Erin Kawalecki, Partner and CCO of Angry Butterfly, recently had the honour of serving as a juror at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. We had the pleasure of asking her about the experience and getting a glimpse into what it takes to create impactful, award-winning work in today’s advertising landscape.
Share a bit about what it meant to you to be a juror at Cannes Lions this year.
It was a career highlight. No question. Winning a Lion is an honour in itself, but being asked to judge made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning. The jury experience is amazing because you’re surrounded by super smart, knowledgeable people who are the best in their discipline. It was a bit intimidating at first, but it sparked fantastic conversation and left me deeply inspired.
Let us in on the Jury room. What key elements or qualities did you and your fellow jurors look for in the entries? Did anything surprise you as a juror?
My category was Creative Commerce which has effectiveness built into the definition, so demonstrable business results were table stakes. From there, we looked for creativity (of course) not just in the output, but in any aspect related to the transaction. For example, a food delivery app being turned into a streaming service for women’s soccer games (which otherwise would not have been broadcast).
Something that surprised me was how aligned we were as a jury on what constituted great work, despite our highly varied backgrounds (geographically, culturally, and professionally). We debated individual entries to a certain extent, but there was overall consensus when it came to the best.
Tell us about the work this year, were there any surprises or unexpected insights that emerged in the entries?
The ideas that really rose to the top were a convergence of commerce and brand-building. I think we’ll see that more and more in the years to come as people find opportunities to tell stories in places that have historically been used for tactical sales messages/transactions, and conversely, find ways to incorporate the new variety of commerce tools within spaces that historically have been used for pure awareness. The only surprising thing about that is how long those two aspects have been treated separately!
How do you believe the winning campaigns reflect the current trends and future direction of the industry?
In many of the best cases, it would be impossible to separate the media from the creative. As commerce tools are integrated more and more into platforms, the boundary between media and creative in e-commerce has become almost indistinguishable. That reflects where things are and where they’re going – it’s no secret that people are consuming media differently, and advertisers are catching up and playing with the new tools in creative ways.
What final thoughts or advice would you offer to future entrants hoping to create impactful and award-winning work?
It was inspiring to see how beautiful/thought-provoking/funny/engaging the communications within commerce channels can be. A good reminder that at every touchpoint you have the opportunity to delight your consumer and leave an impression that goes beyond the transaction. So I would say look for opportunities that others don’t typically focus on – like an abandoned shopping cart, in the case of Samsung’s ‘Throwback Deals’. Some advice when it comes to the case study – brevity! Your audience is a group of judges who are getting through hundreds of cases, and if you don’t get to the point relatively quickly you’ll lose them.
One last thing that was cool to see is that great ideas can come from anywhere – every part of the world, and every type of agency was represented in the final winners list.
