Is Cannes Still Necessary?

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity took place in Cannes, France, from June 20th to 24th. How did this world's largest celebration of creativity, held in person for the first time in three years, appear through the eyes of its creators? Creators involved in Cannes from various roles—award winners, presenters, judges—unravel the "now" of Cannes through their unique perspectives.

Part 3 features a roundtable discussion with Yusuke Shimano, Nagaaki Onoe, and Jiro Murayama from Dentsu Inc.'s creative collective 'zero.' These three creators, dispatched to the event, shared their insights on the latest happenings at Cannes from multiple angles.

 

The Most Exciting Cannes in Years

──This year marked the first in-person Cannes in three years.

Onoe: The atmosphere felt pretty much the same as always. There were signs everywhere urging people to wear masks, but nobody was actually wearing one. They were holding Music Day (basically a festival), with music blaring throughout the city, everyone dancing and drinking.

Shimano: The only real difference was the PCR testing at the airport; otherwise, it felt much the same. The overwhelming advantage of an in-person event is the ability to engage in deep discussions. People who travel to the venue in times like these are either highly motivated or sent because they need to be there. Meeting and debating with such individuals on-site can be a truly eye-opening experience that challenges your own values.

Murayama: This time, the three of us were dispatched to the venue with the cooperation of Nikkei Inc., the Japanese domestic representative for Cannes Lions. We each also had the opportunity to speak at a local seminar hosted by Nikkei Inc.

Personally, being able to talk about advertising every day while there was incredibly enjoyable and stimulating. There were also those serendipitous encounters only possible in real life. During our stay, we had the chance to speak with Dentsu Inc. International's global team. It was great to access information like what's happening overseas right now – insights that are hard to come by while in Japan.

Onoe: We bought fruits, cheese, and vegetables at the local marché (market), cooked together, and ate. Living in a place so different from Japan really made me feel how vast the world is, how many different values exist, and how varied lifestyles can be. Seeing award-winning works from various countries and realizing how many different people there are made me feel that the work we're doing now is very narrow. There are so many different approaches and challenges out there. I could feel that alongside my daily life.

Watching Cannes from Japan through a screen feels unreal, but experiencing it while living there really hits you—it becomes an experience. So if you ever get the chance to go to Cannes, I really hope you visit the market (laughs).

──Any works that left an impression?

Shimano: There are so many... but yes... the German campaign "FLUTWEIN" really stuck with me. A German winery hit by flooding launched a campaign using social media to sell mud-covered wine—which would normally be discarded—as a special vintage, mud and all. It became a huge sensation, praised worldwide for its visuals, and ended up selling incredibly well. Since disasters are common in Japan too, I thought this could be a valuable reference case for us.

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Onoe: In recent years, there's been a major trend toward social good and purpose-driven initiatives. One project I really loved, which felt like an unexpectedly positive development, was VICE World News's "The Unfiltered History Tour" by Dentsu Inc. India. When you hold an Instagram filter over the British Museum's collection, descriptions appear—revealing the negative history behind the artifacts, like "where this piece was looted from." It conveys the message that behind the collection, which represents the victor's history, lies hidden negative history.

While recent movements focus on balancing gender gaps, "The Unfiltered History Tour" asks: Isn't balancing history equally important?

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Murayama: What struck me anew was how vastly different campaign results are globally. Take Dole's "Piñatex" campaign, for example. They partnered with a material development startup to transform pineapple leaves—which become massive waste during harvest—into a new fiber. Major brands like Nike and Hugo Boss are already commercializing products using this fiber. The scale of implementation is completely different. And it's generating sales. The results are overwhelmingly clear and have a powerful impact.

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Shimano: This year's Cannes was personally the most enjoyable I've experienced recently. Why? Because there was very little overlap among the Grand Prix winners. Every Grand Prix was different, and each category showed distinct evolution. Seeing that clearly made it incredibly educational to review everything, so personally, it was a really fun year.

The "Results" That Highlighted the Gap with Overseas

Shimano: Recently, I participated as a guest in a Cannes training program for the PR department of a certain company. They had a genuine desire to properly learn about Cannes. It wasn't just about whether they "won" or "didn't win" an award at Cannes. Instead, the entire organization was seriously considering things like "which techniques can we bring back to Japan" and "what should we learn now?" That, first and foremost, struck me as wonderful. On the other hand, I get the sense that Dentsu Inc. is "moving away from Cannes," or that fewer people are interested. Why is that?

Murayama: Personally, I feel like there's a strange prejudice attached to the word "Cannes." There might be a cynical view that winning an award at Cannes is "not part of our core business."

Onoe: There's this image that you have to go to extreme lengths to win at Cannes, and I think that's probably why fewer people from Japan are submitting work there.

Shimano: Yeah, that could be it.

Onoe: I also think part of the disengagement comes from feeling Cannes isn't an extension of their everyday work. But when I was aiming for it, I never won. The times I did win, it was for projects where I'd forgotten about that goal and just aimed to create something that would generate buzz domestically. So, actually, I feel it is an extension of everyday work.

Murayama: Nowadays, the world is winning awards left and right with their main work.

Onoe: It's a tough era to win awards by aiming for them. Around 2010, during digital's early days, our seniors were racking up awards like crazy. But now, it feels harder to spot those blue oceans or areas ripe for sudden breakthroughs. Is it the metaverse? NFTs? Or something else...? The Digital Craft category was interesting because it showed various things emerging in that space.

Another reason it's become harder to win intentionally is that tactics like submitting work just to meet entry requirements—like placing small ads in minor media—have come under scrutiny. As a backlash to that, and with the current emphasis on authenticity, results have become incredibly important. Achieving results takes a significant amount of time. Projects aimed solely at awards, lasting maybe three months at most, simply can't deliver results. When judging, we were rigorously rejecting those kinds of entries.

Murayama: Speaking of results, the campaign "Plastic Fishing Tournament" by Corona Mexico, famous for Corona beer, really stuck with me. It's a relatively simple concept where fishermen compete to collect the most trash discarded in the ocean. What surprised me was the sheer volume of trash collected – measured in tons. And it wasn't just one country; they collected it across multiple countries. The scale of the results was completely different from what we see in Japan. It really made us think about how we could achieve something like that.

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I especially want young people to go to Cannes

──Do you have any requests for Cannes going forward?

Shimano: Cannes is a treasure trove of advertising techniques and success stories. I believe professionals must study there properly and stay informed about new case studies. In that sense, I hope it continues to be a place for learning.

Personally, I even think you don't need to see the Grand Prix. The Grand Prix has already reached the ultimate destination in terms of technique. For young people on the front lines, I genuinely believe it's better to see as many Bronze awards as possible. When I teach training sessions, I focus my explanations primarily on Bronze and Silver awards. I think people starting to watch Cannes should consciously approach it that way too.

Onoe: Until recently, Cannes had these "screenings" where they'd play everything—including commercials that didn't make the shortlist—in a big room, and everyone could watch together. People would boo the boring ones; it was actually quite fun. But now, all that has shifted to seminars, and it's completely gone. This year's screening was just four chairs tucked away in a corner of the venue, which felt like such a waste. Watching the same thing together and reacting to it is a valuable experience in itself. I really hope they bring it back. I recently judged films for the LIA awards, and seeing everyone laugh together while watching the videos really showed how simple, powerful things can transcend all kinds of barriers.

Changing the subject slightly, in terms of applying it to everyday work, I think the "Cannes way of thinking" is quite valuable. Learning Cannes gives you one more way of thinking compared to those who haven't studied it. When you're just doing regular work, it tends to become about optimizing daily routines. When you want to create something to talk about, it often gets very narrow—like, "Should we use TikTok?" or "Let's do something on social media." But if you've studied Cannes, you realize you can also change the business itself. For planners, having more paths to create ideas is always better. In that sense, it's definitely worth checking out Cannes.

Murayama: Regarding the seminars, I used to feel they offered unique insights into the creative industry that you couldn't get anywhere else. But lately, it seems more and more seminars are turning into corporate sales pitches. I wish there were more seminars that really get people excited.

Also, a standard entry pass costs around 500,000 yen. If they could make it a bit cheaper, I think more people would be able to attend. It's better if a lot of people go.

Onoe: Especially young people should go. For me, the most stimulating time was my third year attending—it really fueled my drive to push forward. Being excited every day and discussing various cases with my peers and seniors was invaluable.

Lately, I feel like young people in advertising are struggling to stay motivated. In that environment, actually experiencing firsthand what's out there in the world can completely change your drive.

And clients should definitely go too! I sense many people want to learn even in their daily work, so I hope we can learn together and shift our perspectives collectively.

And finally, I really want to mention my colleague, Higashi. He speaks about six languages and originally aspired to be a journalist. When he went to Cannes before, he ambushed award winners as they descended the red carpet stairs after the ceremony. He created his own journal, printed it himself, and distributed it to everyone around him. It was truly the world's most detailed and fastest Cannes Lions journal. I doubt you'd find anyone else in the world diving into reporting like that. That's why Dentsu Inc. should send Higashi to Cannes every year (laughs).

Murayama: During the awards ceremony, past winning works were projected onto the screen, and it really made me reflect on the history of creativity. It's like the very concepts change. Cannes is a place where keywords like "data" or "technology" evolve.

Right now, the term "social good" seems to be taking on a life of its own, but I hope the evolution and value of creativity that completely transforms previous concepts can truly be conveyed through the Cannes platform. That's what clients are seeking too, right? Visiting the event this time made me think about that.