What future will the legends show us?

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Kyoi, who has attended every year for the past few years, reports live from the scene. He speaks completely freely, irresponsibly, and from his own unique perspective. So, what are the global trends?

Hello, this is Kyoi. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2013 has finally kicked off. I've made it to the venue again this year. But why do I keep traveling all this way, year after year?

To be honest, I used to think Cannes was just a "reward for creators." But that's not what it is anymore.

Due to changes in the advertising landscape, Cannes has transformed from an awards show celebrating the past into a place to compete with future ideas and share knowledge. It's become a "trade show for ideas that open up the future." So, I simply must see it with my own eyes. No matter how far it is, I'll come.

Last year, awards like Nike's "FUEL BAND" and American Express's "Small Business Saturday" expanded the world of advertising beyond mere expression to include tangible digital products and long-term initiatives themselves.

And this year, with Cannes celebrating its 60th anniversary, excitement has been building early on.
The judging panel is nothing short of legendary. From BBH founder John Hegarty and Wieden+Kennedy founder Dan Wieden, to Droga5's David Droga and R/GA's Bob Greenberg. It's astonishing how they all gathered – a veritable lineup of advertising legends. (Though, to be fair, Bob Greenberg was sitting right next to me at the pizza place earlier...)

So, will this legendary team pioneer the future of advertising, or will they instead re-evaluate traditional advertising expression? The awards, now comprising 16 categories including the newly established Innovation category, will be announced sequentially starting Monday night. I can't wait.

On the opening day, the venue was already bustling with people.
Attendance grows yearly, and this year saw over 10,000 participants from more than 92 countries. With entries exceeding 35,000—a record high—it's no wonder it's packed.

The first day focused on seminars and workshops rather than awards ceremonies, and even here, the traditional advertising framework has been completely dismantled. Today's content included presentations like an initiative creating creative toilets to solve global public health issues, former Spice Girl Mel B discussing the new relationship between celebrities and media, a case study on how the 2012 London Olympics changed perceptions of the Paralympics and people with disabilities, and a digital platform documenting women's civic movements (which was also made into a film called MAKERS). If you're expecting traditional advertising seminars, you'd be completely taken aback.

The outlines of upcoming seminars are packed with words that seem poised to become key terms in the new advertising world: social, wearable, storytelling, makers (referring to the so-called MAKERS movement).

Yes, Cannes' perspective has completely moved beyond "expressions for selling products."

In a mature society, brands and companies must become entities striving for a better world. Building individual relationships with influential people on social media and engaging them as allies becomes crucial.

Positioning brand and corporate activities as efforts to improve society, or encouraging public participation, requires ideas. This means creativity is demanded as the solution.
Therefore, the output extends beyond mere expression, encompassing products, services, long-term initiatives, and even the creation of culture.

So, what future will this year's Cannes point to for advertising?
It promises to be a week we can't take our eyes off.

With that in mind, this report will be delivered in three installments straight from the event.

Until next time.