6 trends for Cannes

Before heading off to Cannes, I thought I’d take a stab at some of the trends we may see coming out this year — mainly focusing on cyber & integrated.  So here goes….

1. POST DIGITAL

The division between online and offline is becoming more and more blurred.  It’s now hard to think of a digital campaign without real world impact and vice versa.  The coke campaign from Google project re:brief is a good example of this trend.  ”Buy the world a coke” was literally brought to life and made tangible through digital.

2. CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY

I think we will see plenty of great ideas fueled by clever creative technology.  From being able to order a pizza from your fridge magnet to camouflaging a zero emmission car.

3. THE TROPICANA EFFECT

There are more and more stunts filmed with YouTube diffusion in mind.  We first saw this appearing 2 years ago with the Fun Theory and since Tropicana’s success last year it seems that brands and agencies are looking towards this model more and more.

The intel ultrabook campaign adds a programming logic (over time & across markets).

4. REAL-TIME AND REACTIVE

Following on from last year (old spice response, skittles rainbow updater and VW winter adjusted offer) coke takes things a step further with their super bowl campaign — giving real time advertising new meaning and embracing second screen viewing.

The Axe Anarchy graphic novel is more reactive than real time but it’s interesting to see how brands can bring a new urgency to brand content by being more reactive (in this case the fans literally became part of the story).

Little Marina is another example of real-time reactivity.

5. PROGRAMME NOT CAMPAIGN

Campaigns are becoming more sustainable year in and year out.  We are seeing more and more brands come back with the second or third year of a campaign instead of a “one shot” logic.  American Express is back again with the second year of Small Business Saturday.

6. PRODUCT INNOVATION & SERVICE DESIGN

You could put Nike Fuel under many of the above trends.  Interestingly, it’s hard to tell what’s product and what’s campaign which is a true sign of success.  We will see more and more brands look towards innovating the product itself rather than just creating a messaging campaign on top.  Great to see a brand creating value and earning attention for and with their audience.

This year, American Express partnered with Twitter to create a new service for cardmembers (and in doing so, a new business model for merchants).

So there it is - a first stab at locking down some of the trends we may see coming out of this year’s festival.

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You can read the Cannes debrief post here to see how things netted out.