Cannes Radar: Donald Chesnut

What work do you expect to win big in Cannes this year?

Unlike last year, when I felt strongly that #LikeAGirl had ‘big-winner’ written all over it even before Cannes Lions began, this year the field feels much more open.  There’s a lot of work that demonstrates great craft in its respective category, but there is not one piece that I feel is a shoo-in for a Grand Prix.

That said, there are a few pieces of work that I think are pretty fantastic, and one that I expect will pick up a few awards is Art Institute of Chicago's Van Gogh BnB. This piece of work not only mashes up two brands (Art Institute of Chicago and Air BnB), but also crosses the lines of art meeting commerce and digital meeting real world. In addition the craftsmanship of the experience is pretty fantastic. If I could stay in a Van Gogh painting, I would: now there’s an experience. 

What app will you be using on your phone during the festival week?

My mobile is truly the remote control for my entire life.  Along with the rest of the world, my phone has become a significantly visual device, and Instagram is my app of choice for recording and sharing my experiences, visually.

What’s your social platform of choice for festival news and updates?

For friends and colleagues, it’s WhatsApp. For public news, I love my Twitter.

What device (s) did you travel to the festival with and why?

My spare USB charger has become like a permanent appendage to my phone.  But my newest device is a portable, high-quality directional microphone for my iPhone (made by Rode). It’s fantastic for improving the audio on video that’s recorded from my phone. I’ll use it to record on-location video for SapientNitro teams, sharing observations, work, and other conversations for our team members across our global offices.

What do you think will be the hot topic of the week this year?

I’m hoping diversity is the hot topic this year – it certainly has been in adjacent creative industries (#OscarsSoWhite).  It’s 2016, and still the creative industry lacks true diversity across our industry (gender, race, sexual orientation, etc). If you believe in great creativity, then you should believe in high-functioning teams. But do those teams currently look like the consumers they are marketing to? And do those teams enable every team member to have an open voice? 

Where were you when inspiration last struck?

On a plane. I do my best thinking in the forced isolation of 37,000 feet.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

The arrival of the smartphone. The modern mobile has created a seismic change in how and where to engage consumers, and that change is just now getting started.  What we see with mobile phones today is just a fraction of how we can think about creative solutions in context of a time and place. Mobile is quickly expanding to include film, VR, and wearables, among many other dimensions. Ten years from now I think mobile will be the single most important channel for all marketing and brand building. 

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I’d jettison the word “advertising”.  What we do in the spirit of enabling consumers to get more from their world - through the brands that she or he values - is far bigger than what ‘advertising’ could ever convey. 

What or who has most influenced your career and why?

I think the thing that most influenced my career was a graduate program in Interactive Telecommunications, from NYU that I did in the early 90s.  When I started the program in 1991 there was no real internet to speak of, no digital, or new media industry. By the time I graduated two years later, the world was beginning its digital renaissance, and I was embarking on a very different path.

What are you most looking forward to about Cannes this year?

The recharge I get from seeing great work. I look forward to how much smarter and more inspired I feel when I return home.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know…

I was a double major in English / Computer Science as an undergraduate. Until recently I didn’t openly share the Computer Science part, but as technology’s role in creativity has only increased, I’ve let the cat out of the bag.