Text of Opening Speech at Cannes Lions Rewind, 9 September 2010

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Cannes Lions theme for this year is “Connections Made Easy”. This is so apt as indeed the festival this year has been a time when industry professionals from around the world made connections for learning, connections for business and connections for friendship.

With an impressive 35% increase in attendance and 7% increase in entries, the industry once again proved that recession or no recession, creativity is unstoppable. As you will soon see from the two film categories that we’re going to review tonight, creativity is alive and strong. Our colleagues around the world produced mind blowing works, some of which were supported by very low budgets.

My hope is that by the time we shall leave here, we would have been sufficiently inspired to work together as agency and client to achieve extraordinary results.

Right at the core of our hearts as representatives of the festival in Nigeria are two events, the Young Lions Competition and Roger Hatchuel Academy. We are particularly interested in these programmes because we know that our creative future lies in developing tomorrow’s workforce. So far we have had 12 young professionals participate in the Young Lions Competition in Cannes. We are grateful to their employers namely, DDB Lagos, MediaReach OMD and TBWA/CONCEPT who have acted as our partners in this vision.

In this light also, we can not thank APCON enough for supporting the Roger Hatchuel Academy and sponsoring Nigeria’s delegate to Cannes. It is important to add that Nigeria’s delegate was the only African in a class of 34 students from around the world. I recall the young man telling me recently that he found himself carrying the burden of Africa! This year 2 student of the University of Lagos has also been selected by Draft FCB, sponsors of the Roger Hatchuel Academy in Cannes, for internship in one of any 3 countries of his choice in which Draft FCB has an office. Imagine the level at which he will engage the industry on graduation from school.

I welcome all of us tonight, to support the future of the industry by supporting the Young Lions Competition and the Roger Hatchuel Academy.

As for the numerous arguments about whether Nigeria can or cannot win a Lion, that is a story for another day. But suffice it to say that Cannes is where true creativity is rewarded. And true creativity can neither be masked by colour, culture nor language. And yes, nations, agencies and networks battle for rank on the awards table, but beyond these competitions, Cannes is a place for learning, a place for networking and making connections with your aspirations.

Due to time constraints, we can only show you materials from Film and Film Craft categories tonight. But the other ten categories: Media, Direct Marketing, PR, Outdoor, Design, Print, Radio, Promo and Activation, Titanium and Integrated, as well as their support audio-visual documentaries are available in the Official Cannes Lions Winners DVDs.

As they say in Cannes, Merci d'être venus. Please enjoy the show and I look forward to seeing you in Cannes in June 2011.

Cannes Lions Commend Chris Doghudje

The outgoing chairman of APCON, Mr. Chris Doghudje has been commended by the organizers of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for his role in promoting creativity in Nigeria by encouraging agencies to produce high quality work that can be entered for Cannes and sending students to participate in the global competitions that take place in Cannes.

The presentation was made at Cannes Lions Rewind - which took place in Planet One, Maryland, Lagos on the 9^th of September 2010 - by the Cannes Lions Representative in Nigeria, Nnamdi Ndu and Jean-Pierre Bey of the French Embassy in Nigeria, who was represented by Mohammed Musulumi. The Chairman of Cannes Lions, Terry Savage, in a letter which was read during the presentation stated that Chris Doghudje has demonstrated “vision that one day Nigeria will be standing on stage collecting a Lion and for that vision and creative commitment we would tonight like to recognize and thank Chris Doghudje.”

The Cannes Lions Rewind is an annual event organized by Chini Productions, the official Cannes Lions representatives in Nigeria to promote the festival locally. According to the Managing Director, Nnamdi Ndu, the event this year recorded an increase in attendance of over 40% compared to 2009 which shows that interest in Cannes Lions is growing.

More importantly, is the fact that more clients are attending. This is a mirror of what is happening at the global stage in Cannes. We recorded more attendees from Guinness Nigeria this year than from any other single organization. When clients begin to embrace this level of creativity, it’s a strong indication that the hour of change has come.

The financial sector was not left out with participants coming from Oceanic Bank and some insurance companies. Unlike in previous years when it was an all ad agency affair, the media independents were also strongly represented by delegates from mediaReach OMD and Capital Media. It is hoped that subsequently, PR agencies will make their presence felt as Cannes Lions is not just about adverting but covers all aspects of Marketing Communications.

The event was anchored by Clara Okoro of Brandworld Media, who has consistently attended the Festival in Cannes for over 3 years. The Film Craft Category Winners Reel was presented by Tolu Ajayi, Associate Director Broadcast Production at SO&U Saatchi & Saatchi, while the Film Category Winners Reel was presented by Lanre Adisa, Managing Director Noah’s Ark.

The Nigerian participants at the Young Lions Competition from DDB and mediaReach OMD as well as the Roger Hatchuel Academy delegate from the University of Lagos were also in attendance to share their Cannes experience.

Cannes Lions Rewind 2010 for September 9 in Lagos

The official festival representatives of Cannes Lions in Nigeria, Chini Productions, have announced that “Cannes Lions Rewind 2010” will hold on September 9^th in Lagos at Planet One, Maryland by 4:00pm.

Since 2007, Chini Productions have been organizing this event annually in Nigeria. The aim of the event is to review, be challenged and inspired by the winning works from the Cannes Lions Festival that held in June. The event creates an opportunity to relive the exciting moments of the Festival especially as it affects Nigeria’s participation and follow the progress of our young professionals in the Young Lions Competition. Till date, Chini Productions have facilitated the trip to France for 12 young Nigerian professionals under the Young Lions programme as well as 3 students in Nigerian universities under the Roger Hatchuel Academy programme to experience world-class advertising.

It is hoped that very soon Nigeria will begin to win medals, awards and Lions in Cannes, so that this event will also serve as the platform for handing out the trophies, medals and certificates as only a few are presented in Cannes, the rest are usually dispatched to the various countries of the winners to be handled by their national representative.

This year’s event is also enjoying the full support of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), who have made a remarkable contribution in helping to promote creativity in Nigerian advertising by challenging advertisers and agencies to identify with world class advertising, sponsoring entries from LAIF Grand Prix winners to Cannes and also sponsoring a Nigerian student, Emmanuel Eferobor of the Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos to represent Nigeria at the Roger Hatchuel Academy in Cannes.

Chini Productions are particularly thankful to APCON for being so supportive of the usually very unconventional ideas. Chini have adopted a 3 tier approach to the goal of helping agencies and advertisers achieve world class standards. The first is training, which comes in the form of workshops and seminars, the second is by providing inspiring materials like the Lürzer’s Archive or the Cannes Lions Winners Reel and the third is the celebration of creativity and great ideas. The Cannes Lions Rewind is an example of an activity in this 3^rd tier.

First Day of Awards 2010 - Promo & Activation, PR & Direct Lions

The first of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival winners were honoured last night at the first of four Awards Ceremonies taking place during the Festival week.

Both the Promo & Activation Grand Prix and the PR Grand Prix went toTBWA\CHIAT\DAY LA in the USA, with assistance from Paragon Marketing Group and Fleishman-Hillard, for their entry ‘Replay’ to promote the energy drink Gatorade.

Of the 1,595 entries submitted in the Promo & Activation category, a 43% increase versus last year, 150 were shortlisted from which 55 were selected as winners by the international jury led by Tina Manikas, Global Retail & Promotions Officer of Draftfcb. Along with the Grand Prix a further 8 Gold, 20 Silver and 26 Bronze Lions were also awarded.

In its second year the PR category received 571 entries, up 32% from last year. Due to the high increase in entries, the jury decided that it was necessary to award Gold and Silver Lions, rather than only PR Lions, which is normal for a new category. The PR jury, chaired by Paul Taaffe, Global Chairman and CEO of Hill & Knowlton, awarded 11 Gold Lions and 32 Silver Lions from an initial shortlist of 87.

Of the 1,441 entries submitted in the Direct Lions category, 164 went on to make the shortlist of which 19 Gold, 24 Silver and 31 Bronze Lions were awarded. Special Group Auckland in New Zealand won the Grand Prix for their entry ‘Orcon + Iggy Pop’ for Orcon Broadband. The Direct Lions Jury of 30 members was chaired by Pablo Alzugaray, Chief Executive Officer of Shackleton.

The prestigious Direct Agency of the Year award was won by Abbott Mead Vickers, BBDO, London, UK.

All the Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions winners along with their credits can be viewed online at www.canneslions.com/work .

Since the Festival opened on Sunday, delegates have enjoyed presentations by key industry leaders including, JWT’s Bob Jeffrey, Fernando Vega Olmos and Guy Murphy who offered an inside peek at how three pioneering initiatives have impacted the industry; Ogilvy’s Vice Chairman, Rory Sutherland introduced three of the most persuasive salespeople from their World’s Greatest Salesperson competition with the audience deciding the winner via real-time voting and Electronic Arts examined how interactive entertainment is evolving as a game-changing medium.

The 57th Annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the largest and most coveted awards in the industry’s calendar is currently taking place in France, attended by 8,000 industry peers.

Lions League Radio Workshop Holds in Lagos May 31

Chini Productions, official representatives of Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in Nigeria have announced May 31 as the date for the 2010 radio workshop in the Lions League series. The workshop titled “Creating Radio in a Plasma Screen World” will take place in Lagos. The workshop will be conducted by Tony Hertz, an internationally acclaimed radio writer, director and teacher. Tony Hertz is known for his passion for radio. He is Cannes Lions Radio Jury member 2005 and 2010. He also conducted workshops at Cannes in 2006 and 2007 and Eurobest in 2008. The acclaimed radio guru was the Jury President of Golden Drum in 2004 as well as the Radio Jury President for AdFest (Asia-Pacific) in 2007. Among his numerous accolades are the D&AD Radio Gold and Silver.

”Creating Radio in a Plasma Screen World” is designed to show agencies and advertisers how to use their visual orientation in a sound medium because advertising has become almost 100% visual, and the age-old dictum, Make Pictures in Sound simply doesn’t mean much.

The Workshop is a full, interactive 2-day programme. The first day is on 31st May 2010 followed by a break on the second day to enable participants prepare materials for the production day which is on the 2^nd of June. In-between the two workshop days, Tony Hertz plans to have a lecture specially designed for clients. The goal of the lecture is to impart knowledge that will improve working relationship between agency and client personnel in the process of creating radio commercials.

The workshop covers three interlocking elements - Creating Radio, Communicating (Selling Radio Ideas) as well as Producing and Directing. Creating Radio includes topics like: “The Secret to finding radio ideas”, “Adapting TV/Print/Outdoor Concept” and “Writing believable dialogue”. In Communicating Radio Hertz will discuss The Secret Killer of radio ideas”, “Different and effective ways to present radio”, “How to help scripts survive the client corridors” and “Making sure everyone’s buying the same commercial”.

In Producing and Directing, participants will learn how to choose the best voice actors, how to avoid the usual suspect voices and how to find talent and carry out effective auditions, the 7 secrets of directing actors, how to direct children and how to work with sound engineers in the studio and also how to use sound and music to great advantage.

The participants will have hands on session in groups of about 3 – 5 where they will be given briefs to tackle. According to Tony Hertz, “the workshop is ideal for mixed disciplines and creative, account, clients work amazingly well together.”

Lions League is a series of events, workshops, seminars and publications initiated by Chini Productions as a vehicle for leveraging on the partnership with Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival to promote skill development in the Nigerian Advertising and Marketing Communications industry.

BURSARIES FOR THE CANNES CREATIVE LEADERS PROGRAMME AWARDED TO LATVIA, NIGERIA & VIETNAM

The three Cannes Creative Leaders Programme bursaries, awarded to professionals working in the industry based in one of the 151 countries that have never previously won a Cannes Gold Lion, have been granted to:

Vairis Strazds, Creative Director of DDB in Riga, Latvia; Akinpelu Adesola, Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer of The Newton Project Room Ltd in Lagos, Nigeria; and David Smail, Executive Creative Director, BBDO in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Selected from more than 50 applicants, Vairis Strazds, Akinpelu Adesola and David Smail will enjoy a complimentary place on the Cannes Creative Leaders Programme joining fellow participants on the two-week module taking place in Berlin and Cannes in June 2010. During the first week, participants will be based at the Berlin School, one of the world's leading creative training institutions, which has built a global reputation with its innovative Executive MBA programme to help creative industry executives lead for excellence in their organisations. There they will engage in six days of intensive training from the Berlin School's professors after which they will relocate to Cannes during the Festival week, where the course continues with bespoke sessions, group projects, speeches and lectures as well as the use of Cannes Lions' incredible array of workshops, master-classes and seminars. All facilities of the full week in Cannes will be available to the participants, including all Festival content, exhibitions, screenings, award shows and galas.

“We had a phenomenal response to the bursaries, so the selection process wasn’t easy, but we believe that the successful three candidates were the most deserving,” said Philip Thomas, Festival CEO. “They will benefit from the unique and fantastic opportunity that the Cannes Creative Leaders Programme offers to anybody in the industry who wish to perfect their creative leadership strategy skills to produce creative excellence,” he continued.

Clark Parsons, Managing Director of Berlin School of Creative Leadership, commented, “As we move ever further into the digital age, the means of communicating, associating, buying and selling are clearly shifting. In establishing the Cannes Creative Leadership Programme, Cannes Lions and the Berlin School of Creative Leadership aim to help participants to become even more effective leaders at shaping the future for the industry, their organisation and themselves.”

There are a few spaces left for the Cannes Creatives Leaders Programme which costs €7950, and includes all tuition fees over the two weeks, a Cannes Lions full week delegate registration and lunches. Flights, accommodation, incidentals and other meals are not included. Class size is planned at circa 30 places.

For more information click on http://www.canneslions.com/festival/creative_leaders_programme.cfm
Interested parties need to apply to cannesleaders@berlin-school.com. A brief written submission will be required.

Winners emerge for Nigeria Young Lions, Roger Hatchuel Academy

The Young Lions Competition which began on Wednesday, 7th of April was concluded on Saturday, 10th of April 2010 with teams from the following ad agencies and media independents emerging as winners in the various categories. The team of Plumptre Yanju and Okonkwo Jideobi Christopher of DDB Lagos emerged as winners in the Cyber category. MediaReach OMD’s Ufelle Ogechukwu Joy and Okeleke Isioma became winners in the Media category. The film category was won by TBWA\Concept’s team of Okeke Nnenna and Ndubuisi, while141 Worldwide’s team of Olabode Ojomo and Chris Ogunlowo clinched the Print category. All the winners will represent Nigeria in their various categories during the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June. DDB Lagos is producing a team to represent Nigeria in the competition for the 3rd consecutive year, while MediaReach is presenting teams for the second time. TBWA/Concept and 141 Worldwide are winning the ticket to send teams to represent Nigeria in the prestigious Cannes Lions Festival for the first time.

The various teams tackled briefs presented by Hope Worldwide Nigeria to develop communication strategies and concepts to drive their intervention services to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in various Nigerian communities. The verdict for the Media Competition was presented by Jayne Okonkwo, General Manager, Media Integra, while Tunde Ojo, Managing Director, Touchstone Advertising, presented the verdict for the creative categories.

In a similar development, Emmanuel Otega Eferobor of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos won the contest in the Roger Hatchuel Academy Category. He will now represent Nigeria in the high profile Roger Hatchuel Academy class organized for international students during the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. With this winning he will get an all-expense paid trip to Cannes, France for the event as well as $500 pocket money courtesy of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). The Advertising and PR Department of the Lagos State University produced the first runner-up, Odeyemi Abisola Alaba and the second runner-up came from the Department of Mass Communication, Novena University. However, all the participants received consolation prizes courtesy of the organizers, Chini Productions, the official representatives of Cannes Lions in Nigeria. The Mass Communication Department of the University of Lagos is producing a winner in this event for the second time.

Before the quiz segment of the programme that produced the winner, the participants who came from universities across the country, received seminars presented by various advertising professionals. Nnamdi Ndu, Cannes Lions Representative, gave an overview of the Cannes Lions Festival and Roger Hatchuel Academy, Akpo Daniyan, Communication Manager at Etisalat and author of I Have an Idea spoke on Client/Agency Relationship, Uche Nworah, a brand scholar and Outdoor Communication Manager of Globacom gave a lecture titled Between School And Practice In Nigerian Advertising and the Functions Of Various Departments In An Ad Agency. Other speakers at the programme were Joe Onuorah, Head of Education at APCON whose seminar topic was: An Introduction to APCON, Functions and Processes. Paul Ugoagwu, Creative Consultant and former Creative Director STB McCann delivered a seminar titled: What does it take to work in the Creative Department? Qualities of a Copywriter, Art Director and Creative Director. To round up the seminar presentation was a dramatic presentation by Colin Morris, Executive Creative Director LTC/JWT on New Media and the Social Networks. The programme ended with the presentation of certificates to participants and prizes to the winners.

It’s a positive sign that more companies are sending teams to Cannes this year and I hope they will come back with medals. But beyond winning, the experience that they’re about to have will literally transform their lives, they will gain such insights and learning about advertising that nothing else can give them and above all, especially now that our image has been so dented, these nine young men and women for one week in the full glare of the world media will be painting a different picture of the Nigerian youth.