While the film industry has an annual dependency on the Cannes Film Festival, the marketing landscape gets an additional party in the form of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Taking place from the 16th - 22nd June, Cannes Lions boasts far more poignancy than celebrity spotting and the excitement of a midnight screening - this event promises seminars, workshops, debates, training and, of course, awards ceremonies.Just like the film event experiences a buzz around the much-anticipated arrival of everyone from Paris Hilton to Roman Polanski, Cannes Lions will be attended by global brands like Lego, Channel 4, Ebay, Coca Cola, Twitter, Volkswagen and Google. Also present will be the creators themselves, with an assortment of agency representatives to span every outlet, such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Carat, TBWA, Mother and Creative Review. There will also be guest speakers including Vivienne Westwood, Lou Reed, Annie Leibovitz, Jack Black and even Mel B.
In a bid to engage with the uprising digital world, outdoor agency Clear Channel are launching an interactive Twitter campaign marked by the #canvas hashtag, which will collate the best tagged tweets and incorporate them in a hand-painted mural produced by a team of artists in the grounds of Le Grand Hotel Cannes.
The 16m x 4m #canvas will be projected onto a larger 18m x 5m screen on top of the hotel - an advertising debut for this particular spot along the Boulevard de la Croisette - and its development will also be streamed on the Clear Channel website and across festival screens, described by Clear Channel marketing and planning director Paul Evans as the perfect example of "how outdoor and social media are perfect partners."
Evans also said: "By engaging key influencers and some of the most innovative minds in the global creative and advertising community and beyond, our programme will not only inspire and rally extraordinary thought leadership, but we will go on to create a one-of-a-kind social media-fuelled piece of art."
Daily topics will ignite #canvas conversations, and those displaying a certain je ne sais quoi will be transferred onto the mural, with the finished product uploaded onto the Clear Channel website - complete with the ability to search tweets.
The creative subject schedule is as follows:
The creative subject schedule is as follows:
Sun 16 June: Who owns the creative agenda?
Mon 17 June: Is creativity an art or science?
Tue 19 June: Is technology redefining creativity?
Wed 20 June: Has globalisation diluted creativity?
Thur 21 June: Should creativity be a bigger force for social good?