Creativity matters at Cannes, not effectiveness

This year's Outdoor jury at Cannes was unanimous on the point that it's the idea and creativity that drives Cannes, and not just effectiveness or results.

Altmannn says, "A great idea for us was the one which intensely moves a set of people, even if small."

"You might reach out to a billion people and have an effective campaign, but not build a relationship with the consumer," he adds.

The Grand Prix, this year, in Outdoor, was awarded to one campaign which stood out for its creativity. The campaign was Decode Jay-Z with Bing, by Drogas New York.

The American rapper and business Shawn Corey Carter, popularly known as Jay-Z had teamed up with Bing to promote the to-be-launched autobiography, Decoded by Jay-Z.

Pages from the book were physically placed around New York, in locations related to specific content featured on Bing. The locations were unique, starting from billboards to pool tables to racks in designer outlets. Around 5-10 new pages from the book were revealed each day, and participating fans who visited the specially-created page were able to find these pages either online, or in person.

The jury found this campaign as a case of use of technology in traditional media where consumers moved back and forth from online to offline.

A member of the Outdoor jury says, "What's interesting was that it wasn't an idea specific to New York, but was a universal idea.

The Outdoor jury found this campaign to be a trendsetter. He says, "We handle multiple brands in an agency. There could a situation where two brands could communicate with each other and even, together. This is a classic example where two brands have come together to complement each other."

To view interviews from Cannes 2011, click here.