Matty Burton, group chief creative officer at DDB Group Aotearoa is representing New Zealand on the Cannes Brand Experience & Activation jury. Burton, along with most of the other New Zealand and Australian jurors, writes exclusively for CB.
Day 4. The Makers.
I don’t have the safety of the jury room anymore. No more knowing that I will be spending my time with some super smart individuals. No more enjoying the Colombian coffee that Carlos drinks like water and is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted. No more bubble of creative work and creative discussions. I’m cast adrift into the sea of spit.
Fucking hell. This means Cannes chat. If you haven’t been here before it goes like this. When did you get in? Where are you staying? Are you going to XX tonight? When are you leaving? Oh it’s hot isn’t it.
Cannes chat. Fucking waste of time. I always ask – so what’s your favourite piece of work so far? Sort’s em out pretty quick and I know to move on when they shuffle their feet and start talking about a panel they attended on the importance of XX in a modern/AI enabled/programmatic/storytelling/diverse/inclusive/etc world.
It’s a pretty soft landing though despite all the Cannes chat, as I walk through the work in the Palais. I’m here early as ‘The Network’ has some chores for me to do with some clients and I need to rehearse some things. The part of the job they don’t really tell you about or teach you about, the part that is becoming more and more important.
There are still the makers of the work amongst us. Sometimes they reveal themselves by walking straight up and asking how a piece of their work performed in the judging process, sometimes you can just tell when someone is trying to surrounded themselves with the best so they can beat it. Like this legend in the picture who got up early after being out late to make the most of this very expensive pass. But there are some that you really have to look hard for. The drown out not seen as so important voices. Watching. Always watching and observing.
And then there are some moments when all of these people are in one place. For a big lunch up a big hill. Or for a big party on a small beach. The night finished like this in what reminded me of a 90’s style rave full of a giant bunch of weirdos moving like a sea of not spit, but emotion, to an actual fucking artist, who is putting music out into the world. And thanks to MassiveMusic, this part is going bananas.
It reminds me that the makers, those who create things that were not their yesterday, can still pull a fucking crowd. So maybe today’s very useless insight for you is to create like an artist. Create your owns crowds. We are still here. And we are still important. But most importantly, we have the most fun.
