Author: Gašper Potočnik
During Lions week, Cannes truly lives and breathes the festival. It is madness. Everywhere you look, you see activations by partner organizations, brands, and corporations. Everywhere you go, you run into creatives, CMOs, CEOs, influencers, and celebrities. LinkedIn in real life, you could say. As crazy as it is, it is also overwhelming. There is simply too much of everything. Especially when it is your first time and you want to see it all, attend every talk, collect all the free merch, and meet every possible person. You constantly feel as though you are missing something. At least for me, the realization that I needed to choose a single goal came very quickly. At that point, I simply let Cannes guide me wherever it wanted to take me.
And honestly, it did not take me to many talks. I know – shocking, haha. However, as early as Sunday, it took Amber Škrabec, the design half of our creative duo, and me to a very special place: Collins House. That evening, they hosted a welcome event for us Young Lions in collaboration with Adobe. It was an incredible villa with a swimming pool, located in the middle of a gated community. Because we had not been given the exact address, our search for the place led us to meet a few other Young Lions: Sandra and Alexandra from Austria, and Elisa and Daan from Belgium. Somehow, the six of us later formed our own little group. After successfully finding the location, we were welcomed at the entrance by Hadrien Chatelet, Senior Design Evangelist at Adobe, who had already guided us through the introductory webinars. There were drinks, mingling, and conversations by the pool, all leading up to the official part of the evening.
Brian Collins, a legendary designer, founder of the agency Collins and, as you may have already guessed, owner of Collins House, addressed us first. This was followed by a panel featuring Resh Sidhu, VP of Creative at Adobe, and Rafael Rizuto, CCO at Droga5 New York and the Americas. They shared their first experiences of Cannes and explained how the festival contributed to their professional development. It is incredible how we, as young people, tend to assume that senior professionals, CMOs, and CCOs have never faced the same challenges we are facing. Their conversation immediately made it clear, however, that every creative encounters similar obstacles throughout their career. During our walk along the Croisette, we began to get a sense of what awaited us in the coming week. Looking at all the installations appearing on the beaches, we brought our final peaceful day in Cannes to an end.
And then – boom. The festival began. An inspiring morning for all the Young Lions took place on the terrace of the Palais des Festivals. When Attorie Burnett-Maloney, the competition lead who had guided us through the entire pre-competition process, addressed us, I knew things were getting serious. That was also the last time I genuinely listened to the talks with my full attention. The morning was followed by networking and exploring every possible beach and activation. Reddit Deli, Meta Beach, Google Beach & YouTube Drive-in, Canva Creative Cabana, Pinterest Beach, Amazon Port, and many others offered free goodies and entertaining activities throughout the week. Each beach also had its own program. In general, I noticed several recurring topics: AI – or why AI will not replace us – creators producing content for social media, sport, including sports sponsorships and a huge number of famous athletes, and B2B. This was where I truly noticed the other side of Cannes Lions: the business side. Cannes Lions is no longer only a celebration of creativity in advertising. It has also become a hub for corporations and a place where business gets done.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all about the competition. Before the long-awaited briefing for the Young Lions Digital Competition, we gathered some inspiration by listening to Oprah in the famous Lumière Theatre. At 1 p.m., the competition officially began. When I saw Comic Relief and the red noses, I honestly could not quite imagine how we were supposed to create something “punk,” as the briefing suggested. Luckily, Amber found a way to use a little “noseyness” to point us in the right direction. And we found it. After an intense creative process, we arrived at an idea that we are both extremely proud of. Presenting in front of the jury was another major adrenaline rush. We handled that part well too, even though neither of us is particularly used to presenting in English. It was probably right after our jury presentation that we truly realized that, regardless of the result, we had done a really good job.
We spent the rest of our time in Cannes socializing with the other Young Lions and going to parties. We even managed to catch Zara Larsson performing at Google Beach. We also attended the awards ceremony. That was where a moment occurred that will undoubtedly stay with me: Bosnia and Herzegovina winning its first-ever Lion. It was a historic moment and a major recognition for the creative industry across the entire region. Of course, it was also another year in which we, as a country, did not perform particularly well in Cannes. Slovenia has not received an award for some time, and I believe this reflects the current situation back home. All of us – creatives, agencies, and clients alike – need to become bolder and start creating work that pushes boundaries and genuinely moves people.
I am returning to work with an enormous amount of motivation, a wealth of creative inspiration, and plenty of new connections and knowledge. Since this was my first encounter with the Lions, it will hold a very special place on my list of experiences. But it definitely will not be the last. Cannes Lions and I still have some unfinished business – in other words, we are coming for that trophy.
