Mark Tutssel, global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett, was in the region recently. As he is also the president of the Film and Press jury at the 2010 Cannes Lions Awards, Communicate cornered him to get his take on his agency, our region, and the ad world’s biggest prize night.
You were at the Dubai Lynx earlier this year. What did you think of the regional work you saw, and based on that, what do you think will do well in Cannes?
I got a good line of sight on the quality of work from the region, and it’s remarkably high. There were some very interesting print campaigns, which may do well at Cannes, but you never really know with print because of the very nature of it. You don’t get to see the quality of the work on a global scale.
I think the one thing that history has taught us from Cannes is that visual ideas seem – for some bizarre reason – to do better than copy-led work. But that might be because of the make-up of the jury, and English not being the first language of many of the jury members.
It seems to me that the one piece of work – just gauging the reaction from the room at the Lynx – that everybody believed was fresh and breakthrough was the Melody Aflam campaign from Leo Burnett Cairo. It has won Grands Prix at both the MENA Cristals and the Dubai Lynx. It’s the type of work that, once you understand the insight into Egyptian culture and the nature of the idea, should do very well. It is beautifully shot, beautifully cast with great performance, and bang on brand for an entertainment company like Meldoy. I think it’s an exquisite piece of work.
Did you find that the region was stronger in the Print or the Film categories?
Personally, I think the stuff that Melody did was world class, and I thought the print work was very good, but there was nothing within the print world that gave the industry a clue to new ways of thinking about print. The one print campaign I thought demonstrated a real understanding of the importance of craft was the Harvey Nichols campaign by Y&R: It’s bang on brand, it’s beautiful shot and visually arresting, and the craft detail is excellent. That’s the type of work I suspect will do well in Cannes.
Given that the Cannes jury is international, do you think the fact that some of the best work in the region is based on local insights will work for or against agencies?
If a campaign is rooted in a cultural insight that’s relevant and pivotal to the comprehension of the idea, then you have to furnish the jury with that information, which they need to evaluate the work. So in the case of Melody Aflam, you only need to understand the Egyptian love of terrible films. Once you’re furnished with that fact, you know that it’s a celebration of Egypt’s own films. So you quickly understand the idea, involve yourself in it, and you are hugely entertained by it.
What did you think of Leo Burnett’s performance at the Dubai Lynx?
Given the presence we’ve had in the Middle East and Africa and the standard we’ve set ourselves, we always expect to perform well. If you look at our history, we have constantly won major accolades over past few years. We’ve won Grands Prix every year at the Lynx, so our expectations are very high.
The industry has completely changed. Today, we operate and think about amplifying and activating a brand story in different channels, and I expect to be present in every one of the channels. I expect to have a very strong presence in Promo, Direct, Cyber, Print, Outdoor, Ambient, Film, and bigger innovative integrated ideas, or Titanium-esque ideas [the Cannes award which honors bold and new ideas].
So I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with the performance of Leo Burnett; it’s just that we need to populate each of the channels with work that really demonstrates the power of the network and the creativity that resides in this region. Our expectations will just always be high. This is a very important region, one of our stronger regions in terms of business. I’m pleased with the direction we’re taking, and I always want to be the best.
What do you see as the biggest challenges to this region?
The challenge is to keep the momentum going. There’s huge growth in the region and in terms of business, which is fine, but we can’t rest on our laurels and expect it to go one till the end of time. Obviously what’s happened in the economy here has had an impact on our business, so we need to be richer in terms of how we think of modern-day communication.
We have to evolve, and we have to really make sure we maximize the growth potential and the power of new ways of thinking and don’t rest on tried and tested methods of communications. We intrude on people’s lives so we have a duty to reward them accordingly. Technology is changing with rapid velocity; people are empowered now, and they can choose to invite you in to their world or not. We have to constantly change and evolve and keep pace with society.
Regional agencies seem to be of the opinion that this year’s Cannes awards will be the region’s chance to shine, with one managing director saying, “It’s about time” the Middle East started to shine.
To me, it’s only a matter of time; it’s not, ‘Will it happen?’ it’s ‘When will it happen?’ India dominated Cannes a few years ago, as did China a couple of years ago, so I think it’s only a matter of time before the region is up there with the best.
If you put the very best of the best from the region alongside the best in the world, the gap is closing very, very quickly. Cannes is an international show with an international jury, so cultural insights are really important, because you’re talking to very broad cross-section of people. I’m not a clairvoyant so I don’t want to tempt fate, but there’s work that people in the region should justifiably be excited by and have hope for.
You never really know at awards shows. You go with high expectations sometimes and you’re disappointed. Or sometimes the stuff you think is borderline does really well.
These are exciting times, and the most important thing is this dogged determination to be world class on the world stage and to be acknowledged for creativity that’s of the highest order. It’s only a matter of time.
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