I think was starting to lose steam by today. I went to several talks for Entertainment Lions, starting with an interview between Richard Frankel of Spotify and DJ Mark Ronson. I had been pumped for this all week, being a big fan of music and especially interested in its used in advertising and branding. Although hearing about Ronson's productions process, I struggled to see how it related to advertising or any of the audience in the room who were not music producers themselves. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to hear about his creative process and how much work goes into making a smash hit. The creative process of a music producer is just like any other. It begins with inspiration and an idea, morphs into planning, then into playing around and lots of hard work until its perfect. And then of course comes the judgement stage where its effectiveness and execution is determined by the public's opinion of the work. Like with anything directed at consumers, you can find an idea brilliant and alluring, but if your target audience doesn't get it, then your idea has failed you. I was a little starstruck to be in the same room as such a highly acclaimed producer.
After that I saw a panel about Music in Colour. I didn't really understand what the company was, or what it was trying to accomplish, and I frankly found the music video they had created very childish and dumb. This was honestly one of the only talks all week I was truly disappointed by. Maybe I just don't have any understanding of their very specific corner of the industry, but I just did not understand what they were trying do or why they were relevant to this festival (harsh, I know).
From Athlete to Enterprise: Building Brands outside of Sport was actually pretty interesting. And not just because Victor Cruz was part of the panel, although that certain brought a certain amount of hype to the conversation. I'm especially interested in sports and sports branding (my lifelong dream has been to work with Nike) and so I felt right at home in this discussion. It was very interesting to hear the inside depiction of what its like to be an athlete signed to a brand and all that goes into promoting it. Cruz made the point that once athletes are at a certain level, they're often selective about who they choose to represent because they want to work with a brand they believe in and share values with. That means that if brands want a certain athlete to endorse them, they have to make sure they're image is something high profile athletes would feel proud to represent. This comes back to how a brand's image is just as important if not more important than its actual products.
I was exhausted and headed back to JLP. I was planning to come back for the award show but got all the way back to Cannes and realized I had left my badge (rookie mistake I know) and just decided to head back for the night. I had a nice dinner full of meaningful conversation (and pizza) by the ocean. One they way back we stopped for gelato and witnessed a drag queen performance in a nearby restaurant as we passed. It was interesting to say the least. I decided to go on a long walk to clear my head, and put in my head phones and went on a 5 miles hike to the other side of Golfe de Juan and back. I very much need time like this to clear my mind and organize my thoughts after a crazy busy week where I'm surrounded by people and activity at all times. It was very nice to get some fresh air and have some time to myself. During the day at the festival I tend to think all about what my career will be and all my goals. But at night or when I'm alone or outside like this, I can think a lot about what will actually make me happy and keep me inspired.
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