Malala Yousafzai. Dua Lipa. Patrick Stewart. Post Malone. Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Plus a whole bunch of the greatest, most awarded minds in our industry.
And then there’s us. A couple of young imposters creatives from DDB New Zealand who have somehow found themselves with a golden ticket (perks of winning a gold lion) to the big dance alongside the biggest names in the business – Cannes. So as we soak up the sun, rosé, and inspiration that surrounds us this week, here’s a few things that have made us feel particularly imposturous today…
Work:
No. The two imposters pictured did not win that gold lion.
Mike Felix, Brett Colliver, Danillo Castilho and a whole bunch of other really talented people did for Samsung iTest, a piece that let Apple users test drive an Android on their own device. A hugely deserved accolade for a fantastic piece of work. But the reason we’re on those hallowed steps basking in a gold lion that doesn’t belong to us is because a year ago, we won one – but there was no IRL Cannes to celebrate it. However, in a weird twist of fate, we got our chance a year later. As the great Robbie Williams once said, “sing when you’re winning”.
People:
Ask anyone around here and they’ll tell you that a highlight of every awards ceremony at Cannes is the voice of Juan Señor. He’s the host each year, and just like the many creatives who crafted every inch of the pieces of work awarded this week, Juan crafts every single word that comes from his mouth. Any phrase, any language, he’ll make it sing. Well, with the exception of ‘Aotearoa’. That one got him. Hopefully he’ll get the chance to say it on stage even more in the future. Another example of commitment to craft was found on the direct jury. Their mantra through the process was “is it direct?” One just member took this to the extreme of getting “Is it direct?” tattooed on his forearm. And no – he wasn’t covered in tatts. I was his first one. And his jury president brought him up on stage to show us all. Commitment personified.
Something else:
As the week draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on our journey. Day 1 we felt lost, and jet lagged. Day 2 we felt lost with less jet lag. But as the week went on, as we met more and more people, as we found ourselves in more and more places we could never imagine (like a yacht on the Med), did we finally start to feel like maybe we belong here?
Hell no. Cannes is big and it’s crazy.
But we had a hell of a time. We just hope they’ll have us back again one day.
Until that day comes, it’s au revoir from the J’s on the Palais. Merci.
