The following conversations took place sometime between 8:15am, 21st June, Charles De Gaulle, Terminal 2C and 24th June, between seminars no 27 and 28.
G: The flight to Nice is from Terminal 2F right?
P: Yes. And Hi, I am Prasanna from Publicis.
G: Hi, I’m Giri from Cadbury.
P: (Why is he here? Someone could have used the budget to get that expensive producer)
G: (Why is he here? He could have spent more time perfecting that radio spot)
21st June, 10:03 am. Waiting for the Nice flight to be announced, sipping nice and reassuringly expensive coffee.
P: So is this your first time? (I am sure he is here only to keep an eye on the agency’s excesses)
G: Yes. Have you been here before?
P: Yes, this is my second time around.
G: (Oh so he is here for the parties again!!!) So you must be looking forward to the seminars?
P: I don’t know about you but for me the seminar to die for is ….
G & P simultaneously: Twitter!!!
G: (Oh! he is open to integrating digital into mainstream communication work!)
P: (Oh! he is interested in taking the advertising idea into the digital space!)
21st June, 3:37 pm. Waiting at the Palais desk for registration.
P: Cadbury does a lot of work on TV right? Then you should not miss Bob Isherwood’s new director’s show reel.
G: That a great suggestion! Will really be good to see how people are experimenting with film making.
G: You should not miss the Naked Communication seminar. It is bringing together some of the best creative and marketing brains.
P: Infact that’s marked in my calendar already!!
G: (Hey! some progress... he is thinking business and not just creative!!)
P: (Hey! some progress... he is thinking creative and not just business!!)
22nd June, 11:07 pm. Over one of the many Rose wine and Foie Gras dinners…
P: So will you go back and share the pieces of work with your team?
G: Just sharing the work will be half the job done; I am planning on highlighting learnings that can be imbibed by our people.
P: That’s great. It will enable people to expand their thinking horizon rather than just watch it as yet another show reel.
G: (This guy is actually on my side. A more exposed creative means better business solutions)
P: (This guy is actually on my side. A more exposed client means better creative solutions)
24th June, 11:37 am. In one of the many aisles displaying the short-listed work
G: Looking at your award tally would you say this trip was worthwhile?
P: Awards is just a small part of the Cannes experience. The knowledge on tap and cutting edge communication solutions displayed makes this trip worthwhile.
G: (I am glad he came. More and more creative guys should be exposed to this Cannes experience!)
P: (I am glad he came. More and more clients should be exposed to this Cannes experience!)
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Giridhar A Seetharam is Associate Vice President, Marketing. Cadbury India. (Pictured right)
Prasanna M Sankhé is National Creative Director, Publicis Communications India. (Pictured left)
