt.”
 
Lineveldt shows no sign of stress, though. “I think we’ve already done enough to show what we’re about now. We did exceptionally well at the Lynx awards to finish fourth in the region, coming from nowhere,” he says. “A year ago, we said, ‘Watch this space. We’re going to up the work.’ I think we’ve done pretty well.”
 
Lineveldt feels the Chiquita campaign that picked up the radio Grand Prix at the Lynx awards could do well at Cannes because “it’s so wildly unlike anything else.” He’s also hopeful that the Chiquita print ads [1] could win something.
 
He’s not keen to pick favorites from FP7 Dubai’s submissions, though. “You should think that everything you enter can potentially win,” he says. “The thing with Cannes is: You never know. It’s such a massive event in terms of total entries that you need a little luck.”
 
And Lineveldt is one of the few regional creatives who knows what it takes to win a Lion with work from the Middle East. He was part of the creative team that worked on last year’s Silver-Lion-winning campaign for Mont Blanc. However, the ad was created while he was working for Team Y&R and by the time Cannes came round, he’d moved to FP7. “There was very little PR on the silver award,” he says. “But it was a huge thing. A silver Cannes for the region. It shouldn’t be ignored.”
 
This year, he’ll be aiming to score a win that can’t be overlooked.
 
Cannes entries
Film - 2
Press - 13
Outdoor - 7
Radio - 6
TOTAL - 28
 
Impact BBDO, Beirut
Despite overall ad expenditure plummeting by 30 to 35 percent in Lebanon since 2005, Impact BBDO managed to grow an impressive 15 percent in 2006.
 
The agency forecasts similar growth for 2007, according to associate managing director Joe Ayache. Working with regional heavyweights like Saudi Oger and Emirates Airlines – which have been far less affected by Lebanon’s political upheaval than most local clients – obviously helps a great deal.
 
 So the agency enters Cannes in a relatively optimistic mood.
 
“We rate our chances as fair, since the crop was strongly conditioned by a difficult market situation in which most clients were just concerned with catching up on lost business, rather than on making a creative difference,” says Ayache.
 
The variety of brands that Impact has entered illustrates how many of the agency’s clients are willing to allow it some freedom and flexibility, Ayache says.
 
He believes the VW “Map” ad (showing a VW Polo beside a map of Lebanon, along with the tagline “Small but tough”) deserves to win a Lion, but probably won’t because its appeal isn’t global enough. Still, he says, the agency has a shot at an award or two with some of its other work – particularly its ads for C&F Cosmetics, the Children’s Cancer Center, and Vape insecticide.
 
The agency’s ambient work for C&F is particularly striking, using the inside of taxi windows. “We stuck paparazzi armed with their cameras, trying to get a glimpse at the person inside a car,” he says. It’s an innovative way of conveying an old idea of the consumer as celebrity, and may well catch the judges’ eyes at Cannes.
 
Cannes entries
Film - 1
Press - 9
Outdoor - 9
Direct - 1
Media - 1
TOTAL - 21
 
Leo Burnett, Dubai
Malek Ghorayeb, executive regional creative director at Leo Burnett in Dubai, is clear about his pick of the agency’s Cannes submissions.
 
“I think the Tide campaign is going to at least make the shortlist at Cannes,” he says. “That’s definitely the best hope from the Dubai office.”
 
The campaign made the shortlist at the New York Festivals last month, and Ghorayeb is hoping the agency can build on its success at last year’s Epica awards – where it won a bronze – and pick up some metal at Cannes.
 
Regionally, the Leo Burnett Group has submitted close to 60 entries this year, with 39 out of Beirut alone. And another good shot at success for the Middle East network, he believes, is the Grand Prix winner from the Dubai Lynx awards – the slapstick Melody TV ads from the Cairo office.
 
“For me, that’s like a spaceship, you know. It came out of nowhere,” he says. “But I don’t know how it’ll be received. It depends on who’s judging and what they’re looking for.”
 
While Ghorayeb concedes that the Dubai Lynx awards could put pressure on regional entrants this year – as outsiders at Cannes focus more closely than usual on Middle Eastern work to see what all the fuss is about – he says that it might be the impetus the region needs.
 
“We’re the only region that’s never really shone at Cannes yet. Overall, I think this will be a good year for us. There’s been some very nice work from JWT, Tonic, Lowe… I think the Middle East might get two or three Lions this year and a lot of shortlisted ads. And within two or three years it’s going to be our time in the game.”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 1
Press - 6
Outdoor - 1
Direct - 1
Cyber - 1
TOTAL - 10
 
TBWA/Raad, Dubai
While last summer’s bombing of Lebanon by Israel meant a noticeable decrease in the number of submissions from Beirut agencies to Cannes and other international award shows, it was also responsible for inspiring some striking creative work for humanitarian causes.  
 
The “Treasures of Lebanon” book from TBWA/Raad Dubai, which won a gold at the Lynx awards and was shortlisted in last month’s New York Festivals, is one example. “If I could only send one piece to Cannes, it would be this one,” says Sakib Afridi, associate creative director at the agency. “It’s definitely got potential.”
 
The work was a direct mail invitation to a charity event to raise money for the UAE-based charity Trillion for Lebanon. Designed to look like a Lonely Planet-style guidebook, “Treasures of Lebanon” is filled with tissue paper, instead of glossy tourist shots. At the back of the book, the copy reads: “What remains are the tears of the victims.” Afridi worked on the book with Sandeep Fernandes and Bassam Doss.
 
“I have a feeling it will do well at Cannes,” says Afridi. “Cannes jurors are a little more emotional. Which is good. I’d be happy just to be a finalist. If we actually pick something up, that’s great.”
 
Afridi feels that the experience of participating in the Lynx awards will benefit regional agencies this year. “I think a lot of the stuff that picked up at Lynx could pick up at Cannes too,” he says. “A lot of the judges at Lynx were of the same caliber that will be judging Cannes.”
 
Afridi is generous in his praise for other regional agencies’ recent work too. JWT, he says, is “rocking.”
 
“I would not be surprised if those guys picked up a Lion this year,” he says. “I hope they do. The more agencies from this region that pick up a prize, the better it is. It puts us on the map.”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 2
Press - 3
Outdoor - 1
Direct - 3
Media - 1
TOTAL - 10
 
Tonic Communications, Dubai
Having put a few of the big regional agencies’ noses out of joint in 2005 by becoming the first Middle East agency to bring home a Gold Lion from Cannes, indie agency Tonic failed to make the shortlist at all last year. Not that creative director and co-founder Vincent Raffray was too depressed.
 
“In terms of Cannes, maybe last year was a bit of a comedown,” he says. “But that’s not the only awards show out there. We managed to get into the D&AD book and we were the only agency in the world to get Gold in the print and TV categories at Epica. So it definitely wasn’t a disappointing year.”
 
The ads that performed so well at the Epicas are, unsurprisingly, the ones that Raffray predicts may do well at Cannes. Unusually, though, both the Wonderbra and Nando’s ads go against the received wisdom that great advertising ideas are universal: Both ads are very specific to the Middle East. The “Censored” ad for Wonderbra, in particular, wouldn’t make sense outside the region.
 
Raffray – for one – doesn’t share the surface nonchalance of many other regional creatives when it comes to award entries. He’s upfront about Tonic’s desire to win.
 
“There are certain things you can do to improve your chances. We’ve PR’d our work around the world, we’ve made sure that everybody’s seen it,” he says. “We’ve got a chance. And I really believe that some of our work deserves to win.”
 
At the same time, he stresses, there are some things that PR can’t do. Like make sure your ad is well placed in the entries the jury is looking through. “They’re looking at so many thousands of ads, you’re better off being at the front or the back. It can really be down to stuff like that.” Raffray says. “Sometimes you’ll catch their eye, sometimes you won’t. We just sit back and hope for the best.”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 2
Press - 4
Outdoor - 1
Cyber - 1
TOTAL - 8
 
Grey Worldwide, Beirut
Things are going pretty well for Grey Worldwide in Beirut, despite the current difficult circumstances. “We’ve certainly gained business,” says executive regional creative director Derek Payne. “As an agency, we’re seeing growth figures across the region.”
 
This continued growth is even more satisfying, Payne says, because it has been accompanied by critical acclaim. “We’ve had recognition at the London International Awards for the Asian Games work,” he says. “We picked up Cristals at the MENAs for the Asian Games and [Lebanese daily] An Nahar. And we apparently cleaned up in Kuwait, getting awards and standing ovations. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to see it.”
 
Now the agency is aiming for further international acknowledgement at Cannes, and Payne seems confident. “‘In Games’ [for the Asian Games] is a visual tour de force,” he says. “If I could only submit one ad, it would be that one.”
 
He is less confident that one of Grey Beirut’s other entries – the “Voice of Freedom” commercial created for An Nahar in memory of famous journalist and politician Gibran Tueni, who was assassinated in December 2005 – will receive the praise it deserves. “I didn’t know who Gibran Tueni was until I came to Lebanon,” says Payne. “The world remains ignorant of Middle Eastern issues and makes its judgments based on bite-sized pieces of news that are considered digestible for Western audiences. The issues behind ‘Voice of Freedom’ deserve a wider audience.”
 
Despite his pride in the agency’s Cannes submissions, Payne remains cautious, knowing nothing can be taken for granted at a big show like Cannes. “Awards are impossible to predict. Did the judges get out of bed on the right side?” he asks. “Or how are they feeling after a night drinking at the Martinez?”
 
Cannes entries
Film - 6
TOTAL - 6