Ronald Ng’s Direct Lions report from Cannes
RonaldNg, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO/Proximity Malaysia is on this year’sCannes Lions Direct Jury. The judging is already underway and each dayRonald is keeping us up to date with the progress. Here’s his DAY FOUR report.
I quickened my step as I approached the judging hall. Having only seen a sixth of the entries up till then, the shortlist was – in my mind – going to represent the best of Direct Marketing for the year. But while Day 3 ended on a high, Day 4 came crashing down as soon as I had my first peek at the work.
Some of them were shite!
12% of the entries made it into the shortlist. But to many of us, it felt like a ‘long-list’. We debated, and we debated again. In the morning, after lunch, and well into the evening. After re-voting, things did not change much.
The same stuff survived. And the same exquisitely crafted entry videoswith the mandatory superlatives, ‘Unprecendented results, 3 millionpercent sales increase, the best launch in the universe’, remained.
Heateddebates aside, Farouk (McCann) used his wild card privilege to ‘callin’ a brilliant one from China. It’s one that I absolutely love too.And I’m glad to say that every hand was raised to push it into theshortlist. Go China!
Ah yes, India, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kongand Malaysia also made the list. But before you bring out the Moet, letme warn you that it was a very short list.
Back to the Martinez.
Over10 Euro beers, it was good to hear that most of us at least felt thesame about the best work. The gems that will win heavy metal tomorrow.Anyways, at the end of the day, it is the Gold, Silver and Bronze Lionsthat will define the way forward, right?
Right?