The sun, the sand, the glitz, the glamour.

No, sadly it’s not just another day in the life of the Communicate team. Instead, it could be what’s in store for some of the region’s top ad folk, as the annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival comes round again.

Creatives and ad pros say they’re not too worried, of course, trotting out the old mantras “Clients come first,” or “Awards don’t matter.” But the truth is, when it comes down to it, this is the one everyone wants to win; a Gold Lion is the icing on the cake of a special campaign.

After the debacle of the Dubai Lynx, it’s fair to say that advertisers around the world will either be watching the region’s entries pretty closely, or ignoring them completely. But in the wreckage of that regional event there is some treasure to be found. Some original and truly interesting work.

From Heinz ketchup to Galaxy chocolate, from Pinocchio to the breast cancer mannequins, the region’s professionals can be proud of the submissions they have sent to France in pursuit of that metalwork.

In the buildup to the big event Communicate talks to some of the key figures from the Middle East ad scene. We ask what they’re sending, and, more interestingly, what their money’s on to bring home awards.
 
Andrew Durkan, Creative director, The Tribe
Cannes entries:
Press: 4
Outdoor: 1
Total: 5
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
A campaign for Imax. It was entered into the Lynx, but wasn’t shortlisted. That should be enough reason not to spend any more entry fees on it, but it’s a Cannes-type ad – simple idea (big cinema), visual and uncluttered.
What is your favorite entry outside your agency's work? Why?
I’d be very surprised if the Heinz take-away stuff doesn’t win something. And the wood-glue Pinocchio campaign was beautifully crafted. I’m amazed that didn’t win bigger at Lynx. But I haven’t seen any definite Golds.
How confident do you feel?
We don’t have a sure-fire winner. When you do have, you know. We’ve got some work that wouldn’t look out of place among any group of winners, but I’ve been entering Cannes long enough not to take anything for granted.
How important are the Cannes awards?
It’s the only truly international awards show, where no country hugely outnumbers another on the juries. It’s definitely the sexiest awards show, if not the most highly regarded. D&AD is more difficult to win, but is very UK-centric and has more of a design/art direction emphasis than advertising (hence the name, I guess).

Mark Hamilton, Integrated planning director MENA, Starcom MediaVest Group
Cannes entries:
Media: 10
Total: 10
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
Galaxy “Fall in Love Again” – which was this year’s Dubai Lynx Grand Prix Winner. Because the core campaign idea was centered on a strong, illuminating human truth about Arab women and their love affair with poetry, with an activation that not only inspired women through self-expression, but also reignited their lost passion with Galaxy chocolate. Not to mention that it was also a big hit for MBC1, and beautifully crafted.
How confident do you feel?
Optimistic. I think the “Fall in Love” campaign can proudly stands among the best global work that’s out there. It will be a strong contender.
How important are the Cannes awards?
Fairly – but purely from a creative media benchmarking perspective. Cannes is without doubt the leading advertising festival in the world, and who wouldn’t want a Cannes [award] in their agency’s reception? All said, though, it’s not something we invest huge amounts of time, energy and resource into. Our clients’ business comes first and awards come second.

Till Hohmann, Executive creative director GCC, MEMAC Ogilvy
Cannes entries:
Outdoor: 3
Direct: 1
Media: 3
Digital: 5
Promo lines: 1
Total: 13
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
I have two favorite entries. The first one is our mannequin campaign for breast cancer awareness, because to me that illustrates quite well how, with
a very limited budget and with a modern communication idea, you can solve a problem. I think this
campaign is characteristic of a modern communications solution.
The second is the interactive banner for Panadol. We just found out that this entry will get a merit at The One Show (US), and it’s the first time interactive work from the Middle East has been shortlisted.
Both categories are difficult to show; one is a banner and one is an ambient piece, so they’re not traditional, but they are where the industry is heading.
What is your favorite entry outside your agency? Why?
I really like the Heinz ketchup ads from Cairo, since they are some of the best creative [work] I’ve seen in print. They’ve got regional relevance, and they’re not merely copies or ideas that could have been done in New York, Paris or Tokyo. I’m always going on about that, I hope they have a chance. Cannes tends to award for regional relevance.
I would hope the same for the “Khede kasra” campaign from Leo Burnett in Lebanon, although I am doubtful the jury will go for it, because it could be a little bit too special. However, it did score at the Lynx, and Cannes operates the same way.
Each jury will have just a few minutes to digest the work, because it will be overwhelmed with all the work coming in from all over the world. I’m hoping it does stand out and the jury doesn’t pass it by. It would be a good signal for the region.
Internationally, I’ve been seeing very interesting work from Pepsi, like the “Dear Mr. President” campaign during Obama’s election. It had a huge impact and Pepsi was a facilitator for real communication. To me, this is the biggest trend – to facilitate communication, and allow the consumer to take charge.
And Walkers Crisps from the UK; I would pick that one, again for its high degree of integration.
How confident do you feel?
I’d love to say I’m very confident, but you’ve got to be very careful about these things. Up until a few years ago, work from the Middle East wouldn’t even be considered to be put on the list of potential things to be sent to Cannes. So it’s quite a big leap that we’ve got a whole bunch of entries. It’s quite a big step for us already; we’re happy about that.
How important are the Cannes awards?
They are still very important. The jury members are multinational, all experts in their fields, and the way the judging is done prohibits any dodgy things going on. It’s really about the work and the quality of the work, plus the quality of its presentation. I also feel that Cannes, in the past, has shown that it’s not really biased with regards to countries or regions.
Alisdair Miller, Creative director, Grey Worldwide, Dubai
Cannes entries:
Press: 2 campaigns (3 ads each), 1 single press ad
(total of 7 entries)
Outdoor: 2 campaigns (3 ads each, 6 entries total)
Radio: 1
Total: 14
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
My favorite entry is the “Gems of Yoga” campaign, for which we produced three ads. It’s quite simple but quite quirky, and there’s slight humor to it.
I think this year it’s been a bit of a toughie. Our network has been concentrating on day-to-day creative work – we haven’t had much of a year for producing award ads, so we don’t have a lot of entries this year.
What is your favorite entry outside your agency? Why?
With all that’s going on with FP7, I don’t know which lot will be going to Cannes. There has been some really nice work, but I wouldn’t know if it’s been pulled, or not gone through.
How confident do you feel?
On that one particular piece, I’m quite confident. But Cannes is the crème de la crème of awards. We’re at least hoping to be shortlisted.
How important are the Cannes awards?
There’s two parts to it. First part, it’s a great incentive for teams to produce creative work. Agencies strive
to win at Cannes because it’s the very best of the award shows.
The second part is, for an agency’s portfolio it’s always great to have awards under their belt. It’s always good for client presentations; to show them what’s been achieved.

Malek Ghorayeb, Executive regional creative director, Leo Burnett
Cannes entries:
Film: 6
Press: 17
Outdoor: 13
Direct: 2
Media: 8
Design: 1
PR: 2
Integrated: 2
Total: 51
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
The Heinz campaign that won a Grand Prix at the Dubai Lynx Festival for Leo Burnett Cairo was gritty and kitsch. But because it was so Egyptian, and so real, it became artistically brilliant and actually challenged the way people think and feel. It ultimately proved to people that campaigns work so much better if they are based on cultural insight. The [Lynx] judges recognized this and I hope it will be the same in Cannes.
What is your favorite entry outside your agency? Why?
I believe that Burger King’s “Perfume” stands a good chance to win something. It had great product innovation, which twisted the image of the brand, and laughed at itself in a way that created a lot of word-of-mouth and hype for them on a global level. And Cadbury will strike again after last year’s “Gorilla.” Their “Eye brow” campaign is a disruptive follow up; simple and very nicely crafted. It should pick up something, at least in its category.
How confident do you feel?
It’s not the fact that we won a lot of awards at the Dubai Lynx Festival that gives me confidence for Cannes, but rather the comments and special mentions we received from the judges. It shows that our purpose, which is to create ideas so powerful that they truly move people, is becoming ingrained into the agency’s mentality and reflected in its creative output.
How important are the Cannes awards?
Cannes is one of many thermometers for worldwide creativity. It brings together all the different regions and subsequently gauges the global standard. Additionally, as a platform it forces brand stakeholders to take risks, experiment and chart new courses in communication. They challenge the status quo and defy convention in the pursuit of the new, the better, and the not-so-obvious.

Milos Ilic, Executive creative director, TBWA/Raad
Cannes entries:
Film: 5
Press: 18
Outdoor: 14
Direct: 1
Total: 38
What is your favorite entry from your agency? Why?
There are a few that I’m counting on. In film, MTV’s “Beace,” which was not there at the Lynx. And in print: Persil’s “Departed,” the Nissan Xterra “Cake” campaign, the Hansaplast campaign, and the Dial Hand Sanitizer campaign.
“Beace” was a one-off, and was not part of the material we initially presented to MTV when we won the pitch. It’s amazing that this ad manages to touch on such a serious subject as war and peace in the region  and still do it in an MTV way, with loads of humor and irreverence.
There are many quirky or just crazy MTV ads and idents out there, but this one feels so human and insightful – it’s truly MTV from Arabia. I love all those layers in it – you can watch it a hundred times and still laugh with it.
What is your favorite entry outside your agency? Why?
In this region it would probably be the Aids awareness film from Lowe, and some of the Harvey Nichols print stuff from Y&R.
How confident do you feel?
Well, it’s 60 percent value and 40 percent gamble/randomness in my opinion. I feel we have some really solid work. Will we be lucky? We’ll see.
How important are the Cannes awards?
No doubt Cannes is important – it is viewed by many as the Olympics of the ad world. Let’s hope it remains credible.
 
Marc Lineveldt, Creative director, FP7
Cannes entries:
Outdoor: 6
Total: 6
What is your favorite entry outside your agency? Why?
I have no favorites.
How important are the Cannes awards?
Cannes is important because it allows us to compete on an international stage.
Unfortunately this year we have the recession to deal with, which undoubtedly has affected the focus given to the Cannes Festival.