Kimberley Ragan’s Cannes Diary #1

| | No Comments
Kimberley Ragan’s Cannes Diary #1

Kimberley Ragan, group creative director at Colenso BBDO, is representing New Zealand on the Cannes Brand Experience & Activation Lions. Ragan, along with most of the other NZ and Australian jurors writes exclusively for CB.

 

A postcard from Cannes…

Day one. I’m on the ground and after 30+ hours of flying, I’m still in the process of finding my feet and have yet to touch a glass of Rosé.

But I have been for a walk along the Croisette, where there’s definitely signs that the coming week is going to be full of parties and strange happenings.

Judging for Brand Experience & Activation is due to kick off tomorrow. Our particular jury had a massive 1899 pieces of work to get through, and all I can say is thank god for the shortlist jury and rounds 1 & 2 of judging, for getting that down to a much more manageable number. It’s a funny ole category honestly, because ‘Brand experience’ can entail so many things. But that’s also what makes it a fun one to judge, with such a diverse range of innovative and off-the-wall ideas.

From the work I’ve seen during pre-judging, it feels like brands and their creative agencies are ready to have fun again, shrugging off the weight of the pandemic, with even the more purpose-driven work having a certain lightness to it. It’s refreshing, and coupled with the amazing fortitude of the French, it’s easy to forget the events of the last couple of years.

Anyway, I’m off to treat (or worsen?) my jetlag with some rich French food and maybe tick off that glass of Rosé.

Wish you all were here.

PS: The CB team asked me to send a photo of myself in Cannes, so I imagined some sort of iconic shot, like Grace Kelly at the Carlton. But it’s under construction, so this is as close as I could get. Go figure.