Convinced I could persuade the Dean to select me as one of the Creative Academy Students, I started working on my essay long late hours in the office.

 

Earlier this year, the agency I work for announced that one of their goals this year was to invest in training for our team, I leapt on the opportunity and started my research. Having always followed the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity for inspiration, I was excited to discover that they also held a training program during the week of the festival; the Creative Academy. Only open to 30 creatives worldwide, this training week is an exclusive event created to catapult young creatives to the next level of their careers. In order to get a chance to be accepted as one of the select few, I had to send an application, including an essay, a video about myself and a written reference from my Creative Director. I knew this was going to be a longshot, but I had nothing to lose in giving it a try. Convinced I could persuade the Dean to select me as one of the Creative Academy Students, I started working on my essay during the long late-night hours in the office after my regular work was done. The essay had to respond to just one question: “What’s the most creative brand in the world and why”? I believe there are many brands that are truly creative in their strategic and marketing approach. The big ones people always think about are Nike, Burger King, Lego… So I decided to go smaller, I decided to go with a less obvious brand but who had just as much of an interesting marketing strategy as the big brands. I choose Absolute Vodka. To sum up, Absolut is one of the most creative brands because they manage to support and defend a large audience worldwide socially and politically, thanks to their creative strategy, beautiful graphics and often communicated with the help of many best known artists and influencers of our time. 

 

Once my essay was written, there was the question of a small two-minute video talking about who I was, and why I deserved a space in the Academy? The fun fact behind this is, I don’t really have a nice white open space at home, so I decided to film myself talking to the iMac camera at midnight one night when the office was completely empty… and it worked! A week later, I had an email from the Cannes Lions Festival saying that I had been awarded a spot! An incredible experience and opportunity were awaiting. 

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So, how was the overall experience? What was it like to be in the Cannes Creative Academy?

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I had no idea what to expect, but as soon as I arrived, I could see why this course was so sought after. Long days, various accents chatting, rosé poring, in the distance drumbeats beating, shade searching, fans waving, amuse-bouche eating, subject-matter experts presenting. This is what I was seeing and hearing every day at the Creative Academy. This program involved intimate sessions with world-renowned CEOs, CCO, Directors, Producers, Creatives from all around the globe. 

 

The hot topic for this year’s Cannes Festival was: What does the future of digital look like? Everyone is talking about NFTs, the Metaverse, Web3.0, and how they will change the face of marketing and brand communication. During the Creative Academy, I got the chance to see how some brands displayed their strategies within different digital environments, but it left me wondering if this a trend or is this future going to stay in the long run. At the Academy we discussed various forms of media (VR, AR, projection mapping…) and how can they grow and develop even further, or on the contrary fade out as a new technology takes centre stage.