The future is not advertising

Every year, just as Cannes finishes I go through the same set of thoughts. The best work in the world changes your viewpoint on what our industry can do. In a good (if sometimes intimidating) way.


What is very clear, this year, is that the future is not advertising. It is not more ads. Scripts, pages, billboards –– these finite, closed loops of message space are no longer what our peers and clients judge as the pinnacle of communication.


My 6 favorite Grand Prix winners this year barely used ads, they won for creating something different. Each was an idea that communicated, not advertising.


They are inspiring and well worth reading through. Yes, I know, it is easy to nit-pick, (exactly how many people really used Bing within the Jay-Z/Decode project?), but sometimes nit-picking is just not worth it. Instead, I am asking what can we learn? How can we make better ideas ourselves? How do we persuade our clients to take bigger risks to reap bigger rewards?


Advertising is not the future, but still the future is so bright, I gotta wear shades.


Cannes 2011 Grand Prix Winners:
Design - interactive lobby at the new Cosmo Hotel 
Titanium - Decode with Jay-z/Bing 
Cyber - Wilderness Downtown, Old Spice, Pay with a Tweet
Media - Virtual Store