Weekly Blog 1

Week 1 of the France GFI in preparation for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was insightful, inspirational, and overall an already unforgettable experience. This week, what stood out the most to me was getting to learn the role of branding in marketing - and more so, the route that is taken to prioritize global exposure in France. Day 1, we got the pleasure of visiting the Chanel Headquarters, where we got the opportunity to learn from their International Marketing Director, Alessandro Ganis. I appreciated this experience because it was motivating to learn how Alessandro was able to pivot from initially pursuing a career in the field of Law, then later transitioning and quickly working his way up to becoming a Marketing Director at multiple different companies around the world. I appreciated his insight, and also found myself gaining new ways of thinking about how intentional branding and creative storytelling is key to ensuring that your marketing campaign is emotionally appealing to a variety of audiences across the globe. Over the course of the next four days, we had the opportunity to visit three different marketing agencies, who each had a different approach to the way they prioritized company growth. My two favorites were Orès and Follow Agency, where we not only had the opportunity to receive direct feedback about our creative campaign executions - but where I also was able to learn the approach that these agencies typically take in creating a campaign for a company from the ground up. As a marketing student who fed a lot of information into my assignments - creatively, strategically, and even analytically - I found it very interesting to find that the companies often have a very concise pitch to the brands, and that most of the strategizing and explaining is done behind-the-scenes with their marketing teams. Since I plan on becoming a Creative Director in the future, I was comforted after learning that all creative campaigns are a collaborative effort, even when companies are creating marketing plans for companies on a global scale. Overall, I found this week to be very educational and insightful, and I am excited to apply some of the knowledge I gained this upcoming week when networking with industry professionals and/or non-professionals at the festival next week.