Rose Herceg’s Cannes Diary #1
(Image: Creative Strategy jury hard at work, mid-debate)
Rose Herceg, president of WPP is representing Australia on the Cannes Creative Strategy Lions jury. Herceg, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors, writes exclusively for CB.
Creative Strategy Jury: Day 1 Judging
I’ve already met my 10-people judging panel over several Zoom calls. Plenty of juice in this group. It’s already got its vibe.
We are the United Nations. All corners of the world: Singapore, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, India, Kenya, the U.S. and Australia. Debates will be substantive. Our jury President, Amrita Randhawa, knows what she’s doing.
As I get ready to meet them all properly in person, I reflect on the 429 entries I’ve judged to get our short-list down to 104.
This short-list is what we are debating, and we’ve certainly done just that. Dissenting opinions. And something that we can all do more of: listen to someone construct a persuasive argument and as you listen, change your mind. Thrilling to watch it unfold. Entrenched positions give way to substantive debate. As a lifelong minority opinion holder – this part I loved the most.
For anyone looking to enter next year’s Creative Strategy category, here’s what I’ve learnt so far:
1. Never underestimate the power of your upbringing and culture. Context matters.
2. Be gutsy in your strategic intent.
3. If you try and back-engineer a strategy, you’ll get busted.
4. Less on vanity scores.
5. More on fact. Read that as solid business results, or lasting change. Like changing a law or saving a life.
It was a 12-hour day, but a great one. More tomorrow for day two as we start to debate the winners.
(Image: Creative Strategy Jury Room. 10 jurors. One room. No sunshine)