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It’s that time of the year again; the time when advertising professionals set their sights – and hopes – on the south of France. Cannes, to be precise.
Only a few short months after the Dubai Lynx Awards, the region’s creative directors have entered the work they believe stands a chance to win at the 2010 Cannes Lions.
Last year, Leo Burnett Beirut won the PR Lion for its Khede Kasra campaign for the Hariri Foundation’s women empowerment program, while TBWA/Raad Dubai and Y&R Dubai won bronze awards in the print category for Hansaplast and Harvey Nichols respectively.
The general feeling amongst the region’s advertising industry is that this year is the time for the Middle East to shine in Cannes, as most feel that the region is beginning its ascent to a creative peak. As noted at the Dubai Lynx earlier this year, any work with a local edge was favored over more generic advertising. The words “local insight” or “regional insight” have been the buzz words of the past few months, particularly after locally relevant campaigns like Saatchi & Saatchi’s Dubai Metro “I haven’t left” or Melody Aflam’s “The Mother of All Foreign Films” won big at the Dubai Lynx.
But, while some think the regional and local insights that were so strongly displayed at the Dubai Lynx will work in the agencies’ favor at the Cannes Lions, others think an international jury may not fully understand the intricacies of the region.
Communicate gets the region’s leading creative directors to tell us what they think will pick up awards at Cannes, and to sum up the region’s expected performance on the French Riviera in three words.

Andrew Durkan, creative director, The Tribe
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
Very few. A radio campaign at most.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
I really don’t know how much chance we have. The radio judging can be very odd.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
Something will win something I imagine, just by pure numbers, but the quality of work is down this year. The Melody stuff maybe. I don’t see a definite gold though.
? What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Must do better.

Ali Ali, creative director, Elephant Cairo
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
We’ve sent a total of 12 entries; that’s all we could afford. We wanted to send more stuff, but the entries are terribly expensive.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
We’re hoping our campaign for Lika Gum will win something. Anything.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
We particularly like the Dubai Metro stuff that was done by Saatchi [& Saatchi] Dubai.
? What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Anything is possible.

Nick Tapley, director, OMD Ignition
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
OMD will be submitting six entries to this year’s Cannes festival which include HP, Doritos and Mercedes-Benz.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
We’re excited about all our entries because all performed well at this year’s Dubai Lynx. One campaign we’re particularly proud of is the Launch of TouchSmart for HP. As the only media agency to win Gold in a category dominated by ad agencies at the Lynx, it’s already created a bit of a first in the region so we’re looking forward to seeing how this fares at Cannes.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
Creative ideas are somewhat subjective, but from a media perspective the smart money has to be on Starcom’s Hiroshi and Osamu campaign for Chevrolet.
? What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Confident, surprising, different.

Yves-Michel Gabay, general manager, Mediaedge:cia MENA
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
We will have 12 entries, and we are entering mainly two categories: media, and promotion and activation. This will be mainly with our client Sony Ericsson.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
I was so surprised at the results of the Dubai Lynx, as it was not at all what I was expecting to win. On eight entries, six got shortlisted, so we were very happy. We got two silvers, and we were happy about that too. But they weren’t the ones we thought would win. Sometimes you enter things and you don’t think they will have a great impact, but at the end of the day the jury chooses because they think it’s the best. So I don’t want to make any prognostic. But we have good entries, so one should at least be shortlisted. We hope so, because Cannes is an international festival and it’s great.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I honestly don’t know, because I don’t know who will enter. At the Lynx, we saw some good stuff, but they were global campaigns that were localized for the region. But I don’t know if those will enter Cannes, because they’ll just enter the global campaigns. So I don’t want to make any predictions.
? What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Oh my God. No, that’s not the three words. Expecting good surprises.

Malek Ghorayeb, regional creative director, Leo Burnett Dubai
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
I am not sure yet how many entries will be sent to Cannes this year from Leo Burnett as a network, but I would say around 10.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
Melody Tv Aflam in television, Alpha in radio might have a small chance.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I personally think that the Dubai Metro outdoor/ambient campaign that was done by Saatchi Dubai should come back with a medal. I personally like the Colgate and LG campaign done by Y&R, the ALDAR work from JWT and the bubble gum campaign by Elephant Cairo.
? What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Bring [the] metal [back] home.

Ronald Howes, managing director, Memac Ogilvy & Mather
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
We’ve got about 10 or 12 entries in Cannes. And the ones that we’ve put forward are based on their success at the Dubai Lynx. We had an international jury at the Lynx, and they represented a pretty broad spectrum of creative talent. If it won a Gold or above at the Lynx, it has a pretty good chance of being noticed at Cannes.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
There are two areas I think are interesting for us, and they’re born out of local insight and are very relevant to the region. We won the Grand Prix at the Lynx for our Dustvertising campaign for BP Castrol, and it’s not something you see everywhere in the world. The other one is the Berlitz language school, it’s a simple idea, that will resonate with an international jury wherever that may be, because it’s very relevant to the region. Those two might be slated, in my view, to win several awards.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
It’s difficult for me to judge what I think would be winning work. I don’t particularly want to comment on this one further.
• What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
It’s about time [the Middle East shines at Cannes].

Milos Ilic, executive creative director, TBWA/Raad
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
Around 30 entries altogether.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
The print ads for DAC that picked up gold at the Dubai Lynx might have a chance, and The Fridge campaign (it just won a One Show Merit).
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I think the stuff for Melody Aflam that won the Grand Prix this year at the Dubai Lynx should pick up something.
• What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
We will see... (Because we still don’t know how the region will perform).

Pooja Chandani, creative director, Wunderman
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
We will have 10 to 15 entries, as we will be entering everything that won at the Dubai Lynx.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
To be honest, I really can’t say this year, because they’ve turned the categories around in the direct and promo and activation categories, and they’ve allowed one-off and data-based work to win. This year is so different because categories are completely different, and the split is very different. Of course I’ll be hopeful and optimistic.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I think the whole region has a lot of potential this year. The only conflict in my mind is that there are a lot of locally relevant campaigns, and I don’t know how they will do at Cannes, because I don’t know if the guys will get the local language and culture. But there’s lots of great stuff.
• What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Good good good.

Rayan Karaky, general manager digital operations, Publicis Groupe Media
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
Twelve Media Lions and 12 Cyber Lions.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
We believe that our work on Emirates, P&G, General Motors and Birell are on par with the best. Their performance at the Dubai Lynx is testimony to our anticipation, though we would put most of our chips on the GM-Chevrolet Integrated entry, which won the Grand Prix at the Lynx.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I am not sure who submitted what, but I know that OMD has very strong entries (Doritos is one that I remember well). I hope as many agencies as possible from the region get rewarded, because we need to be on the map from now. There is great work being done but never represented.
• What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
It’s about time!

Marc Lineveldt, executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai
? How many entries will you have at Cannes?
We’ve got nine entries in total, seven outdoor, one print, and one direct entry. They include the Dubai Metro, the Philippines flood disaster, and campaigns for P&G.
? Which entries do you think have the most potential to win?
I think the most favorable potentially winning one is the Dubai Metro abandoned cars. Firstly, based on its Grand Prix win at the Dubai Lynx and secondly, the fact that it’s locally relevant and has good local insight. That works in its favor, because the Cannes jury have historically looked for campaigns from around the world that are interesting and original based on the country they come from, because it makes things unique. When they’re universal and you’re not sure where they’re from, the ads are at a disadvantage.
? What other work from the region do you expect will be awarded?
I would think there will be several pieces from Ogilvy, like their AC Delco campaign that won a Grand Prix at the Lynx, and it was very strong. Stuff from Elephant will win, their Coca Cola integrated campaign, and their print ads for Lika gum. And maybe for the first time, Melody TV campaigns from Leo Burnett will win. It’s a strange thing: all their strong work for Melody in the past which has won Grand Prix at the Lynx hasn’t won anything at Cannes. Maybe this time. The campaign is fresh and a lot of fun, so I reckon it could do something at Cannes.
• What three words will sum up the region’s performance at Cannes?
Hard to tell.

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