Of winners and lessons from failures

A Cannes veteran told me the day I landed that it would be a rush I’d never experienced before. I didn’t know what she meant – after all, how could attending a million seminars and walking around be a rush? It would be fulfilling, sure. But a rush?

Cut to Day 3. I write this tired and happily recollecting the day that was. I decided to spend my day walking around the Palais, attending, once again, as many talks as possible. It started with Mike White, the creator of White Lotus. Mike presented himself as an introverted creative who, like the rest of us, struggled to put his perspective forward. He shared stories about his burnout and his subsequent, obsessive need to still create, but most of all, he made every single young professional in the audience feel seen. After all, if an icon could come on stage with such nervous energy, surely the rest of us can defend our ideas with a skeptical client. Like Mike said, “You are the ambassador of your own work, so protect it.”

The talks and the conversations continued throughout the day, but my favourite still remained the talk that started the day - Mike White. I’d encourage every creative to go and check his talk out because frankly, it was a lesson in turning every perceived ‘weakness’ as a creative into a strength. Mike spoke about all the ideas he sucked at pitching and all the ideas that are dying a slow death in the graveyard of forgotten ideas. A quote to put on a post-it note whenever you feel like quitting your job is, “Good creativity takes resilience. Because most ideas won’t work out.”

The only thing that could possibly eclipse seeing Mike White (and Alex Cooper!!) live was India’s tally for the night - Dentsu Creative India added another Bronze to its tally, and Talented, the agency that has been making waves throughout the country, finished its Cannes debut with 2 bronzes and a silver. As someone with new insight into what goes on in a jury room and how difficult it is to even shortlist, this is no mean feat. While Cannes still has 2 days left, I don’t see how it can(nes) get any better.

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