Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was June 17—23 in Cannes, France.
President and Executive Creative Director of HZDG Karen Zuckerman made the trip to Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. For three out of the seven days, Karen participated in workshops, seminars, ceremonies, and presentations from the industry’s top creative minds.
Being a global event, Karen had the opportunity to celebrate with artistic geniuses with groundbreaking ideas from all over the world. With so much information to absorb in one week’s time, it’s hard to know where to start. There is, however, a notable overarching theme worth exploring that came up a number of times in branding presentations.
Though many presenters described the concept differently, it quickly became apparent that “brand agility” was a hot topic discussed across all markets. Being that HZDG is a major advocate of the concept and recently incorporated the term into their overall business strategy, it was promising to hear reports that, as suspected, this strategic way of thinking is up-and-coming and highly encouraged.
“We are on the cutting edge of the next generation of agency,” says Karen.
Brand agility, HZDG’s new mantra, is the idea that the creative process, from conception to execution, should be quick, active, and responsive. It is the mindset an agency should assume in order to generate efficient, timely campaigns that make sense at the moment.
Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, advises brands that, “we’re moving from a world where we plan campaigns for the future to one where we adapt campaigns to the moment.”
By synchronizing content with the latest trends in technology, media, and pop culture, a brand will consistently be a relevant, responsive, and relatable influence. Strategy, messaging, and voice must regularly be adjusted to position a brand as a powerful informant, knowledgeable leader, and industry trendsetter.
Audi demonstrated this concept by creating a campaign based off of one fan’s idea to create the hash tag, “#wantanR8.”
The girl used the tag every time she tweeted, which quickly attracted Audi’s attention. The company then sent her an R8 to test drive for two weeks, yielding a high amount of media attention. With such success, Audi turned the idea into a contest for fans to win a car.
Now more than ever, brands of today must be built for tomorrow. A brand must be energetic, responsive, timely and relevant in today’s market to be effective.
For more information on Brand Agility, contact info@hzdg.com and request to watch our video. For more information on the 2012 Cannes Lions Festival and to view the winners, go to the Cannes Lions website. To see the HZDG Cannes Lions photo album, check out our Facebook album.
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