The sixth day of the Festival began with news of six shortlists for Polish agencies. Creativity combined with courage allows us to solve world problems.
Today, too, personalities such as the President of Colombia, Pussy Riot, and Steven Gerrard took to the Cannes Lions stages, delivering very important talks through which Cannes proves that creativity combined with courage can serve higher purposes and help solve world problems.
A frequently mentioned problem of our times during the talks is so-called "fake news," which in the era of social media spreads across the world. Today it was mentioned by Juan Manuel Santos and Pussy Riot, and The New Yorker gave a talk on the subject a few days ago.
- The day began with the Saatchi&Saatchi New Directors Showcase. From the very morning, a huge line formed outside the largest festival hall of those wanting to see the work of the best young directors. The showcase was a bomb of creativity that moved, amused, and gave chills. Among the works shown was also a film by a Pole, Michał Marczak. All the films are already available online:
- "It is much harder to bring about peace than to start a war," said President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, who appeared today on the Cannes Lions stage. During an excellent panel that ended with a standing ovation, he gave a lesson on how to be a wise leader who inspires and motivates. In his opinion, if you do not win a war for a long time, you have to change strategy. That is why, when he took office in Colombia, instead of taking up arms, he began disarming. The actions he pursued encouraged thinking outside the box and a completely new approach.
According to President Santos, choosing the path of war is simple - it is linear management that focuses on gathering weapons and defeating the target. Managing through peace is decidedly harder, because it requires changing people's way of thinking and awakening their emotions. As he admitted, Colombia now faces the difficult task of building peace.
- As part of its seminar, Grey invited Pussy Riot to the stage.
The panel began with the bold statement that over the past few years everyone has focused on profits and economics, forgetting about humanity. This led to the situation in which the world now finds itself - with Donald Trump as President of the USA or Vladimir Putin in Russia.
The presentation told the story of Pussy Riot and Mediazona, a media outlet created as an initiative to fight Putin.
It was a talk that ended with a short happening. Anyone who wanted could put on a mask and write on a piece of paper the thing they want to fight for, the thing that is important to them. In this way, Pussy Riot wanted to show that rebellion is not difficult and that everyone can fight for the issues that matter to them.
It was stated on stage that nowadays we need radical and courageous ideas. According to Pussy Riot, change will not come from those who behave well.
The panel, however, left a certain sense of dissatisfaction. The whole thing was more polite than one might have expected, and more pop than rock.
- Every year in Cannes, Getty Images holds panels that leave an enormous impression. This year it invited people to talk about diversity and how images can change and break down stereotypes. Owning a business also means social responsibility. One of the panelists, the co-founder of Refinery29, a cult digital platform aimed at young women, encouraged brands and marketers to look at data that perfectly shows what society looks like and how large so-called minority groups are. As an example, she cited a project her company is carrying out:
Clearly pigeonholing and categorizing people makes no sense. To run a business, you need to talk, listen to your customers, and surround yourself with diverse people on your team. During the panel, an important remark was also made: you must always tell the full story. Brands that want to break stereotypes and support diversity must remember that it is not about showing only flat images featuring representatives of LGBT groups, other religions, or skin colors. You must remember the personalities of these people and their stories. A very inspiring thing was said by photographer Braden Summers, who, through beautiful photographs depicting gay couples, can make even for a moment the admiration for the beauty of a photo overshadow dislike for the LGBT community.
- Steven Gerrard appeared today on the Lions Entertainment stage, gathering a sizable audience - mainly male, among whom Liverpool fans could be seen. Sport offers enormous potential for brand activities. During the panel, it was discussed, among other things, how brands can learn from sport to build authenticity and a connection with fans. A huge opportunity for brands is getting involved in sponsoring matches and broadcasting them. Thanks to the broadcast of such events, a brand gains exclusive content that the recipient is unable to get anywhere else.
