“Stay Uncomfortable!”: 6th Edition of IF! Italians Festival Announced at Cannes

Today at the 66th Cannes Lions, ADCI – the Art Directors Club Italiano and UNA – Aziende della Comunicazione Unite, together with main partner GOOGLE, officially unveiled the 6th IF! Italians Festival. The event will take place on 7th-9th November and held once again at BASE Milano. 

During the course of the morning at the YouTube Bar Google Beach at Cannes, Emanuele Nenna (president, UNA), Jack Blanga (council member ADCI), Davide Boscacci (organising committee IF!) and Paola Marazzini (director agency and strategic partnerships, Google) gave the first details of the Festival, which is devoted entirely to creativity and looks predominantly at creative excellence in the Italian market but with an increasingly international scope. 

Much attention was given to 'Stay Uncomfortable', an unconventional topic but highly relevant today. In a fragmented world, with an ever more complex landscape and consumers who are more evolved, communication has never been harder but it has never been this exciting. This new scenario pushes us to create new perspectives in which stories become experiences and brands turn into living organisms that move in a non-linear way. Failing is easy, winning is about taking the hard road, making bold choices and venturing into the unknown. It is precisely this that is the uncomfortable challenge of creativity today. 

News was also announced regarding the composition of the Organising Committee, which this year sees Alessandra Lanza (managing director IF!), Davide Boscacci (executive creative director, Publicis Milan), Marianna Ghirlanda (CEO DLV BBDO), Carla Leveratto (creative partnerships manager, Google), Stefano Capraro (CEO and founder IDEAL) and Karim Bartoletti (partner/executive producer, Indiana Production Company), coordinating the entire Festival.

Three areas have already been pinpointed to expand the central theme of the Festival and will be developed over the three days. Firstly, 'brave choices' will look at case histories and analyse those uncomfortable situations that take us out of our comfort zones. 'Change of perspective' will then examine how the need to communicate and encourage business growth goes hand-in-hand with learning and defining new paradigms, unearthing novel approaches and designing new functions that take into account a market and a world in flux and turmoil. Thirdly, '(dis)intermediation', a key word in this post-digital revolution era, will look at how media and intermediaries still exist – note the parenthesis – and how they multiply and reinvent themselves. The Festival will be the ideal place to talk about and scrutinise these new movements.

Throughout the event, Italian speakers will alternate with international guests, while there will be strong focus on companies and brands, increasingly frequent ‘partners’ of the festival, with business and networking projects created specially within the 2019 programme of events. This year too, students will be well catered for, with sessions and formats devoted to the new generation of communicators. 

“Today more than ever, creativity is the deciding factor in any project regarding business, development or innovation,” says Vicky Gitto, president of ADCI Art Directors Club Italiano. “A real boost which can generate value and give competitive edge for those companies that know how to integrate and give the right amount of importance and focus to ideas, even in highly complex processes. And IF! is precisely that, a moment of fruitful debate, as well as being a celebration of those projects that across various media have given exposure to creativity, thus generating value.” 

“The communication industry is fast-moving and forces change and the need to look ahead, deflect and answer all the stimulating challenges it generates. It’s a market which requires quick thinking, courage and the right tools to make oneself uncomfortable. We need more debate, sharing and cohesion with other sectors that stimulate creative thought,” adds Emanuele Nenna, president of UNA. “I’m delighted to present the 6th edition of this Festival, which is always an unmissable opportunity for coming together and engendering discussion between agencies, businesses and the whole community of today’s and tomorrow’s creatives.” 

“This year too, we are back at IF” Festival to work in close contact with the creative industry in an ongoing process of experimentation and innovation,” comments Paola Marazzini, director of agency and strategic partner at Google. “During the course of the Cannes event we’ve announced a series of developments aimed at inspiring and helping creatives all over the world, across the entire creative process, from conception to realisation. At IF! a number of international guest speakers will be present and we shall discuss successful case histories and many other developments to keep attention focused on these themes.” 

The presentation of IF! runs parallel with ticketing, which for the first month is offering a Super Early Bird price of €50.00 (+booking fee). More details can be found here.