Cannes Is Over. Didn't Win? Ask a Better Question.
Every June, Cannes Lions comes to an end.
Some agencies return home with Lions.
Many don't.
If you're one of them, you're probably asking yourself the same question thousands of agencies are asking after a week of rosé on la Croisette.
"Should we enter Cannes again next year?"
I don't think that's the right question.
The better one is:
"Where does this case have the greatest chance of winning?"
My First Cannes
When I joined Havas Media Network in 2015, Cannes was everything.
A large part of the awards budget went there.
The ambition was obvious.
The results weren't.
My first year I had to go with the established flow and strategy.
We entered Cannes with a big chunk of our awards budget.
We came home with nothing.
No Lions.
Not even a shortlist.
And because so much of the budget had been concentrated on Cannes, very little work had been entered anywhere else.
It became clear to me that the problem wasn't Cannes.
The problem was assuming every great campaign belonged there.
Cannes Is Hard. Really Hard.
I’m not going to deny it.
Cannes deserves its reputation.
It's the most prestigious festival in our industry for a reason.
Everyone wants to win there.
I certainly cheered for our entries to win.
But it's also incredibly competitive.
Only around 10% of entries make the shortlist, and only a fraction of those leave with a Lion.
Knowing those KPIs changes the conversation.
Because suddenly the question isn't whether the work is good.
It's whether this is the right stage for that particular piece of work.
Looking at the Work Differently
That's exactly what we started doing.
Instead of asking where we wanted to win...
We asked where each campaign had the greatest chance of winning.
Some ideas were perfect for Cannes.
Others were much better suited to media festivals.
Others to effectiveness.
Some to digital.
Some data.
Instead of forcing every campaign into the same competition, we matched the work to the festivals designed to celebrate it.
The Internationalist Media Innovation Awards.
Different juries.
Different strengths.
Different opportunities.
That small shift changed everything.
Over time, our awards strategy evolved into one built on consistent international recognition, with several agencies regularly appearing in the WARC Media 100 rankings.
What Happened Next
Something interesting happened.
Teams started winning.
Clients became more engaged.
People wanted to participate.
Awards stopped feeling like a lottery that happened every June.
They became part of the culture.
And that's the part many agencies underestimate.
Winning awards isn't only about recognition.
It's about creating momentum.
Momentum builds confidence.
Confidence makes people submit more work.
Better work gets identified earlier.
The culture begins to change.
The Better Question
So now that Cannes is over...
Don't start by asking:
"Should we enter again next year?"
Start by asking:
"Where does this work have the greatest chance of winning?"
Sometimes the answer will be Cannes.
Sometimes, maybe most of the time… it won't.
And that's perfectly fine.
Because a smart awards strategy isn't about chasing the biggest stage every time.
It's about giving every great piece of work the best possible chance to be recognized.
Ironically, that's often what creates the strongest path back to Cannes.
