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

Ad Buzz give advice to new grads

On June 8, lucky new graduates and current students attended the sold out inaugural Ad Buzz event "What You Weren't Taught in School." The goal of the one day conference was to teach recent advertising and marketing graduates the tips and tricks of "how to get in, fit in and be amazing in the advertising industry."(http://theadbuzz.com/WYWTIS.html)

The event, was held in downtown Toronto at the historical Arts and Letters Club . Students were provided with advice and insights from some of marketing and advertising's most influential people including:

Ron Tite: President, The Tite Group
Leslie Ehm: Principal, Three Training
Trina Boos: President, Boost Agents & Ad Lounge
Ken Dobell: President, Digital, DAC Group
Luke Sullivan: Author, Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This


The speakers spoke to students about the importance of being a brand, understanding your role, building relationships and how to figure out what you need to become the best possible version of yourself and why people should care and take notice of who you are.

But, perhaps the most anticipated and best advice came from author and instructor Luke Sullivan. Luke spoke to the attendees about the importance of tension in advertising and that creating advertising around tension "can often leverage these tensions and help creatives produce more and often better work."( Luke Sullivan, 8 June, 2012)



In his presentation he told the audience that there are two major questions that advertisers and marketers must ask themselves when looking at and starting a campaign:
1) What is the truest thing I can say about this product or category?
2) Where is the emotion in this product, service or category?

In the end the message
of all of these speakers was to create an image for yourself, an idea of yourself that people want to pay attention to, create something that is interesting because "when everything is okay, we're not interested." (Luke Sullivan)

Click on the video below to see a message from Luke Sullivan.

-Rachel

Humber College Honour Pin Ceremony

This past Tuesday the Humber College business school recognized the academic excellence of a group of Marketing Diploma students. Faculty and family members acknowledged the students during the annual Honour Pin Ceremony.  

The ceremony highlights the academic achievements of students who achieve an overall average of 80% during the academic calendar year.

Throughout the event a number of speakers concluded that achieving honours is not an easy feat. In fact, achieving honours means much more than simply attending classes and receiving good grades; it encompasses a wide variety skills and attributes such as: hardwork, determination, team work, communication, analytical thinking and problem solving. Excelling within college provides you with more than just good grades. It helps establish the foundation for your future career and success.

In this blog I would like to share with you three tips that I believe can help students achieve both academic and personal success while studying at Humber College.

Tip #1- Get Involved

Becoming involved within the school through both academic and extra circular activities can prove to be very beneficial to a student’s success. Whether it is joining a club such as Toastmasters, a case study competition team, a sports team or even speaking engagements, getting involved can lead to great opportunities.

Tip #2- Stay on top of your studies

Although this tip seems fairly basic, it is very easy to fall behind within your studies. With a full course load, multiple assignments, group projects and your own social life, it can feel very overwhelming at times. Organize, plan and take your time to ensure that everything is completed on time and properly.

Tip#3- Don’t be afraid to ask for help

The sooner you realize that your teachers actually care and that they want to help you succeed, school becomes an entirely different playing field. This has been one of my greatest lessons while studying at Humber. Take advantage of the services on campus; Humber offers various learning centers and tutoring services to ensure that students are successful. 

Not only does achieving honours make you stand out amongst the crowd, it also gives you a sense of accomplishment.

-Tim