Words Are There For A Purpose

Michael Hedges June 25, 2019 Follow on Twitter

The swanky hotels, ritzy yachts and summery French Riviera beaches were once again overrun by convention revellers. The advertising people descended on Cannes last week. Then they left to bestow on clients, underlings, media editors and shareholders the latest and greatest thoughts gleaned from the endless and serious conversations. There were several messages.

Advertising people have been transmitting language for ages, usually transforming it into terms of commercial motivation. “Just Do It” was created a generation ago by US ad agency Wieden+Kennedy for its Nike client to give brand substance to athletic shoes. Obviously, it worked then and continues now.

Colleagues at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity awarded Wieden+Kennedy with Ad Agency of the Year at the terminus of the famous ad fest. Throughout the week the agency received specific awards for its “Dream Crazy” campaign for Nike, the 30th anniversary of “Just Do It.” Notably, that included the Outdoor Grand Prix. It was the posters featuring blacklisted football player Colin Kaepernick wot won it. “One of the most iconic images in advertising for the last several years,” said Outdoor jury president John Patroulis, quoted by AdWeek (June 17).

For those unaware, Mr. Kaepernick was effectively dumped from his employer - the San Francisco 49ers - after “taking a knee” rather than stand for the US National Anthem in response to African-Americans shot and killed by police officers and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. US President Donald Trump said he should be “fired.” No US professional football team would thereafter contract Mr. Kaepernick. Despite boycotts organized by white supremacists Nike sales rose. The ad people took note.

Ad creators - and Cannes Lions juries, certainly - often embrace risky themes. Bold campaigns demonstrate bold behavior and the advertising people pitch their clients - hereinafter referred to as The Brands - on the strategic advantage of huge media attention. The “Dream Crazy” billboards appeared in ten US cities, the New York City placement six-stories tall. “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” it said.

“It made a statement to the world,” said VMLY&R Australia/New Zealand chief creative director Paul Nagy, quoted by Ad Age (June 17). “That one image, they’ll be teaching ten years from now, not just in marketing books, but in history books.” The ad people love bold statements.

A campaign for the New York Times created by creative agency Droga5 New York took Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Film and Film Craft. The five ads in the “The Truth Is Worth It” campaign pitched journalism and press freedom showing reporters dogging stories “from hunch to scoops.” Ad Age (June 12) called the campaign “advertising poetry.”

Campaigns created to raise awareness to public service issues also have long generated advertising award attention. That moved up a notch with the Cannes Lions for Good awards, mainly directed at work for non-profits, foundations and charities. Social responsibility is no longer a Cannes Lions category. The Grand Prix in this category was awarded to ad agency McCann New York for the “Generation Lockdown” campaign for the March For Our Lives advocacy group that focuses on school shootings. The video ad shows a young person schooling a group of office workers on the perils of gun violence.

There was a notable reality check on all this goodness. At one public event Unilever chief executive Alan Jope warned of “woke-washing,” shading profit and good old greed behind a veneer of social justice and ethical word-smithing. “Purpose-led brand communications is not just a matter of ‘make them cry, make them buy’. It’s about action in the world.”

See also...

• Hot Topics - Advertising