Events

October 25 2024

The Globe and Mail Wins Gold as Cannes Lions Representative of the Year

Globe Media Group Cannes Lions, Highlight advertising, awards, Canada, Canadian Media, Cannes, cannes lions, creativity, Events, marketing, Young Lions

The Globe and Mail is thrilled to announce that Canada has been awarded the Andrea Suez Cannes Lions Representative of the Year award, taking home the Gold distinction at this year’s annual Cannes Lions Representatives meeting in London. This prestigious award recognizes the exceptional efforts of representatives around the world who embody the spirit of Cannes Lions and demonstrate outstanding dedication to championing creativity in their local markets.

Group photo from the Representatives Meeting in London

For nearly 20 years, The Globe and Mail has been the official Canadian representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, working tirelessly to spotlight and elevate Canadian talent on the world stage. This award is a testament to our team’s unwavering commitment to fostering creativity, innovation, and excellence in Canadian advertising and marketing.

Our mission is to ensure that Canadian creativity and talent are recognized globally, and we’re proud to bring the Cannes Lions brand to life in Canada.

Over the past year, our team has worked with incredible industry partners, sponsors, and our Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory Board to deliver year-round programming that showcases the best of Canadian creativity. From celebrating award-winning campaigns to nurturing emerging talent through programs like the Young Lions, The Globe is committed to strengthening Canada’s presence within the global creative community.

Marcin Zerek, Head of Trade Marketing at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s Cannes Lions Representative, expressed his pride in receiving this honor:

“We’re incredibly honoured to be recognized with the Andrea Suez Cannes Lions Representative of the Year award. Our goal has always been to champion Canadian creativity and talent on the world stage, and this award reflects the dedicated work of our team, our amazing partners, and the remarkable talent in our industry. We’re truly inspired by the efforts of our fellow representatives worldwide. A special congratulations to our friends in Brazil, who took home Silver, and Germany, who won Bronze. Creativity has the power to shape the future, and we look forward to seeing how it will continue to inspire and transform our industry.

Marcin Zerek, Head of Trade Marketing, The Globe and Mail with Simon Cook, Chief Executive Officer, LIONS

Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity has been a beacon for the global creative marketing community for over 70 years, and The Globe and Mail is proud to be part of a network of representatives who bring the LIONS brand to local markets around the world. Each year, this award recognizes representatives who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and a best-in-class approach to fostering a vibrant creative community in their countries.

Our achievements this year reflect our dedication to celebrating Canadian creativity year-round. Through initiatives like exclusive content on award-winning campaigns, events such as the annual Après Cannes, and our work with the Young Lions competition, we’re constantly inspired by the innovation and talent emerging from Canada’s creative community. This award is not only a proud milestone for The Globe and Mail but also a celebration of the collective efforts of our partners, the Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory Board, and everyone in our industry.

As we look forward to 2025, our commitment remains as strong as ever. We’re excited to continue supporting Canadian talent, telling Canadian stories, and sharing the transformative power of creativity on the global stage.

Congratulations to everyone who has been part of this journey and thank you for helping us make Canadian creativity shine!

July 10 2023

Collision Conference wrapped: AI takes center stage

Globe Media Group Highlight artificial intelligence, collision, creativity, Digital, Events, technology

Back for another year, Collision 2023 in Toronto was action-packed, welcoming over 36,000 delegates and 1,500 startups to showcase their latest tech innovations. It’s an exciting time in the industry, and despite the looming concerns of a recession, investors are keen to invest in the technology that will propel us into the next decade. Tech entrepreneurs are tackling the world’s most pressing issues like climate change, poverty, misinformation, cybersecurity, and of course, inclusion, equity and diversity. Here are the key takeaways:

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI)

This year, the agenda shifted away from crypto and blockchain to Artificial Intelligence (AI), most notably, generative AI. Expert panelists were giving their take on the immense opportunity AI presents across all industries. Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction, said health care delivery around the world will see the most significant improvements in the near term. Many call the risks of AI taking control overblown, claiming the same panic cycle happens at the advent of every new technological revolution like the internet, cryptography, and even going from horse and buggy to cars. While Geoffrey Hinton, one of the Godfathers of AI, said the existential risk of AI gaining control and manipulating humans in their own interests needs to be treated with more concern, rather than being shrugged off as improbable. Hinton mentioned “there are 99 smart people making AI better, and one person trying to figure out how to stop it from taking over.”

Climate

Both climate change and the automotive industry in Canada were also top of the agenda at Collision. Max Evans, the Co-founder & CTO of ClimateAI, spoke about building climate resilience worldwide by leveraging AI to reach their promised climate goals. Given AI is now able to study climate patterns and combine weather variables with data analytics, companies can leverage machine learning algorithms to make predictions and recommendations for farmers.

Automotive

Automotive companies are investing heavily into Visual AI to build self-driving vehicles along with electrifying the grid. Volkswagen was showcasing their latest electric vehicles at Collision like the ID Buzz. The conference brought together experts and engineers who are redefining the way we travel in our cities, and focusing their solutions on autonomous vehicles, smart cities and reducing carbon emissions.

Marketing

Dave Rogenmoser, the CEO and Co-founder at Jasper, a platform trained to write original content for marketers, talked about how AI intersects with marketing. He mentioned AI is becoming integrated into every step of the marketing process from data collection to producing website copy, and although tools may be on the rise of taking these jobs from current marketers, there will still be a need for human agency to moderate the quality of outputs and ensure the tools are optimized.

These generative AI tools allow marketers to create hyper personalized content and products that create more value for their clients for a much lower cost. Rogenmoser said fluffy content will proliferate due to generative AI, but the best quality content will continue being ranked at the top of search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing or even new search engines like ChatGPT (with Browsing Plugin).

Final thoughts

When tech leaders from 118 countries come together to demonstrate the amazing technology they’ve been working on for the past year, great things happen, and deals are done. The artificial intelligence conversation dominated most of Collision 2023, however content marketing, climate action, healthcare, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology were also top-of-mind. To add to the flare, Collision announced the conference will be returning to Toronto in 2024 and will continue to attract tech giants and start-ups from across the world.

Written by: Araash Chothia, Junior Marketer, The Globe and Mail

GAM_Y22M06D20A-PHOTO_RAW-CAM_A-0549 copy

July 5 2022

Event Recap: A Toast to Cannes Party

Globe Media Group Cannes Lions advertising, awards, Canada, Canadians, Cannes, Events, marketing, Young Lions

The Globe and Mail Cannes party, typically reserved for the sandy beaches of the French Riviera, was instead held this year in Toronto. On June 20^th the spirit of the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was on full display as the Canadian advertising and marketing community gathered for a much-awaited reunion at our Toast to Cannes party held at Daniels Artscape Launchpad overlooking Sugar Beach.

Tracy Day, Managing Director, Creative Studio and Ad Innovation at The Globe and Mail, kicked off the evening’s festivities, inviting an esteemed and award-winning panel to the stage for a discussion on the importance and power of Canadian Creativity.

Moderated by Shannon Lewis, President of CMDC, the panel included Wain Choi, Executive Creative Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo, Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer at Kruger Products, Mooren Bofill, Partner and Creative Director at 123 West and Brooke Leland, Managing Partner at Jungle Media. This cross-section of the media, marketing, and creative communities, discussed a range of topics and issues, from how Covid has affected the past year of work, what it’s like in the jury room at Cannes, what the future of the advertising industry looks like, and why Canada is such a hotbed of creativity.

Here are 5 takeaways from the panel discussion:

Empowerment and empathy lead the way: Shannon Lewis talked about how one of the buzzwords from Cannes this year is capital C Creativity, which to her is all about having a sense of empathy and how empathy, not only from a brand level but also from a leadership level can flourish into empowerment. Wain Choi, referencing the petition that got Heinz and Wonder Bread to solve their odd-numbered hotdog wiener to bun packs, talked about how it’s not only about making ads, it’s that we actually have the power to change something, to change our world, and that idea should be embraced by every client and every agency.
Put the consumer first: Using an award-winning example, Susan Irving talked about Kruger’s Unapologetically Human campaign, from 2021. At the start of the pandemic, as the supply shortages were wreaking havoc on the toilet paper and paper towel business, Kruger had to pull all of their advertising and pivot to something new. All of the sudden changes in the marketplace actually served as an opportunity to put the consumer first, and talk about what we were all collectively going through.
Be yourself and don’t sell yourself short: When Moreen Bofill was growing up in the ad industry, she recalled only seeing two women that looked like her, Helen Pak (SVP of Creative at Disney) and Judy John (Global CCO at Edelman). While there is still much more work to be done, she is proud to see the growing diversity within the industry, and is hopeful that it will continue to build teams that represent the culture that is within Canada, in both hiring efforts as well as mentorship efforts. Prompted with advice to give her younger self, Mo said, “If you can’t find a seat at the table, make your own table, and lean into what makes you unique.”
Change with the times: Wain remarked on an idea his agency, Zulu Alpha Kilo, came up with for their client, Harry Rosen. The Green screen shirt was a shirt people could wear Monday-Friday on Zoom calls working from home, and with the push of a button could change the shirt into different patterns. Having a client being open to change and adaptability bred a truly creative campaign idea.
You are much smarter than your boss: Thinking about what to tell your 25 year-old self, Brooke knows exactly what she would say: you are so much smarter than us. She believes that her younger colleagues coming up behind her are so outstanding and remarkable, that she can’t wait to be a slingshot for them and catapult them up in the industry.

The Globe and Mail kick-off to Cannes party ended on a lively note, with the advertising and marketing community toasting to continued Canadian success at the festival with glasses of French rose in hand, and knowing that Canada’s creative future is powerful and bright.

Get inspired and hear all of the takeaways from the Creativity Panel by watching the video here:

Photography and Videography by Roxton Media.

The Globe and Mail has proudly been the official Cannes Lions Festival Representative in Canada for 17 years and is strongly committed to growing and empowering Canada’s creative community.

To learn more about the Cannes Lions Festival and the Canadian Young Lions competition, visit: www.globelink.ca/cannes-lions

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