Cannes '16: Steve Stone on the Entertainment Lions

Do you think this award’s name change, from Branded Content & Entertainment to simply Entertainment, is significant?

Yes. Branded Content feels a little outdated, sort of like ‘product placement’. Everyone can see that things have to be entertaining to be successful. The stuff that gets the most eyeballs and shares is the stuff that’s most entertaining. It’s as simple as that.

So, yeah, a good evolution of the name of this category. We’re not just selling stuff, we’re making people feel something before they can even consider what the logo is at the end. I think this change will allow smaller things to get noticed, too. I’ve always said around here that a tweet can be as effective as a Super Bowl commercial.

The broader word ‘Entertainment’ opens it up for all budgets. Big and small. ‘Branded Content’ always screamed long-format to me. So hopefully we’ll see more diversity in budgets and scale with this change.

Though it has been removed from the title, this category is essentially a spotlight on that catch-all word ‘content’. Do you think the industry has got to grips with what that word, in an advertising sense, means?

I’m not sure everyone knows what it means. Everyone says it but few people really know how to define it. Having said that, I think the C-word does need to evolve. ‘Entertainment’ is a nice progression.

Do you think that brands are now more aware of how they need to approach and engage their customers and what their place in a consumer’s life is?

Brands are definitely more aware of how they need to approach consumers. There are so many new tools and tricks of the trade at their disposal, but they don’t exactly know how to use them or if they should use them at all.

It’s easy to open the fire hose and push a bunch of content to an exhaustive number of outlets, but consumers can smell it from a mile away when you are not true to who you are. We have a saying around here… it’s not true that branding is everything, rather everything is branding.

Every little, big, medium-sized thing a brand puts out is a reflection of who they are. If you’re a luxury hotel, thread count is branding… the hold music, email signatures, the user interface on their app. All of that should reflect the brand and be consistent. Everything is branding.

Does the multitude of platforms and avenues available to an advertiser make reaching people more or less difficult?

The uptick in platforms only gives marketers more options on where to activate their message. The question becomes how do you make strategic choices in the placement and, more importantly, how do you make your content relevant and how does your creative fit into that channel? We’re not talking matching luggage here, but matching leather and stitching.

What do you think the jury will be looking for when they’re debating the Entertainment Lions entries?

I’m sure you’ll get a lot of “This used to be the branded content category, eh?” A few questions I would ask are “Would I want to watch this, play with this, use this, touch this again and again?” and “Is it something I’d want to share again and again.”

I think that’s pretty important. As well as, “Does it make me feel something?” And “Do I feel something towards the brand or sponsor?”

What pieces of work that you would define as being eligible for this category have impressed you in the last 12 months?

Madden: The Movie [below] is an awesome three-and-a-half-minute acid trip that caught my eye. I probably watched it 200 times and shared it just as many. So yeah, that should win.

The Kotex HelloFlo campaign [below] is fun. I have daughters and Aunt Flo helps make discussions around that time more light-hearted. This has really taken off and created an environment where it’s not taboo to talk about it. This campaign helps the recent movement to end period shaming. I’m all for it.

Companies like Apple, Spotify and Google are creating a lot of documentary-like entertainment right now and I bet we’ll see more of this kind of work in the future.

Brands that have a purpose, that still align with their creative centre and don’t rely on selling widgets always do well in this category.

Brands that have the ethos and personality to entertain 24/7 should definitely be a contender here. Companies like Red Bull, which has a channel with unique content, and GoPro’s unique and totally on-brand content, should be in the running.

How excited are you about advertising’s continued move towards entertainment and how do you think it will evolve in the coming years?

It’s exciting; many of us consider ourselves entertainers. And there’s no reason brands can’t feel the same way. We’re artists, writers, musicians, comics, painters, filmmakers, joke tellers, tear inducers. We love to solve business problems and when we can entertain the audience while doing that, it’s more fun, memorable and effective.

Will you be attending the festival this year and, if so, what are you most looking forward to about it?

After the year we had, I’d be nuts not to go this year. We didn’t expect the eight wins we had at Cannes 2015 so we’re making a conscious effort to make a presence this year. I don’t think we’ll win eight. Hell, I’d be happy with one.

I’m looking forward to getting in the thick of it and seeing old friends and ex-bosses. And some ex-bosses who are friends. Oh, and of course, a few glasses of Chateau d’Esclans rosé. Yeah, looking forward to those.