"The level this year is terrific"

Ralf Kostgeld, can you share your impression of the judging with us?
Boarding fee: Overdose of impressions. Tsunami of big ideas. Perfection in the implementation. The level presented to us this year is terrific. That's why there are some very good ideas among them, which unfortunately didn't make it. Of course there are also Swiss works among them - what a pity. What is particularly striking is the excellent quality of the case films, some of which feature top CBS news anchors. A lot of work has been done to make the idea as compact and convincing as possible for the jury within two minutes. In the judging process, the focus is on insight (strategy), creation (idea) and effectiveness (measurability). This was applied in an exemplary manner by the jury of 25. At the Lions Metal Awards, the works were hotly debated. It is essential to apply the right arguments at the right time. I am very pleased that Switzerland has already won a Gold Lion and two Silver Lions (Saatchi&Saatchi/Vangardist) in the "Direct" category. The Gold Young Lion especially.

What were the trends in the "Direct" category?
Even more targeted. Even more multi-level. Even more networked. Even more synergetic. Even more activating. Even more binding. Even more direct. The trend of "Direct" is perhaps also this, that "Indirect" is sometimes the most direct way to be "Direct". Because so much is technologically possible today, the possibilities for sophisticated communication concepts are almost unlimited. Mobile integration certainly plays a significant role in this. This was done for Volvo in the most surprising and radical way. That's why we jury members awarded Volvo "Interception" with the Grand Prix.

How do you like the festival and the organization in general so far?
The organization is really excellent. You can feel the many years of experience and the drive for constant improvement. Lions Festivals Jury Director Lisa Berlin and her team have thought of everything. And that's why the stress factor before and during the judging was reduced by a lot. Due to a 30 percent increase in submissions, the CannesLions organization reacted quickly and initiated a pre-jury. This took a whole weekend and a few evenings. So we had already seen some nice things and had already made a pre-selection. This gave us more time during the main judging in Cannes to precisely discuss individual points in the group.

Which experiences on the judging days will remain particularly memorable for you?
The final spurt of the decision process for the Grand Prix: The women were interestingly for "Handsoff", a work for a porn website and the men rather for "Interception" from Volvo. In the beginning the biggest industry was clearly ahead (no, not the car industry, but the porn industry), but then in the end, after very long discussions until 2am in the morning, Volvo's innovative DM mechanism won the race.

What do you take from Cannes to Ammarkt to St. Gallen with?
Information. Inspiration. Motivation. Emotion.

What are you looking forward to now, what are your plans for the next few days?
Until now it was the turn of the jury and the press conferences. Now I can finally follow the festival intensively, study the works even more closely and listen to some interesting speeches. I'm looking forward to one in particular on Thursday afternoon - from advertising legend Jeff Goodby from GS&P in San Francisco. It's just enormously empowering to get a picture of where the industry is headed. Because it's never been more exciting to use creativity efficiently for our clients.

Interview: Ursina Maurer

Publicitas is the Swiss representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Publicitas publishes official festival announcements on an ongoing basis, coordinates the nomination of potential Swiss jurors, organizes the "Call for Entries" for creative works and oversees the Young Lions competition in collaboration with the Art Directors Club Switzerland. In addition, Publicitas organizes the Swiss awards ceremony in Zurich. The Advertising Week presence in Cannes is at the invitation of Publicitas.