This year Tom Hansen is back to share his thoughts each day from the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

This is the third year that the festival will give Cannes Lions awards for promotions.

We share an insider’s view with daily postings from Tom Hansen, executive creative director at Wunderman and the only U.S. judge on the Promo Lions jury this year.

I’m on my way to Cannes, thinking ahead to what I might find at this year’s festival. So here are a few predictions.

The GREENING of the Lions. We’ll see more environmental do-good programs as brands (and agencies) discover the power and popularity of marketing wrapped in the environment. Last year’s popular Earth Hour program from Sydney has shown us the willingness of consumers to adopt a movement when it’s cleverly marketed, and subtly branded (or, in the case of Earth Hour, not branded at all,really). Im anxious to see how many marketers are sticking a GREEN label on themselves this year in an effort to make consumers pay attention... Continue Reading

Well, there go the predictions. 2008, global warming on every celebrity and politician’s, lips, and not a green promotion in sight. This year’s promotion entries include the usual charities, but not a single brand attempting to wrap itself in the green thing to prey on consumers. That’s really encouraging.

I’m right about the social networking idea, but that’s not really surprising... Continue Reading

Now here’s something that really bugs me: promotion entries that don’t promote anything. This year there are a dozen outdoor/ambient programs masquerading as promotions WITHOUT ANY COPY. NO COPY! Yes, they have stopping power. Yes, the graphics are arresting. And that’s why they should be entered in the outdoor poster category (which, invariably, they are as well). But without a distinct call to action, I don’t know how to judge this work in the promotion category. And neither does the jury... Continue Reading

So I’ve noticed that a lot of the promo entries include media placements to expose the brand in a surprising way, with or without big offers. I sat down and examined the entries ignoring the media placements, looking only for compelling, differentiated offers. Buy one, get one, win, free, etc. I’m happy to report that while they are a bit of a minority, the ones in the competition are among the best I’ve ever seen.

I’ll start with what I think is the best... Continue Reading...

A couple notes about Cannes. It is, for one week in June, the place where you bump into some of the most creative people in the world. People who think independently, take contrarian viewpoints, and create change. So why is it, then, that all these non-conformists dress exactly the same? Here’s the uniform: for the boys, torn, dirty jeans, and a t-shirt with a comical expression from the 1980s, but worn two sizes too small for the wearer. And skater shoes. For the girls... Continue Reading...