Canadians roar at Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions began in 1954, as the International Advertising Film Festival. Since it's inaugural year the festival, which was inspired by the internationally known Cannes Film Festival has grown from a festival with two categories to a festival with 18 categories and counting.

Today, in it's 59th year the festival has a new name, The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and boasts more than 28,000 entries. "The festival is the only truly global meeting place for advertisers, advertising and communication professionals."(http://www.canneslions.com/about/) With over 9000 delegates from 90 countries it is "the world's biggest celebration of creativity in communications."(http://www.canneslions.com/about/)

This year the festival was held from June 17-23 and was once again a showcase for international and specifically, Canadian talent in the advertising and communication industry. Some of the major Canadian firms who were honored at Cannes Lions in 2012 include:

JAM3
Tuxedo
Blast Radius
Grey Group
Cossette
JWT
LG2
Taxi
BBDO
Leo Burnett
Cundari
Lowe Roche
DraftFCB
DDB

Each of these firms was awarded either "Gold, Silver or Bronze in a variety of categories- including two golds in the new mobile award segment."(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/five-canadian-cannes-advertising-winners-you-should-see/article4368322/#gallery_4048=1)

Both gold lion statues were awarded to Toronto based firm Cundari for their mobile pain app, Pain Squad, for Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. The app was created to allow young patients to record exactly how they were feeling on a daily basis. Each patient was given an iPhone with the app installed and was reminded via an alert to record their pain twice daily. To help motivate the children further, Cundari integrated a series of motivational videos as well as a reward system featuring prominent Canadian celebrities from the television shows Flashpoint and Rookie Blue. The app has been so successful for Sick Kids Hospital that it will soon "roll-out into four other Canadian hospitals and will soon be made available everywhere."(http://www.canneslions.com/work/2012/mobile/entry.cfm?entryid=8544&award=2)

See the video below or click on the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsl9NjyVpHY to discover the reason behind the app and exactly how it works! It is an amazing way to help kids deal with painful cancer treatments!

-Rachel

Facebook files for an IPO- Was it the right move?

Last week, Facebook filed for an initial public offering. The social giant is seeking to raise $5 billion in initial funding from investors. If successful, the IPO will value Facebook between $75 and $100 billion. The filed IPO is among the largest in technology history. This event will create yet another milestone for Facebook.

With well over 800 million users, Facebook is clearly the leader within the world of Social Media. As stated by Mark Zuckerberg, he “Founded Facebook on the idea that people want to share and connect with other people in their lives…” Although Facebook was only created in 2004, it has evolved; not only in the sheer number of users and advancements in website design, but also in revenues.

At the start, Facebook was grossing just over $52 million; however only 6 years later their revenues have increased to over $4 billion. Although Facebook’s revenues have steadily grown, the issue of having only one revenue stream remains.

Many people are wondering why Facebook needs to raise extra money; after all, the projected revenues for 2012 are far beyond their $5 billion investment benchmark.


In my opinion, Facebook is seeking an investment for five main reasons:

1. An increase in capital will allow for greater product investment.

2. More products and better services will help create and grow revenue.

3. The capital injection will increase Facebook’s purchasing power.

4. Employees will have a vested interest - many will become shareholders.

5. The capital will allow Facebook to further expand their services.

So what’s next?

Although these reasons are solely based on my own knowledge, I truly believe that they are in line with Facebook’s goals. In fact, yesterday Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be further monetizing its mobile platform through advertising. With nearly half of all Facebook users utilizing the mobile platform, it makes sense that advertisers would want to tap into the market.

Although the entire IPO process seems simple, in reality it’s extremely complex and risky. Facebook’s greatest concern is repeating the IPO disappointment of Groupon and Zynga where valuations fell below IPO share prices.

It will be interesting to see where the IPO will take Facebook. Will the site remain the same, or will it be transformed into an advertising cluttered powerhouse? Only time can tell.

The Wall Street Journal points out some interesting considerations on the Facebook IPO - check it out! 

Facebook's $5 Billion IPO Filing

-Tim