This year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity fueled a revolt by one of the marketing disciplines to join the throng of agencies pursuing the coveted Lions in recent years: public relations. And as more CMOs add PR as another string to their bow, or have dotted line responsibility for PR, the clarification of what the discipline is and what it can deliver seems an appropriate subject for this column.
The consensus among PR brethren attending Cannes this year was that the Festival has lost the plot in terms of definition, and the Jury Chair did little to set forth a “north star” for jury members. The definition offered in the entry kit – which was abbreviated this year – states that “The PR Lions celebrate the creative use of reputation.” There’s nothing creative about reputation – rather, reputation should be based on truth and transparency, not creatively fabricated. You either have built a good reputation or you need to address a bad one. The definition continues: “Entries will need to demonstrate innovative ideas that have sway; that is work that tangibly builds trust or engenders increased understanding between brands/organizations and their publics.” Isn’t this what many marketing disciplines try to achieve? Ideas that sway opinion and action in a positive way?
PR Jury President John Clinton, Chair of Canada & North American Head of Creative & Content, Edelman... [+]
“Public relations work is distinct in the marketing mix and the Cannes definition needs to capture that….because there’s an identity crisis happening inside our industry as all of the lines between disciplines converge,” said Betsy Quinn, Partner and Global Awards Director, Ketchum – a firm that has won 19 Cannes Lions since the PR category was introduced eight years ago. “Overall, the biggest differentiator between advertising and PR is the fundamental intent of public relations practice to achieve ‘earned’ influence through third-party endorsement and communications, not paid, manipulated, controlled or one-way influence or practice.”
This notion is echoed by industry spokesperson, Renee Wilson, President of the PR Council: “There is opportunity for a better description of modern day PR…and a recognition of what makes a winning PR entry, i.e. demonstration of credibility, relevance, earned influence, appreciation of local nuance, real-time engagement. The definition of the discipline needs work, and then we need a jury of PR experts who understand it and are aligned.”
Quinn would go further in encouraging Cannes Lions organizers to rethink requirements in PR measurement as well, clarifying metrics descriptions between “outputs” and “outcomes,” and suggesting that “advertising equivalency values” be banned.
This year’s PR Grand Prix was awarded to a campaign entitled “The Organic Effect," created by Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors for retailer Coop. The campaign centers on a film documenting a family switching to a fully-organic diet with scientists measuring the pesticide levels in their daily urine samples. The work increased Coop sales of organic products and increased organic sales in Sweden generally, but another Forbes writer recently criticized the campaign for conveniently not covering the list of pesticides used in organic farming and therefore misleading the public, an act that would normally not be considered true to the PR mantra.
Not surprisingly, PR executives attending the Festival were disenfranchised by this choice as the category Grand Prix. As reported by PRWeek, Alan VanderMolen, President of International for PR firm WE Worldwide, says he was “outraged by the selection.” “I think it perverts the basic concepts that PR as an industry is charged to uphold – transparency and third-party validation. The win makes a mockery of what PR stands for and puts quality film ahead of quality and transformative content.”
This is not about awarding more Lions to PR agencies for the work they traditionally specialize in, although as Quinn points out, “that might be a byproduct of resolving what’s so muddled and murky now about the category.”
While this year’s entries nearly doubled from PR’s inaugural year at the Lions to 2,225, from 1,130 in 2009, PR firms had one of their worst years yet for being awarded Lions, winning only seven out of the 81 awarded, representing less than 10%. That said, PR firms did better in other categories as the disciplines continue to blur.
Andy Polansky, CEO of Weber Shandwick – the most recognized PR firm at this year’s Festival, was optimistic. “It’s always terrific to see the work from across the industry. We feel like we’re upping our game creatively, and I’m really optimistic that as an industry we’ll continue to do well here over time,” he was reported to have said by PRWeek.
