Learnings from a Young Lion
A couple of weeks after stepping off the very long train journey back from Cannes to Manchester, I’m still thinking about my Lions week. I had the honour of representing the UK as a Young Lion competing in print this year. Since I won the UK competition with the Advertising Association, I’ve moved to VML Health – and the past two months have seen the biggest shift in my career in six years.
I came into the week with zero expectations. I knew I’d be meeting the other Young Lions from the UK team, and a lot of other talented folks from around the world, while getting to see some inspiring work. A personal (and VML Health) favourite was the winning work in film this year from team Guatemala by Ana Paula Escobar and Diego Apen. Sitting behind them as they won was very emotional, it was inspiring to see the impact that a Young Lion medal had on their team and country. The VML Health team and our global ECD Khalid Latif summed it up perfectly ‘the best film I’ve seen in Cannes this year’.
I also found myself understanding more about my new agency. At the time, I’d only been at my new job for four weeks, and yet, I felt completely embraced by the team. Everyone I met was so generous, offering advice not only for the competition but for my career too.
And VML Health actually created two of the Young Lions briefs this year. We worked with Ovarian Cancer Action, one of our patient partners, to set two inspiring briefs for the media and film competitions. I got to see the great work we do with support patient groups, and my fellow Young Lions got a chance to see what working in pharma advertising is really like. Moving, exciting and meaningful.
An exceptionally hot day in the life
My first day at the festival perfectly sums up my experience of Cannes Lions. I started with inspiration sessions and speed-networking with the Young Lions – we discussed our goals, shared our ‘superpowers’ (mine was my confidence....!) and where we wanted to be in the future (preferably a pottery studio, in my case). Then, a stroll along the beaches, getting crafty making a print at the Pinterest beach of my favourite song and life motto, Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’. After that, I had the pleasure of watching the live judging of the Innovation Lions – seeing our global CCO Mel Routhier and the team talk through the Pain Visible work. It was so inspiring to see how Mel presented to a Cannes jury. From there, it was on to a talk about the power of neurodiversity with Lola Young – (my first celeb spot of the week). I rounded off the day with my VML health team, celebrating the wins of the first day. And all of this was in less than 24 hours. That’s what Cannes was to me – buckets of inspiration and opportunities meet industry leaders as you turn every corner. You get to pack more experiences in one day that you get in years of your career.
It may sound pompous, but Cannes can change your career
Aside from being utterly exhausted (which, let’s be honest, is a given), I left feeling like a fire had been lit in me. It’s single-handedly the most eye-opening and invigorating week of my career to date. I’ve never felt prouder and more assured of my own talents either. Being a young (but not that young) female creative in our industry, it can feel like the default is to downplay your talent. You’re expected to have imposter syndrome. To be quiet and humble. But resoundingly, my experience at Cannes has made me more confident than ever.
So, if you’re doing your local competitions next year and you make it to the festival, just know that you’ve already won – it’s monumental to think that a Cannes jury will be discussing your work, regardless of the outcome. And if you’re a young creative looking for the first, second or third step in your career – don’t dismiss pharma. Long gone are the days of scoffing at an ad being good ‘for pharma’. It’s just a good full stop. And now with my new team, I am looking forward to leading the way in that shift, championing young talent as the next leaders along the way.
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