Yes we Cannes!

Or we could: Lessons from the Cannes Lions PR Jury

Pascal Beucler
SVP and Chief Strategy Officer, MSLGROUP Juror, Cannes Lions 2013 PR Jury

PR doesnt only belong to PR agencies.

+The Grand Prix for the PR Lions was awarded to Dumb Ways to Die

canneslions.com/work/2013

PR doesnt only belong to PR agencies.

It could be perceived as paradoxical, if not provocative, to

celebrate empowered PR when only a half-dozen PR agencies were awarded PR Lions at the 60th Cannes Lions Festival. The remaining 150 awards and mentions went to advertising, digital or media agencies. PR agencies made less than 5% of the awards.

As expected, I could hear some of my colleagues in the industry arguing that,

once again, our category had been hijacked. This is not my view. I believe that we have what we deserve. Should we present more and better projects, we would easily make the difference.

In Cannes like in everyday business, our future is in our hands and nobody elses. So lets celebrate empowered PR in Cannes, whoever has led them!

And most importantly, lets do better next year!

PR has new powers these days.

The new powers of PR.

The most awarded projects are: + built on a great idea, grounded in relevant research and

insights,
+ turned into a strong story, and a well told one, + create strong engagement through an emotional connection with the audience.

Whatever the topic, the sector, the category, the discipline, its all about creatively engaging with people and communities through a well told story, one which matters and moves consciences and hearts, and sometimes changes attitudes and even behaviours.

Beyond what is now the obvious, I felt impressed by what I personally

consider a genuine evolution of PR from a secondary discipline to a

central piece of the communication equation in the Conversation Age.

On the next slides, I will cover the new powers of PR.

The power of empowering people.

The power of empowering people.

Part of our business is - and will remain - to influence influencers

on behalf of our clients. Silently, softly, behind the scenes. But in PR like everywhere, disintermediation is rapidly and profoundly changing the rules of the game. Gatekeepers and barriers are vanishing, while people use the boundless power of social media to raise their voice and be heard by decisionmakers, whether politicians or business executives.

Photo from untitlism on Flickr

The power of empowering people.

Several case studies showed how the CEO of a company or a government are directly put under peoples heavy pressure and, within days, sometimes hours, cancel an initiative, abandon a controversial project or, on the contrary, set up a new public policy to answer citizens demands.

The more it goes, the more the power of the many can
challenge many of the established powers, and Public Affairs become Peoples Affairs.

Photo from untitlism on Flickr

The power of empowering people.

No Means No, Amnesty International Norway

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=12665&award=2

Same Sex Marriage, Google France

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=31779&award=2

Metropole Tweetphony, Metropole Orkest, NL

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=30467&award=2

Make the Politicians Work, URA.RU City, Russia

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=662&award=2

The power of leveraging innovation.

The power of leveraging innovation.

Big ideas, when inspired by great insights and research, are much more powerful than dj-vu copy-strategy angles. Many of them are tech-based, utilizing the unlimited power of PRs favourite battlefield: earned media. By amplifying the immense resonance of Twitter, Facebook and other social media, they become massive weapons.

Photo from grafixer on Flickr

The power of leveraging innovation.

Developing apps is also a mandatory PR ability today, whether

for bringing a powerful crowdfunding component to the campaign or exploiting the great resources of social gaming for instance. Sometimes, the innovation is more modest: just an ordinary object, which quickly becomes a star, and a must-have.

Photo from grafixer on Flickr

The power of leveraging innovation.

Toastie Knife, Warburtons UK

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=25968

Axe Morning After Pillow , Axe Puerto Rico

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=26495

My Mattress Savings Bank, DESS Mattress Manufacturer, Spain

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=12651

Mobilizing The 12th Man, C.S. Hammam-Lif, Tunisia Football Club

youtube.com/watch?v=7I19UQP-26Q

The power of crowdsourcing content.

The power of crowdsourcing content.

A fair amount of the best projects were based on peoples insights, ideas and self-generated content: words, stories,

pictures, videos, recipes and much more.

Its a peoples world, after all. Whether fans or just engaged folks, people are co-generating the story, spreading it widely through their networks. In actuality, they are the story.

Photo from ngmmemuda on Flickr

The power of crowdsourcing content.

A People Inside story, developed on social media, creates deeper emotional connections than anything else: firstly with many other people, and ultimately between people and corporations or brands.

Photo from ngmmemuda on Flickr

The power of crowdsourcing content.

We are David Bailey, Samsung UK

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=26127

The Beauty Inside, Intel/Toshiba

youtube.com/watch?v=qyMQIMeSCVY

8 million protagonists, Village Voice Newspaper USA

8millionprotagonists.com

The Enemies of Despair, The Swedish Social Insurance Company

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=26108

FOLLOW2UNFOLLOW, Correctional & Rehab Dept., Puerto Rico Government

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=25920

The power of integrating disciplines.

The power of integrating disciplines.

The use of social media is central, massive, dominant, cornerstone to most if not all great projects. Its not about eventually cascading a big idea on social media, beyond classical ads or PR techniques. Its about developing the big idea from, for and in social media. Social media is ultimately the medium, but originally the amniotic liquid where the idea is born and raised: the very source of the idea.

Photo from stuck in customs on Flickr

The power of integrating disciplines.

In other words, the ecosystem and the chronology are very

different from what they used to be couple of years ago: now its the online source first, then the online flow and lastly the delta: once the magic has worked, mainstream media then pick up the baton and share the story further.

Photo from stuck in customs on Flickr

The power of integrating disciplines.

Real Beauty Sketches, Dove USA

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=26507

Tundra Space Shuttle, Toyota USA

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=26445

Adopt A Pothole Project, Apollo Tyres India

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=12636

The power of moving people.

The power of moving people.

Events and experiential PR were king this year. The real and the virtual come along: the physical event comes first, bringing people together: people who are emotionally united by something, somewhere, now. What they see, what they hear, what they feel is immediately shared with the people around them, and with many more people around the

globe.

Photo from pochacco20 on Flickr

The power of moving people.

In many ways, PR creates the conditions for a perfect balance

between the power of a live experience here and now, and its
social amplification. This is rich content: the story you tell about something you just experienced live is a good and lively one, enriched by images, soundsand one day scents. Its a powerful snowball effect. This is viral content: within minutes, it reaches hundreds and thousands of people.

Photo from pochacco20 on Flickr

The power of moving people.

Tree Concert, Friends of the Earth Germany

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=12518

Free the Forced!, United Nations Association of Germany

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=26018

The power of engaging millennials.

The power of engaging millennials.

The art and science of conversation is what makes the difference when it comes to engaging with a generation of social

savvy, skilled, scrutinizing and demanding young people.

Campaigns that were awarded in various area for recruitment, issue management, safety transport, cause marketing were sharp, true, creative, larger than life, relevant to millennials expectations, and meaningful.

Photo from camdiluv on Flickr.

The power of engaging millennials.

Its a purpose-led world: more and more big corporations and brands are embracing a bigger-than USP and even old style

social responsibility. For engaging Gen Y, and soon Gen Z, this

is no longer an option.

Photo from camdiluv on Flickr.

The power of engaging millennials.

The Candidate, Heineken

youtube.com/watch?v=FBNbT-OogN4

The Human YouTube Player

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entr yid=26315

Dumb Ways to Die, Metro Trains Australia

youtube.com/watch?v=FceKlVbL2wY

The power of creating conversations that matter.

The power of creating conversations that matter.

Whats the story? Whatever the content, the topic, the culture, having a good story to tell, and telling it well, is what makes the

difference.
For all categories, disciplines and practices consumer goods, technology, leisure, travel, public affairs, cause campaigns a strong narrative architecture is needed.

The power of creating conversations that matter.

Tundra Space Shuttle, Toyota USA

canneslions.com/work/2013/pr/entry.cfm?entryid=26445

Dumb Ways to Die, Metro Trains Australia

youtube.com/watch?v=FceKlVbL2wY

Celebrating Empowered PR (People Relations).

Or, as The Holmes Report puts it: The Rise of People Relations

holmesreport.com/opinion-info/13562/Cannes-2013-TheRise-Of-People-Relations.aspx

What will Cannes Lions look like in five years from now, for its 65th anniversary?

All the frontiers are blurring, not only between PR and other communications disciplines, but also between PR practices and specialties. A new ecosystem is emerging, which will be people and

brand-centric, not discipline-centric.

Theres a true need for reinvention. The future is bright, the future is PR, but still uncertain Its in our hands, actually.