Chris Beresford-Hill Thinks "Cannes Famous is the Saddest Kind of Famous"

One of the most impactful things that BBDO CCO Chris Beresford-Hill has been told is “Cannes famous is the saddest kind of famous.”

Speaking on the Breaking Through the Blur panel alongside GSP CCO, Margaret Johnson, and TBWA ECD sports and lifestyle group, Dez Marzette, at Cannes, Chris argued that while the right work is recognised, “we’ve got to be more honest with ourselves.”

“Was it solving a business problem? Did a real audience see this experience, and would it drive them to change their behaviour? I don't know if we're asking that enough.

“Cannes does a really good job at celebrating the best big idea executions, the ones that do grow markets and drive business for consumers. I do still think at some point we have to deal with that, and I don't think we can afford to do executions that are designed for this audience.”

Moderated by client Jane Wakley, EVP, chief consumer and marketing officer and chief growth officer at Pepsi, she added this is “a frustration we hear across the CMO community, that we need to point creativity and the jobs to be done to help our business, to serve our consumers. That's the way creativity should be.”

BBDO and Pepsi had worked together for 48 years before a 2008 split saw the beverage company move its account to TBWA. Last year, the pair rekindled the relationship as part of the ‘Thirsty For More’ global campaign.

Chris told the room while “we can all chase around the same brand for a slightly smaller budget for years and wait for something to turn over,” it was a better idea instead to “look to expand the category.”

“I can see someone drinking Coca-Cola and think it would be great to swap that for a Pepsi, but if I see someone eating, 99% of people eating are not drinking Coke or Pepsi.

“We do know that big idea executions do grow categories. We're waiting to see the full results on ‘Pepsi Chase Cars’ or ‘Food Deserves Pepsi’, but we know when ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ came out for Old Spice, a year later the overall sales were immense. Body wash across every brand went up 11%. So we know that big ideas grow executions, and they force your competitors to up their game and grow the market, which is what we should be chasing.”

The focus of knowing your purpose -- in this case, the ‘Food Deserves Pepsi’ campaign is based on knowing “the flavor of Pepsi brings out more flavor in greasy food than water or other colas” -- means the team “will act with complete impunity to make sure there's a Pepsi in the hands of anyone enjoying food.”

“That clarity allows us to do things like chase pizza deliveries, but it also makes sense because why would we do Share a Pepsi? Coke is busy sharing a Coke with Joe and Steve and Patty – that's weird. It's your journey, share it with a hamburger. Share it with wings.

“The shape and style of the execution can change, but the ambition is, where there's food, we're going to find a way to get a Pepsi there.”

It’s the “big idea” at the centre of an activation or campaign that Jane said she and other marketers keep an eye out for, something she sees less and less as “the fragmentation of ideas” takes hold.

“To be honest, when I'm really looking for the big idea in these activation ideas, sometimes I can't see it. I'm interested in how we’re navigating that. We’re all jealous of the big ideas that are consistent and distinctive, that will last generations, and will drive creativity.”

In particular, she called out some of DDB Aotearoa’s ‘Certified Toasters’ work for Vogel’s, testing every Living & Co/Kensington toaster in-store and online, to certify the optimal toasting method for each and every model.

“They took every toaster, calibrated it with the exact way to [toast the bread without burning], and then they went to the toaster manufacturers and put stickers on every toaster which allowed people to create the perfect slice of toast. So it meant they had distribution in every electric retailer and with every new toaster stacked on a kitchen island. I thought that was a really neat little idea.”

For Chris, some of those big ideas can come from having guidelines, as “creatives need a box to thrash around in, blue sky gets too messy.”

“Even when you look at the kind of things that win a Cannes Lion, Cannes does favour activations and executions. I get that Heineken is for pub owners, I get that Pedigree is for adoption and the underdog, I understand that Pepsi is for food -- those are the kind of executions that build a longer story, and those always stand out.”

Taking inspiration from Cannes for the year, he added he has been plotting for his time back on the streets of New York.

“I walked to work with one of our clients, Tim Hoffmann from SAP, and we were looking at some really brilliant ideas that felt like they were living in a prototype world. So in conversation, we thought, why don't we just get something like 50 VCs next year and walk them to work and then have them actually fund some of these ideas so they can be more than prototypes? That was a pretty big idea.”