Oh I forgot we actually have to do work in France...

Even on my day off I found time to travel! Hailee, Paige, Molly, and I traveled to the beautiful city of Monaco on Monday. We took the 10:20 train and arrived in Monaco around 11:15. We had intended to go to the Palace but it was closed due to the Royal Wedding (I had no idea!) We wondered around Monte Carlo and happened upon a gorgeous cathedral. Monaco was the first city that was actually “touristy” and I didn’t like it all. Disney cruise tour groups were everywhere! We finally found the Casino (it was massive) but didn’t gamble because honestly we have no clue how to go about that! Then, we made our way to the Japanese garden, which I thought was going to be a lot prettier. We were close to Italy so we figured what the heck let’s go eat in Italy! Well we made it halfway but had to turn around because the trains were being very sketchy! Our train journey back turned into 3-hour ride because we had to switch over trains (super annoying!); however, we did end it with a nice meal in JLP at our favorite restaurant Le Bamba (they have the most delicious scooped fries!) Yesterday, I worked on all my work for class and met with our group about our Nike Campaign. Our idea is turning into a masterpiece and can’t wait to reveal it to the rest of the group! We all were craving some sushi last night so we went to the Sushi Bar restaurant. It was average sushi but we needed a whole lot more. We were still hungry so we decided on a Nutella praline crepe. It was heavenly! They smother Nutella on the crepe and sprinkle nuts all over it!

This morning before class we had a yoga session with Ms. Kristi and it was awesome! She teaches classes at the Omni and I would love to attend one someday! I’m now sitting in class learning about all the countries represented at Cannes. We are creating a visual for our campaign today (I love this part) and having a dinner on the beach later tonight! Only two more days left in France!

Commercial Critiques

Commercial Critiques (Sorry these we’re not posted every day Dr. Kohn!)

Axe Angels Axe Excite Body Spray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J6ie2ZiCGI&feature=related

I absolutely loved this commercial, even though I found it to be very strange. To begin with, the music completely sets the scene for this commercial. Many different angels at various locations drop from the sky. They gracefully and sexually walk towards a certain point. All the men featured in this commercial are in a state of shock and stare in amazement at this strange occurrence/beautiful women. This commercial really draws the viewer in at the beginning and I even thought to myself, “where are these beautiful angels walking to?” They do not speak which I find very appealing to any young man. They throw down their halos and they shatter on the ground. Simultaneously, the music escalates as the voices sing, “sexxyy boy.” It’s implying that “even angles will fall” for the new Axe excite deodorant.

The production techniques for this commercial were very much animated at the beginning. The only sound we hear in the entire commercial is the man at the beginning. The music dominates the 30-second ad and heightens the commercial at various times. I love how the commercial is presented as crisp and clean. By this I mean that the angels are perfect in contrast to setting around them. The men featured in this film look dirty and the town looks stark in contrast to these majestic looking angels. I’m not sure what production techniques were used to do this commercial but I think the tagline is very solid. They illustrated “even angels will fall” beautifully and I would not have a changed it at all!

Carpet Nohair Vereinte-Laser Permanent Hair Removal (couldn’t find a link)

This commercial was very strange! It began with a young girl walking into a room covered with a thick, musty carpet. She pulls the rough fabric up very slowly. Once she has pulled all of it up, she drags it down the stairs and throws it away. Every action was done very slowly and with a deliberate effort. After the old carpet was gone, she walks back up the stairs and into the room. The same dark, disgusting carpet has reappeared mysteriously. She begins to pull the carpet up, just like the previous. Then, it said Nohair Vereinte (Permanent Hair Removal) on a black screen. After that, I realized that it was for laser hair removal. I found the commercial to be very un-American. I know there is no one definition for American, but this commercial would probably not ever appear on a TV in the U.S. It wasn’t cheerful at all and it seemed very peculiar at first. This commercial also seemed very dark. I assume the producer of this commercial was trying to convey that shaving your legs is an annoying, repetitive task. I personally don’t mind shaving all that much, but I do understand how shaving can be tedious.

The tagline for this commercial was “end the drama.” The way they explored this idea is profound and I would have never used carpet as analogy for hair. If I were to recreate this commercial I would delete the carpet. I would haven taken a different approach to the phrase “end the drama.” Instead, I would have the same girl staring into a closet. She would have to make a choice between what to wear for the evening, either a dress or a pair of jeans. Then, the new tagline would be “end difficult decisions.” The phrase would be stamped across the screen and then it would say Nohair Vereinte. I feel like this would be more effective slogan because the viewer can easily pick up on the service they’re advertising!

Otrivan Nasal Spray-Shoelaces

http://www.canneslions.com/work/film/entry.cfm?entryid=20593&award=2

I thought this commercial was hilarious! I can easily relate because I have used nose spray my whole life! It starts with a man waiting at a bus stop with his mouth wide open. A older lady stands beside him and glances over at his shoelaces (because one of them isn’t tied!) He continues to breath really hard while all of this is occurring. The lady finally makes the move to tie his shoe and he tries to move his foot away. I love the mix of stupidity and comedy together. The phrase, “You look dumber with your mouth open,” is so simple yet so ideal for this campaign. Then it fades to an image of the nose spray where it says, “the pleasure of breathing.”

The characters they chose for this commercial worked flawlessly. The awkwardness of the situation made this commercial funnier. Also, this scenario could easily happen in real life, which makes it more applicable to the viewer. The production techniques for this commercial seemed so cheap and it only involved a couple frames from different angles. I’ve noticed that the best commercials are the ones where there is no talking and the character’s actions speak for themselves. I would not change anything about this commercial!

Premature Perspiration-New Axe Full Control

http://www.canneslions.com/work/film/entry.cfm?entryid=19067&award=99

I found this commercial funny, yet very weird. It starts out with a man narrating the clip. He says, “Many men have a small problem.” Just this line begins the commercial in a sarcastic tone. It shows seven different situations where men begin to profusely sweat when in the presence of women. The first example is when the girl holds the guy’s hand. He breaks out into a massive sweat fest and the girl leaves. The next situation I found hilarious was when the guy looks down at his phone and the girl’s picture appears above her number. He hasn’t even had time to answer the phone, but his shirt is soaked from all the perspiration. Another time is when a guy is hunched over studying in the library and a girl across the way pops her bubble gum. The simple act of the girl popping her gum turns mr. nerdy into mr. sweaty.

The production techniques used in making this commercial were simple. The circumstances the men were faced with made “premature perspiration” seem very realistic. This commercial made sweating seem like some kind of reaction to being sexually enticed by females. The producers seem to enjoy the sarcastic nature and continue to play on it throughout. If I were to change anything about this commercial it would be the locations of where the men begin to sweat. I would add a scene where a girl and a guy are at the movie theater. During the movie, the girl reaches over to grab some popcorn out of the shared bucket. Obviously, the guy would begin to perspire and couldn’t enjoy the rest of the movie!

Star Wars-Volkswagen

http://www.canneslions.com/work/film/entry.cfm?entryid=6396&award=99

This was my favorite commercial by far! I seriously could watch this one over and over again and not get tired of it. It begins with Imperial March Music from Star Wars playing in the background. A young boy is outfitted in Star Wars gear and walks around the house throwing his hands up at random objects. He attempts to make things come to life. He tries the treadmill, the laundry machine, the baby doll, and then the sandwich. He raises his hands and points at these objects but none of them come to life. Finally, he runs out to his dad’s car when he arrives home from work, completely avoiding a hug from his dad, and stands in front of the car with his hands raised. The automobile roars to life. The little boy does a double take and is completely amazed. Inside, the viewer sees his dad pressing the automatic start button on his keychain.

I loved the intuitive storyline behind this ad. It was a favorite during the Super Bowl and I can see why! The great thing about this commercial is that the production aspects seem relatively cheap. The humor and simplicity of this commercial makes it 10 times better (again, no words were needed!) I wouldn’t change a single thing about this commercial!

Goodbye Cannes

The winner of the “culture shock of the day” is the smoking habits in France. The reason why these people are so dang skinny is because they smoke all the time. I can’t even count the number of people that have asked us for a lighter since we’ve been here. Girls my age smoke here and the old geezer sipping on his coffee smokes here. Back home I turn my nose up at the smell of single cigarette, but the smoke has become my new friend here (even if people do blow it directly in my EYES!!!!) When everybody is smoking around you, you become more tolerant of the nicotine-enhanced flavor and have to accept it.

Anyway, the 58^th annual International Festival of Creativity ended yesterday and I’m sad to see it go because that means I too will be leaving soon. I only have 4 more full days in France! I wanted to make that most of my last day of the festival so I attended the 10:30 seminar on AICP Digital. I thought it was going to be a little more interesting but the seminars at the end of the week turned out pretty weak. One thing that did strike my interest was when the speaker said, “Digital is something everybody wants to be involved with but they freak out because there are so many different components.” This is an issue that many companies face because they want to be more digital, but also want to stay traditional in some aspects. The next seminar I went to was B-Reel: Digital Schmigital for 2012. I really tried to listen during this seminar, but I started focusing on my Nike Campaign project for our class. Everything that the speaker was saying could be related to the Nike shoes our group has to advertise. Then, I tried to think creatively at how to market the shoes we’re selling but my idea was a fail. The next seminar (after the one where I spaced out!) was Grupo Consultores: Brazil, Revealing the Secrets. I learned that Brazil is the 5^th largest country and the sixth largest in population. Also, the sales of smartphones have grown 274% in the last 12 months (so crazy!) So yeah those we’re the only “revealing secrets” that I found to be somewhat interesting!

After finishing up the last seminar of the festival, we headed back to Juan Les Pins to get ready for the film awards. We were indecisive on what to wear because we really wanted to be invited to the closing gala (invitation only & big party to wrap it up!) Rachel and I thought it would be smart to divide up from the group and try to mingle with everyone to get these coveted invitations. The guys sitting behind us...fail. The Chinese man beside me....fail. And then the golden prize. A lady and her husband were seated beside us. In carrying on a short conversation with them, we expressed interest in retrieving the golden tickets. They said that they were planning to attend and it really wasn’t all that great last year (in the mind of a 19 year old, any type of GALA is a big deal!) Anyway, about 10 minutes later the lady seated beside us handed their tickets to us and said, “We have a cocktail party to attend so enjoy.” I literally wanted to jump up and down and scream!!!! My new identity was Tayga Soysalturk from Turkey. I now know what it feels like to be in the witness protection program!!! After the film awards let out, we made our way over to the party (which was located across from the Carlton on Carlton Beach...so luxurious!) They had a dessert bar, buffet food line, and free drinks (I’ll take the orange juice please!) They also had fireworks and a DJ! We were the only two out of our entire group to actually get tickets (go us!) I would say that I successfully ended the festival in the best possible way! Goodbye to meeting cool people from random countries. Goodbye to going to crazy business parties. Goodbye to drinking way too many coke zeros and 4 euro hot teas. Goodbye to learning the most information I’ve ever learned in a week. Goodbye Cannes, France, I will truly miss you!

The Double Kiss

To spice up my blog I really want to draw you in with a new special category “culture shock of the day.” Remember the guys from Germany that wanted us to be in the commercial? Well, we saw one of them again today. In many other countries when people greet they kiss on the cheeks instead of shaking hands or hugging (you’re probably thinking duh Morgan) but anyway I thought the German guy was going in for a handshake today and it turns out I received CHEEK KISSES haha. I ended up air kissing both sides of the check, which I find extremely awkward but very COOL at the same time. This happened earlier in the week with the Dominican Republic guy and I was placed in the same situation. I feel so cultured when placed in these scenarios and I find it quite entertaining. I have observed that this is a common way of greeting someone at the festival and may try out my new expertise soon!!

Today was the last full day of the festival (tear!) I started my day with a hot tea (from our favorite place) but instead of water I asked for skim milk, which was a nice change (switching it up a little bit haha!) Our whole group attended the HP Graphic Arts and BBDO workshop, which was titled Creative Engineering: The Digital and Physical Background. Their campaign was for Billboard music. BBDO and HP digitally created small pictures of influential music artists. These pictures were then added to a database of famous artists for consumers to choose their “inspiring entertainment artists.” Once the consumer chose the face/faces of their music role models they could digitally upload a picture and these small photo dots would combine and eventually create a modified image of them. It’s a little hard to grasp the concept without seeing the presentation but it was really ingenious and creative idea. The workshop was a little lengthy and disorganized but the concept was profound. I was amazed with the graphic artist who digitally created the images in Photoshop!

After the workshop, we spoke with the BBDO guy from Atlanta. It was a nice change to actually have somebody from USA and even better the South! He told us that we are in the golden age of creativity and that the world is like a Nascar uniform... you can make it what you want (now that’s a true Southern boy haha) Also, he said there will be more changes in the next 5 years with technology than in the last 25. (Bring it on...I’m ready J) He said that his generation (the older one) is the “digital immigrants.” I laughed when he said that because it’s so true. My parents have technical problems with their computers all the time and I have to always go help them “cross the border” when it comes to these issues!

After our entertaining speaker, we went into the overflow room and listened to The Cannes Debate. I thought it was very monotonous and uninteresting except for the part when they talked about iPads. The speaker said that the tablet is the most powerful and impactful device in our day. It can start to engage and educate kids at a young age. It has many opportunities that have not yet been explored. He also said that the iPad can tell you a lot about the person from the apps they have on it. I started to zone out and think to myself that I wanted my iPad, which is back in Georgia. I was considering the apps I have on mine and what he said is definitely true. I have news apps, photography apps, reading apps, and food apps (which I consider all very HIGH priorities on my list!)

The last seminar I went to was with the CEO of Nestle. I would venture to say that the only reason I went to this seminar is because of my interest in chocolate haha! So here’s some cool/interesting/strange facts:

-Nestle sells 1.2 billion products a day!

-The CEO told us that chocolate was healthy (sure Mr. CEO a 250 calorie bar of chocolate is stocked with the sugar and fat you need to promote healthy food choices everyday)

-Only 10% of his company is using digital marketing (that’s disappointing...so how does Nestle reach out to the younger generation (which is me!)?

-And the best thing we got FREE CHOCOLATE BARS! I repeat we received free chocolate (exactly the reason why I went!)

Your Passion is a Priority

So it’s now 7:15 here and I’m exhausted. I have random things that need to be written so here we go. I have eaten Caesar salads for the last three meals because I’m sick of pizza and pasta. This is the first time in my life I have been tired of BREAD (my most favorite food!) People are just a little more touch feely here than in the US and at times it’s kind of creepy. I’m really craving some Chick-Fil-A chicken minis/Mexican food because they have neither. I just had to throw that out there now back to the day.

Ok, so this morning I chose to attend the seminar entitled Technology Transforming Creativity, which featured will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. Our whole group was pumped about him because he is a HUGE deal. Well, basically he’s featured in a lot of hip-hop/rap songs that are P-O-P-U-L-A-R. I was a little disappointed in the seminar because I wanted to know how technology was transforming creativity but they never really went into great detail. He explained that you must take an idea and turn it into reality. His advice to all was, “Whatever your passion is don’t wait for others to come along and do it. Take personal risks for yourself and your community.” I think this pretty much sums up my time in France so far. My passion may not ever be in the world of advertising but taking the initiative to attend this study abroad program and to make friends with 22 complete strangers is a risk in itself. If you don’t experience things and take risks you won’t know when others jump ahead of you and will eventually miss out on the most amazing experiences.

The other inspiring speaker we had today was an Egyptian filmmaker, Amr Salama. He was 90% self taught and studied mainly by watching videos on the Internet (say what???.) He had produced and directed his first film by the age of 19 (oh my gosh what am I doing with my life?!?!) Also, he has directed and written two feature films! I loved when he said, “If you don’t believe in the product, you won’t see it.” He would never be in the spot he is today if he didn’t believe in himself. This made me so interested in him because first of all he is self-taught, second he lives in Egypt, and third he is so legit. It made me really want to go watch all of his movies in my spare time (of which I don’t have any of right now haha)

We came back early today and got some wonderful dinner and gelato. Getting some sleep for tomorrow because it’s the last FULL day of the festival!

People from Around the World

Day 4 here I am! Well, just a tad bit late whoops....the Microsoft Party went a little late! The first seminar I went to yesterday was Cheil Worldwide: Will Smart TV Make Your Life Smarter? The speakers gave a futuristic presentation about what TV will look like in the next couple years. They proposed that the TV will be your alarm clock, your schedule maker, and help you decide your wardrobe. These techniques will all be made possible by your smart phone. This seminar made me want a smart tv but all the while I was still wondering if this technology is even possible? They illustrated that when the SuperBowl was on commercial break, Pizza Hut, for example, would have an interactive button on the screen for you to order pizza, drinks, and cheese sticks. Also, when you're watching the game a scroll of tweets will appear the right side of the screen that allows you to chat with your friends. The sad part about all of this is that everything was looking SO virtual that there were not any real communications happening. The world was communicating via the virtual world with everything and not face to face which scares me!!

The second seminar I went to was MoFilm: Can a Social Network Build A Global Brand? Jesse Eisenber, actor and star of The Social Network, made his appearance on stage and was just as witty and cunning off camera as he was on! The actual information I retained from this seminar was little to none but it was cool to see him!

Oh and I must say in between all the events of the day, we visited our new favorite coffee shop (Coffee and Cookies) 3 times!! That has to be a record. We were VERY tired and we're fueling up on caffeine to get us through the long day!!

The rest of the day was filled with speakers from many different companies. We spoke with Jennifer Frommer, SVP of Clinet Relations/Branding at Interscope Records. She works in LA and deals with major music clients such as Lady Gaga, Eminem, and the Far East Movement. I've never considered a field in music industry but she made her job sound awesme! Her job reminded me a lot of Public Relations so I liked what she had to say although I probably could never see myself in the music business. I love to listen to my iPod, but music completely changes when you're working with it! The second speaker was David Simon, Writer/Producer of 'The Wire' and 'Treme.' To begin with the setup at the Majestic Hotel was AWESOME! They had drinks, coffee, tea, breads, and macaroons for us right when we walked into the conference room (& that's the way it should be done haha!) He was a very intimidating man because he seemed to have a lot say about any question you fired at him. I thought he was very cynical but at the same time he shared loads of wisdom. The next speaker we had was Allison Arden who is the Publisher of Advertising Age. Her cute little personality was adorable and she asked us many questions. I liked her because she wanted to know the seminars we found interesting and the workshops we enjoyed!

Later last night, I attended the Cyber Awards at 7:30. For our assignment in class, I have to cover Cyber:Banner and Rich Media. I seriously felt like I was at the Oscars last night! They presented about 80 something awards and it was a HUGE deal. I didn't realized that getting these awards meant so much. Old Spice Body Wash dominated many of the awards and Brazil represented very well! The most interesting part of the night was sitting by Kim Jung Hwa from Korea. She is the Art Director at DAEHONG Communications. We tried to use the "bump application" on our iphone to exchange information but of course the wifi wasn't working! She was interested in the Public Relations field and wanted to friend me on Facebook. I was thinking to myself when in the world will this opportunity ever arise again? The awards were pretty lengthy but very much worth the time!

After the awards ended, it was time to head to the Microsoft Party on the beach! It was SO COOL!!! There was dancing, food, and networking opportunities! The night consisted of three interesting encounters:

1. I met a man who worked at BBDO in Dominican Republic. He had some official title but I forgot it!

2. I met two Young Lions (who are competing in the film competition) from Germany. They needed girls to be in their video and were wondering if we would be available. I said sure what do we have to do? He said all we had to do was acty girly and smile. We all agreed that we were in and said they would try to shoot it either today or tomorrow.

3. I met people from London who crashed the Microsoft Party. One guy told us he worked at Microsoft first but then said he was unemployed. He was there to mooch off of the free drinks and have a good time. I was like seriously dude you need to LEAVE, this is for OFFICIAL people only aka me haha!

Nonetheless, we had a very eventful night with Dr. Reichart and Kohn dancing until the wee hours of the morning! Microsoft Party=SUCCESS!!

The Hot Tea was Safely Secured

I was ready for Day 3! My morning started off just right! I was able to retrieve an earl grey hot tea for only a small price of 4 euros (translated to American $6 ha great deal Morgan!) We chose to get there early because we knew it would be packed for Martha Stewart. The 1^st seminar was Agenciaclick Isobar and Fiat-Embracing Openess to Make the Car of the Future. Their powerpoint started briefly with the history of car making dating all the way back to horse and buggy. The campaign (for Fiat cars) was consumer driven because they created a website where consumers designed the car. Eleven thousand different suggestions were made on their Factory Blog. They took the ideas from the consumers and built a futuristic car. Mr. Belinini, the President of Fiat, said, “It’s wonderful to see a company fall in love with the poetry of an idea.” I love this quote because usually you think of car companies designing the car for you, but for this campaign it was all about the consumers’ idea. The coolest thing was that they unveiled the car at the end of the session on the big screen. It really made you want to live in the future!!

After the big car reveal, it was time for Martha Stewart to make her big debut in IPG and Women’s Leadership Network. There were a variety of different ladies on the panel and each was at some head corporate position. They agreed that males do dominate the executive world (which I observed earlier) and they also concurred that absolutely anyone can make it to the top but you can’t ever stop trying. As a woman you can’t be shy about voicing your opinion, you have to be assertive and in control. I tend to do this pretty well anyway so I completely agreed!

Next up was Robert Redford in seminar three. He was way before my time, but I knew that he was kind of important. The baby boomers in the audience/older people shot those cameras up the second he stepped on stage so apparently he is MAJORELY important (WHOOPS!!!! ) Well, I guess that was like the Nick Jonas for me. Anyway, his powerful storytelling was conveyed in his message and I could truly tell that back in the day he was a “bigshot.” He was funny, charismatic, and showed interest in advertising. We ended up having to duck out early to catch our next speaker, which is actually a family friend of mine. I was elated to know that Julie Winskie, a Statesboro native (like myself!,) would be in Cannes, France at exactly the same time. She is President at Porter Novelli and UGA Alum. I usually consider Julie on the flip side of this job description as my mom’s high school friend who we see at Christmas and love to eat bbq with at Vandy’s (YUM!) But today I saw her in a whole new light. She has such an energetic and bubbly personality to begin with but today I saw it carry over into her business role. Her intelligence, passion, and love of her work truly inspire me to acquire even more knowledge before I dive head first into my career. As I approach my sophomore year of college, it may not be time to get a job yet but at least I’ve noticed what it’s like to be on fire for something you believe in, to be part of company that makes something better, and to be part of something bigger that may ultimately change the world. Thank you Julie!!

Next up was the Coca Cola Seminar and it was absolutely fabulous. I might be a little biased since Coke is based out of Atlanta but the speakers were engaging, the presentation was inspiring, and the story of Coke is always a “classic.” The men looked so crisp on stage drinking their Coke I must say. Their campaign described how the older generation knew the story behind Coke but most teens did not know their story. Coke was just any other brand out there on the market...just another tagline. Their mission was to get teens to love their brand. First, they created a Facebook application that let teens virtually send a coke to a friend for various situations and they could redeem it with a QR code at any local store. I thought this was a great idea and wondered how I had missed this because yes I am still a teenager!! Secondly, they developed the Coke Freestyle Machine, which lets the consumer mix any arrangement of flavors together to create a masterpiece. I was aware of this mechanism and it seriously is pretty awesome. During the whole seminar, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat and the 45 minutes was up in no time.

Coke ended on a sweet note and I’m pumped for my adventure tomorrow!