You don’t need the Cannes Lions scholarship, it needs you

Cannes: I won't start this article by talking about Cannes right away. After all the LinkedIn posts you might've read already, I'll spare you the drudgery of sameness. 

Instead, let's hitch a ride down south to Barcelona, Spain – where I currently am on a short vacation. In the days I've spent sauntering down the city's alleys, I've got to learn a lot about Antoni Gaudi. He's the visionary architect behind some of Barcelona’s crowning jewels – La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, the list goes on. In Park Guell, a garden that's another one of his masterpieces, the portico resembles a giant ocean wave. Staggeringly tasteful. 

I was marveling at this stroke of genius when our tour guide, Gloria showed us perhaps his only architectural failure – the laundry corner he made for women. Cobbled at the foot, perched way too high for any woman to reach, simply impractical given their cascading gowns at the time. 

Hilarious, isn't it? The world's most distinguished architect, with a decorated opus to his credit, somehow botched a ladies laundry room. Why? Because he obviously had no women guiding him. Because that's the power of having diverse voices in the same room – every voice brings with itself a unique standpoint. And that's why the title reads what it reads. The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity doesn't just value perspective-changing work. It values your perspective too. 

This year, I got to share mine at the Creative Academy – a week-long accelerator program where 30 creatives from around the world are mentored by industry leaders. Being the only representative from India was both a privilege and a responsibility in equal measure. Needless to say, after 25+ sessions spread across 7 days, I'm flying back home enriched with learning.

Think of an outrageous idea you pitched. One that dared to dream, one that dared to question. Now, did it dare to exist? If it's still cost-sheet-bound, rotting away in the depths of your decks, David Clayton and Robin Bonn from True and North have something for you: a pre-mortem map. “It's like taking your idea on a near-death experience, before it's even born.” 

This means gauging all possible roadblocks and involving those stakeholders – finance, sales, legal – from the very first meeting. “It's the IKEA furniture test. People place more value in the things they've helped build.” Jorge Calleja, CCO at Meta Reality Labs, put it very interestingly. “Find your own style of politics at work; make allies who can root for you and your ideas.” 

And yet, even after trying all the tricks of the trade, a project might not see the light of day. I call this the tricky part of the trade, the part where we must brush off the dust and seek neuron fuel in pursuits outside of work. Joanna Mendez, ECD at WPP cautions, “The gravest mistake would be losing touch with your hobbies. They're what differentiate you.” So take your pleasure seriously. 

There are many such well-meaning reminders, overstated but necessary, that I've gleaned through the week. Like when Leena Gupta, Creative at Talented, the agency we both work at said, “Social creatives aren't supposed to be classic masterpieces we look back on. They can just be fun and fleeting, and that's okay.” Or when Helen Tiffany from The Coach House urged us, “The only way to beat your Imposter Syndrome is to practise leaning into your discomfort.” 

Precisely what I did. By applying for the Lions Scholarship this year. Given to only 5 out of the 30 members in the Creative Academy, I knew the odds were scant and elusive. The form doesn't ask for any resume or even a luminous portfolio. In fact, the only radical thing it does ask for, is that we try. Answer 2 questions and make a 2-minute-long introduction video. That's it. As I've now learnt after being one of the winners, those are the only 3 things that stand between you and the mecca of creativity. 

We advertising folks are a twisted lot, built slightly askew. We spend most of our hours trying not to be ad-y. But the only time we ought to be ad-y is when advertising ourselves. Our stories. Our lived experiences. 

If even one of you, after reading this article, decides to apply for the Creative Academy or the Lions Scholarship for 2025, I'll consider my privilege well spent. So take the punt. Applications open in mid November every year. Shoot that video and shoot your shot. Don't relegate your voice to a mere blip in the system. Instead, make it a force to reckon with. 

Don't just get your foot in the door. Get a seat at the table.