Josh Mullens’ Cannes Diary #1

Josh Mullens (left), EP and head of projects at Will O’Rourke, is representing Australia on the Cannes Brand Experience + Activation Lions jury. Mullens, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors writes exclusively for CB.

Pre Cannes Cannes. The Havas Cafe is under construction. Locals’ markets still feature. There is still room on the Carlton Terrace. But, there are plenty of signs that madness will shortly ensue. I opened the baguette account immediately and took a stroll up the old town, knowing we will soon be bunkered in the jury room. The weather is perfect, again. Met our 10-person jury at welcome drinks and it’s a great group, will be a fun few days together.

Prejudging has really helped our workload with over 42 countries represented in that initial stage, so we have about 360 entries to review as opposed to the original 2300 odd. It’s fortunate for us, in years gone by it’d be midnight finish after midnight finish to get to this point.

The work is diverse and there’s some excellent stuff from all over the world. In terms of a lens to judge through there’s an importance on how these experiences activated (and integrated) into people’s lives. Doing not saying. Making an impact. It’s a broad list of types of experiences that have made it this far – things that were a very personal thing and others that are huge public events. We made our way through the first half of the work and take on the other part tomorrow. The great crafted ideas are jumping out for sure. More to come.