Wednesday
June 24th
Class Discussion with Bianca Fernandez
One of my fellow students reached out to Bianca Fernandez, the winner of Jimmy Fallon’s TV Show On Brand. In this show, 10 people competed in a business competition creating pitches for some of the largest companies in the world. Starting as a law major, Bianca is now a marketing icon. She was very insightful because she had such a non-traditional way of transitioning into the advertising field. Bianca talked a lot about her transition from job to job, starting off with doing ad sales for Tik Tok, and ending with her current position of helping to rebrand and expand the Palm Tree Club name. One thing that stuck with me when Bianca was discussing her journey was her different jobs being different chapters in her brain, and making sure to master one smaller skill from each chapter to help build your confidence and skill set. I thought that was very smart because usually, switching jobs is seen as stressful and a scary unknown, but being confident in your skill set helps you appear more attractive to potential employers. Bianca also talked about the importance of voicing what you want. Her last couple of jobs she literally said to her employer “I want to work for you”, and I think that is super inspirational because to do that, she must have a pretty high level of self esteem. Bianca was one of the most motivational people I encountered at the festival, because at such a young age Bianca has cracked the code of what she wants to do, and what specifically she is good at. After our hour group session, she was nice enough to answer individual questions and was overall one of the most approachable people I met in Cannes.
CMOs in the Spotight
This CMO panel spoke a lot about AI, and building brand partnerships. While discussing partnerships, they emphasized the importance of bringing each other into their worlds to create cross populations. One way of making sure that cross population works for both companies is by ensuring you have shared authenticity, values, and the same mission for your company. When they talked about AI, they spoke on how to keep your customers’ trust while implementing AI into your company. Here is what each CMO talked about when asked “How can AI make story telling more important?”:
Hinge CMO said that AI creates more efficiency, but it cannot completely replace the humanistic part of storytelling.
Heineken CMO said it can elevate your work by finding insights that the human brain wouldn’t be able to see, it multiplies the effect of the campaign, and can get more important insights and analytics to then be used to create better ideas .
Sephora CMO said that AI cannot replicate trust and community building, but it can be used as a tool for increased personalization.
In general, this panel was interesting, but not one of my favorites. A lot of the talks during the festival were centered around AI, and this one just felt a little basic.
Hinge, Hienken, Sephora
Building Legacy: Moving Culture Through Originality and Borderless Expression
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Priyanka’s talk was how beautiful she was (her skin was literally glowing and she looked so good in her dress omg). But she also had a lot of insightful things to say, one of them being self confidence being the number one tool in getting yourself to achieve your goals. She talked about how she is flawed too and can make mistakes, but when she first started her career, she consistently strived for perfection in everything she did. She also said she held herself responsible if she didn’t meet her unrealistic standards. She then transitioned into talking about setting the standard for yourself, and aligning yourself with the next step to invest in yourself. Priyanka’s focus on self worth was very surprising because she is famous partially for her beauty, so seeing someone like that be so honest about struggles that most people face daily was very refreshing.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Leah Wyar (President of Entertainment, Beauty, and Style at People)
Havas Cafe Student Networking
The student event at the Havas Cafe was a really good break in between talks. It had fans blowing, had free drinks (water and soda), and had a lot of room for the students to sit and listen to the presenters. Honestly, I was expecting slightly more people in attendance (you should definitely go if this is an option next year- they said they give out a ton of internships from this event ). While speaking, they had a variety of creative directors who spoke about different skills they were passionate about that have helped them succeed in their roles. They also showed a couple of ads they have done for brands like Adidas, and raising awareness for causes like prostate cancer in male farmers. One thing I did notice though was they described a couple of ads that sounded super cool, but we didn’t get to see the actual example. Overall, I would say it is definitely worth it to attend this event. You have a designated space where you can meet professionals looking to meet students specifically, and you can meet other students!
WORKSHOP: The Kill List – Ten Assassins. Ten Escapes.
This was one of my favorite things I did my entire time at the festival. It was an interactive, hands-on group assignment on different problems you might encounter when presenting an idea to your boss. My team consisted of 3 friends, Meryl, and I, and we had the archetype of the boss that always shuts you down. In this exercise, we had to brainstorm various responses, questions to ask, and ways to avoid your boss shutting you down. I think I enjoyed this activity so much because it was one of the only times we got to put our previous knowledge to use, and it was interesting hearing how various people would respond to the same boss giving the same response. I would definitely recommend going to one of the workshops during your time in Cannes!
Late Night with Netflix!
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a late night event at the Marriot, a hotel right in the heart of Cannes. It started with a comedy show by Ali Wong in a theatre, which was hilarious! Then, we went upstairs to the rooftop for some food, drinks, and lots of networking. We walked around looking at all of the things Netflix had created, like pop ups from shows like Wednesday, Bridgerton, K-Pop Demon Hunters, etc., the Swedish candy stand, a photo booth, and so much more. They had some amazing food such as a Mac and cheese bar, a pizza oven, fancy hot dogs and hamburgers, and so much more. They also had a DJ all night, so we got to let loose and dance on a beautiful rooftop that overlooked the city, and had an amazing view of the water. But we didn’t only have fun, because here was a great opportunity to network with people in a more casual, laid back setting. Here, I met the CMO of Abu Dhabi (insane!!), so many Netflix employees, and many more people. It was a really cool experience that not a lot of people get to have, and I am so thankful!