Au Revoir Juan Les Pins

Friday July 1st, 2016

Wow, that sounds weird to say July. What a month this has been and I can not believe it is over... My journey back to the States starts now, as I make my way to Paris for the night then take a 7 AM flight to London then Boston.

Yesterday, after a morning of final presentations, we set off to the beach in Antibes for a day full of cheap wine, sunshine and laughter. We had every intention of heading to Cannes for  dinner, because Robson was craving this “duck breast” meal he had at an authentic French cuisine. However, we were having too much fun in Antibes, so Sierra found a cute little Italian restaurant in the old part of the town. It was absolutely delicious.

Last night was the 18^th birthday/anniversary of the local club in Juan Les Pins, Le Village. It was a blast, we danced so much my Fitbit told me we had already walked 4 miles by the time it was 4 AM. At around 4:30 AM, we set off for the beach to catch the sunrise and take in our last night all together in JLP. We swam into the day pretty much, and at about 7 AM we finally decided to head home. What a way to finish off an amazing time in the French Riviera, then to stay up all night then swim with your new best friends.

At around noon today we woke up, as it was my last day to do anything we wanted to make sure it wasn’t spent sleeping, because that’s just no fun. So we hopped on a train back to Cannes to finally try the duck that Robson’s been talking about non-stop since he had it (two weeks ago.) However, we got to Cannes at 2:!5 PM and as most places here do, they stop serving lunch at 2 PM. So we settled for a place across the street from it and enjoyed lamb and escargots… Well, I enjoyed my lamb, the escargots not so much but “when in France,” you have to try them.  Also, Robson found duck on the menu and it was delicious, so I think that satisfied the craving. We shopped around a little bit in Cannes before heading back to JLP to grab my bags and send me on my way.

What amazing friends I’ve made, they walked me all the way to the bus stop and waited 30 minutes with me until my bus finally came. Truly one of the hardest goodbyes, after spending 3 weeks straight 24/7 surrounded by these wonderful people we had to go separate ways. Mike back to Mercer, Stevie, Jose and Robson back to Ringling, and luckily I get Kaitlyn, Andrew and Hawk coming back to UGA with me. We’re already planning our road trip down to Ringling, in Sarasota, to see the crew.

After a bus ride to the Nice Airport, I am now waiting on my flight to Paris for an over-the-night layover. I am so not ready to leave but boy am I ready to get home, this is about to be a lot of traveling in a short amount of time. In exactly 24 hours I will be at my family reunion for two days. Thank God this month has taught me that I can in fact survive on adrenaline alone.

Au Revoir Juan Les Pins et toutes vos aventures!

Xo for the last time,

Shan

Ten Years Later

Wednesday June 29th, 2016

Last night a last minute decision turned into us going on an adventure at around 1 AM. An adventure to find the green light that supposedly inspired F Scott Fitzgerald. As we made our way there I started to believe this was complete BS. But after a quick little 10 minute walk through JLP, we found ourselves on a secluded public beach, staring at a flashing green light. It was somewhat dissapointing, but also rather intriguing. We made camp on the beach for our usual night time hang out, with some good tunes and great company. Laying there staring at the stars, as everyone sang along to Adele in the utter darkness and peacefulness of the night. Also, shoutout to Robson for making your best effort to be Adele Live for us, but maybe let's leave Adele to Adele ;).

Today was another day of class beginning at 11 AM, with discussion on the amount of Virtual Reality that was at the festival, as well as presentations of our countries. After class, Stevie, Kaitlyn and I spent about 4 hours just laying on the beach trying to soak in as much sun as possible.

Tonight I had the wonderful pleasure of catching up with my childhood bestfriend from Monaco, Maud! Kaitlyn and I met up with her at Helio's, a cute little beach hangout/restaurant, for a drink to catch up on almost 10 years apart. It's crazy how so much time can pass but it feels like minutes. An entire decade apart, that is crazy to me. We grew up together in Cours St Maur in Monaco, but went seperate ways when I attended Charles Trois and she went to FANB. We stay in touch via Facebook, which has made the 10 years seem not as long as they could have since we're somewhat up-to-date on each other's lives.

Maud and I, ten years ago (left) versus now (right)

After a wonderful reunion with Maud it was time for our campaign groups to meet and finish up our final presentation. Tomorrow morning we present, and my summer courses will be concluded! Yay!

Xo,
Shan

Australia & New Zealand Country Report

New Zealand’s presence was undeniable this year at Cannes Lions. Bringing in a total of 57 Lions, they made their creativity known to all. Specifically, Burger King’s “McWhopper” and Heineken’s “Brewtroleum” campaigns had everyone talking. The Kiwis won multiple Gold and Grand Prix in different categories such as Print and Publishing, PR, Media and Integrated. The New Zealanders even bagged two Titaniums for the two campaigns mentioned above.

Australia also won a total of 71 lions. Campaigns like Sydney Opera House’s “#comeonin” and Samsung Australia’s “Brainband” were recognized in smaller, niche categories such as Promo and Activation and Digital Craft.

One thing that caught our attention was that the campaigns from New Zealand influence consumer behavior by appealing to a higher purpose. For example, the “Brewtroleum” takes the leftover yeast from brewing DB Export and turns it into a fully functional bio-fuel. It's not the aesthetics of the ad that lure consumers in; it’s more so about the idea behind the ad that consumers can relate to.

Through our advertising research in Part 1, New Zealand seems to be a ‘follower’ in terms of creativity between the two regions, with Sydney first emulating the success of the U.S. in the 1950s. Adland explicitly tells us that the two usually share resources with New Zealand lagging behind in terms of creative work, size of agencies, creative talent, etc.

We were expecting New Zealand’s ‘following’ trend to be apparent this year at Cannes Lions. We were proved wrong. Even though Australia led with 71 Lions from 1,782 entries, the campaigns that won did not compare to the success that New Zealand agencies have enjoyed in this circuit of Cannes Lions. Winning 57 Lions from 526 entries, New Zealand also took home three Grand Prix while Australia’s Grand Prix count in 2016 remained at zero.

Outdoor Grand Prix: Heineken, Brewtroleum, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand

Media Grand Prix: Burger King, McWhopper, Y&R New Zealand

Print & Publishing Grand Prix: Burger King, McWhopper, Y&R New Zealand

Executives and creatives alike in Australia and New Zealand followed the same philosophies that we discovered during our research on the two countries. We followed them on Twitter, and an executive at Colenso BBDO tweeted "2016 is a year when Kiwi creativity took centre stage at Cannes. Amazing." After conversing with citizens of these countries, we concluded that Australia and New Zealand follow the same philosophies stated in the text. Though New Zealand may not be much of a follower anymore, these two countries still overlap in terms of operations and television.

Finding Dory

Tuesday June 28th, 2016

Well, school started again and by that I mean from 11 AM to 1 PM we had to sit in a classroom. Wah? Nah, this school is great. Today we discussed the festival and what influenced and impressed us the most, as well as the dissapointing things. Then we presented our awards show category, Kaitlyn, Leila and I had Radio. And we discovered that South Africa took this category by storm. After slight confusion as to why this was, as well as some internet research we found out that this has always been South Africa's biggest broadcast medium. After "class," we got to do the single handed coolest thing I've ever done on any travels I've done thus far: scuba diving. Honestly, I'm not sure why I've never done this yet, I had the opportunity to do so in Australia two years ago. I think I have finally gotten the courage to do so, and thank God because it was spectacular. The entire experience beginning to finish was just incredible. After slight difficulty, and many giggles, we got our wet suits on and walked to the Meditteranean Sea to board a little dingy to head to Sea. Once we got a good-ways out from shore, the first jumped in to scuba. Kaitlyn got to go first because she is BA and is certified (thank you UGA personal fitness course.) While the first couple of people went the rest of us (6) got to snorkel around the boat and coral reefs. It was cool to even snorkel there because there are so many little fisheys, and you’re in the freakin’ Meditteranean Sea. Once Kaitlyn and Stevie, and their 2 guides resurfaced, I decided to go for it and be next. Honestly, this is one way to avoid heightened anxiety. I jumped back in the water, fins on and mask in hand, ready to take on the deep sea. It only took a few breathes for me to adjust to the oxygen tank. And once I was my instructor, Noemie, took me down. It is the strangest feeling because you have no sense of how deep you are, except for your ears continuously popping, and maybe when it slowly gets dark around you. But yet it is so cool at the same time. Noemie took me around different coral reefs and through an alley way of coral. We even swam through schools of fish that scatter like crazy when we swam through. As 20 minutes passed by, it felt like 5, and all I could think was “I need to be certified,” “no, I WANT to be certified.” The feeling that you’re in a completely different world, among completely different species, where all of your worries are free is just freeing… I want to experience this again, and in different places.

Stevie, Danielle, Myself, Beca and Kaitlyn 

Upon arriving back in Juan Les Pins, we were absolutely starving. Luckily, everyone on the trip now LOVES Thai food, so we headed to Mai Thai for a great dinner to top off a great day.

Xo,

Shan