Changing Zeitgeist Brings Out The Best In Advertising

Michael Hedges June 7, 2018 Follow on Twitter

Despite protestations to the contrary, the advertising people are firmly attached to their traditions. Always rewarded - and awarded - are momentous ad campaigns that conjure brand-enhancing stories. The medium is the message, as somebody once said, and the message has always been on television. Along came the digital revolution.

Following the zeitgeist close enough to claim they invented it is another advertising tradition. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity - hereinafter referred to as the Cannes Ad Fest - traditionally opens by bestowing its Media Person of the Year Award. The Cannes Ad Fest closes with the Cannes Lions awards in several, often changing categories.

This summer the Media Person award morphed into Media Brand of the Year. And the winner is: Spotify. Actually, the change came at the request of Spotify co-founder and chief executive Daniel Ek, noted UK ad-land news portal Campaign (June 5). “We were happy to oblige,” said a Cannes Ad Fest spokesperson.

Everybody not living in a cave this past decade knows Spotify, the streaming music service that has upended the music world and functionally buried music radio. Born in Sweden and now ensconced in Hollywood it has attracted 170 million users worldwide. It’s mostly, but not exclusively ad-supported service has become a Millennial mobile identity. Spotify has been a prolific user of advertising tools, winning seven Cannes Lions awards last year. The David Bowie memorial this spring - using a New York City subway station - is already legendary.

Like every other digital media icon Spotify has suffered a few zings. Most recently it was a hate speech faux pas; taking down hip hop star R Kelly tunes (and others) as part of its “hate content and hateful conduct” policy. The music industry, always supportive of colorful lyrics and expansive lifestyles, threw a hissy. Music industry “complicity” in R Kelly’s X-rated lifestyle was documented by the Washington Post (May 4). Doing a quick two-step the company reversed its policy. “Our role is not to regulate artists,” said the company statement, quoted by Digital Music News (June 1).

"Spotify has transformed the way we engage with music,” said Ascential Events chief executive and Cannes Ad Fest chairman Philip Thomas, quoted by AdWeek (June 5). “In the ten years since Daniel and his team launched the service it has gone on to reshape the future of media and transform how artists and brands communicate with their audiences.” Ascential Events is the proprietor of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The Media Person of the Year award is only slightly unusual. Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg won in 2010. He has been quite busy in recent weeks fielding questions about everything from algorithms and advertising to privacy and Russians.

Speaking of Russians, US creative agency WorkInProgress (WIP) is pitching its Cannes Lions candidacy, like many others, with slick and pointed billboards. This pitch is not in Cannes but Moscow and in Russian. It’s a logistical mistake: everybody knows all the best Russian hackers are in St. Petersburg.

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