Rose Herceg, country president, WPP, Australia & New Zealand is this year’s jury president for the Cannes Creative Data Lions. Herceg, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors, writes exclusively for CB.
Day 2: Creative Data Lions
With our shortlist locked, today we went from many to a few.
There’s a moment where we all realised that we have moved from hundreds of entries to a shortlist, to an even shorter shortlist to the final winners.
What I have loved the most about the process so far is the chance to stop and make sure that nothing that should be on that shortlist has been left off. Each jury member gets a do-over. Each of us can pick one piece of work to place back into the mix.
Now comes the awarding of the Lions. They are scarce. Making it real makes you pause. Winning a Cannes Lion changes a career. Opens doors. It’s serious business and if nothing else, we owe it to every agency and business that sent in an entry to make sure we see their work fully.
Few things in life come close to the energy of a great debate.
We move pieces of work around. We debate whether it deserves a Bronze or a Silver – or indeed anything at all. Is it worthy of a Lion? How does it compare to other pieces of work? What work merits a gold? The Grand Prix?
We see the big picture. What does our work say about the evolution of our category? What roles should creativity play in data and data in creativity? When next year’s entries come, what can they learn from our jury?
Tomorrow I’ll focus on the observations that come from judging Creative Data.
