My Cannes highlights: Suthisak Sucharittanonta
Campaign Brief Asia asked Cannes Lions delegates to nominate their highlights of the week, from both the work and personal experiences. Here Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO Bangkok, runs us through his week.
“Record Entries Into Cannes Lions – Over 40,000 Submitted Across the Festival!” This was the headline in the Cannes Lions 2015 press release on 9 June 2015. I read that and thought to myself, “That’s crazy!” With these numbers, I wondered if it would now be even more difficult for people to win or easier with the addition of new categories, like the Glass Lions and Creative Data Lions.
My daughter looked at me as we stepped out of our van from Nice and said, “Whoa, the weather is as hot as Bangkok’s… I remember it was cooler a few years back.”
The last time she was here was in 2006. The same year Italy beat France in the World Cup Final shootout, but that’s another story. According to the meteorologist, the temperatures this summer will register above average across Europe, specifically the Mediterranean area. Which is where we found ourselves, far away from the Bangkok heat, but still sweating.
“I’m sick today!” Anuwat, my ECD, told me over the phone when I asked him to join me for dinner. “My eyes, ears and head almost exploded after having to judge 800 cyber entries.” He was in just 1 of 5 groups who judged a total of 3,800 entries in that category. I knew he would join though; because, without a doubt, like all Thais aboard, he’d be craving Thai food! Anuwat took a painkiller and finally ran to see me at Mala – a local restaurant serving Thai cuisine.
“Dad, which is your favorite work here?” my daughter asked.
“I like the Volvo Life Paint campaign because it helps reduce night bicycle accidents with a brilliant reflective spray idea… the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, an organic viral campaign that took off on social media and spread around the world, earing more than 10 billion views and raising over $100 million in a single month, is also quite impressive, and I also like the witty Breast Cream campaign done by our colleague’s at Colenso BBDO in New Zealand for the Breast Cancer Foundation.” I replied.
The night before we won our Gold Lion, Anuwat and I stood at The Gutter Bar talking about them. I told him, “If we win a Gold Lion we’d definitely not bring it here. You know, in the past, winners have gotten drunk and lost their Lions in this place… which might make it the next best place to get a Lion if you don’t win one.”
Anuwat smiled and said, “I got an idea! If we win, we’ll have a little fun and superglue our Lion to one of the tables and watch to see who tries to steal it!”
We were fortunate enough to win two Silver Lions in press & outdoor and a Gold Lion in outdoor. We did not, however, end up gluing it to the tables at The Gutter Bar. Maybe next year.
I stepped through the airport security in Nice; my carry-on set off the alarm. I had packed our Gold Lion in my carry-on for safekeeping on the journey home, only to be informed that because of the size, weight and shape of it, it could not be carried on. After all of this, would my story be one of loss? I explained my situation to the security guard – at first one, then another and then two more. They held a conversation in French amongst themselves, leaving me to only guess what the fate of our Gold Lion would be. Finally, they turned to me and said “Congratulations!” as they motioned its ok for me to continue on – with our Lion and, subsequently, a very happy ending.
Suthisak Sucharittanonta is Chairman & CCO BBDO Bangkok.