Mike Felix’s Cannes Diary: Day Something
Mike Felix, Chief Creative Officer, dentsu Aotearoa represented New Zealand on this year’s Cannes Film Lions jury – and after a marathon few days judging hundreds of entries, he’s somehow still awake enough to write this diary. Here, Mike shares what it’s like inside the jury room, why New Zealand still punches above its weight, and why staying enchanted with advertising still matters.
If you’re up for a sleep-deprived ramble, then welcome aboard. But if you’re looking for a concise wrap up of the Cannes Film Jury experience, a few prescient predictions on upcoming trends and a nod to some of the work making waves at Cannes Lions this year then I’ll pull over here briefly so you can get out.
This year I celebrate 20 years in the industry. About 18 of those years ago we were out celebrating an award win. On a nearby table a group of people were also celebrating an award – for the country’s best sausage. At some point they asked us what our award was for and they were shocked when we told them. “They give out awards for advertising? That’s crazy.”
Most sausage makers and the general public don’t care about advertising. Which is why we need to love it even more. Very early on in my career I noticed a change in some of the senior creatives who I admired and looked up to. The minute they fell out of love with the industry their work suffered. So, I made one rule for myself: Don’t get jaded. As corny as it sounds you need to be enchanted with what we do and I mean that in the ridiculous way it sounds.
So, when I got the invitation to judge Film at Cannes Lions I felt like the little advertising fairy had flown into my window and – I’m way too tired to be writing something that is going to print.
I couldn’t wait to meet all the other judges, discuss the world’s best work and put everything I’ve learned, and my ability to tolerate jetlag to the test. I’ve also been lucky enough to have come to Cannes before which allows me to appreciate the meaningful flourishes one gets to enjoy when they are judging film. Like staying at the Carlton. There will be a few people who will nod at this knowingly. Like me, they’ve walked past the Carlton many nights, legs aching, as they begin their pilgrimage to whatever Airbnb they’re staying at on the outskirts of town.
As I type this John Wren is finishing a piece of plain, buttered toast on the table next to me. Why he decided to choose that from what I can only describe as ‘the best buffet breakfast spread I’ve seen in my life’, I will never know.
For one week Cannes is the centre of the advertising universe and the centre of that centre is the Palais des Festivals. A rabbit warren of giant theatres, judging rooms and display corridors decorated with the work that has shaped the industry. But you don’t have to enter the Palais to get an insight into what is happening in the industry. Just walk down La Croisette. Each year the companies who rent the beach front will tell you what shifting tides are shaping the industry. When I started in advertising it was the creative agencies, then the social companies moved in, then the Amazons and ad sellers and now it’s Adobe, Canva and the A.I production platforms. Dentsu has a beach front place too by the way, just saying.
The smug, punch-able expression one gets on their face walking into the Palais with a judging pass quickly disappears when you stand at the base of the mountain of entries you have to judge. I’m just going to lay it out for you. Day 1: 15 hours. We wrapped at midnight. Day 2: 15 hours. We wrapped midnight. Day 3: 11 hours. We wrapped at 8. This is also just the perilous summit of the judging experience which is preceded by months of pre-judging.
But my days in that windowless room flew by. You hear stories about the politics of Cannes, but I think I won the Grand Prix when it comes to a Jury team. Serious talent, no egos. Our Jury President Kate Stanners, Chairwoman and Global CCO of Saatchi & Saatchi, instantly earned her spot as one of my favourite ad people. By the end of it we knew every piece of work intimately. We took our time. We watched everything. Like everything. People listened to each other, there wasn’t any arguing and everyone articulated themselves clearly and with passion.
This year we started to see the impact of Nike’s CEO being dragged out of retirement to bring them back to their branding roots. Apple proved that you don’t have to have matching luggage to do incredible and incredibly impactful work. There was so much fried chicken work Cannes will need to create the Fried Chicken Lion. Humour is still having its moment in the sun, which suits me just fine. And there was one piece of work, that from the moment I saw it, I knew it would be our Grand Prix.
A lot has changed in the industry since I started, but the important stuff is still the same.
A great idea still wins the day. One thing I didn’t expect though was the reverence the other jurors had for New Zealand as a creative nation. Almost everyone said, ‘Oh New Zealand, there’s always good stuff coming out of New Zealand’.
We should be incredibly proud of that reputation and being part of the New Zealand industry is a privilege and has kept me enchanted. Which is a real accomplishment, because advertising is not for the faint of heart. People say we’re not saving lives, but we do spend every hour, of every day, trying to keep ideas alive and if other people don’t think it’s worth us taking a moment to celebrate – they can take their golden sausage and shove it.
Happy 20 years advertising.
M