Marianne O’Brien’s Cannes Diary #1

Marianne O’Brien, managing partner – creative at CHEP Network is representing Australia on the Cannes Radio & Audio Lions. O’Brien, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors writes exclusively for CB.

Radio and Audio is not what it was. Which is fantastic.

It has been a huge flip from my last time judging here in 2017. To be honest, back then, the truly innovative pieces were as rare as reliable wifi.

In 2022, there are plenty of innovations in sound to get excited about. But equally, the jury was still searching for the beautifully written and produced radio spots. We will always love those.

The debate in the room has been thorough. Kicked off with the passion from our teddy-bear Brazilian, met by the laser-sighted strategy from our Canadian and then sprinkled with an awesomely dark sense of humour from our German juror.

One discussion I found most interesting was where does the line blur between innovation and communication?

I love work that combines our industry’s creativity and storytelling, with the scientific minds that make our world better. When they work hand in hand, we have true innovation, wrapped up in a way that gets attention and connects so deeply with people. Beautiful.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post. I promise to reveal (most of) my judging tips and tricks then.