Updates From Team Crowd: From Cannes to Cutting-Edge AI and More
The third week of June 2023 saw the world’s creative industry gather along the coast of the French Riviera to celebrate the return of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Marking its 70th anniversary, Cannes Lions has been championing creative excellence since its inception in 1954, setting the benchmark for global creativity.
I had the privilege of attending this prestigious event for the second year in a row, as a part of the UK Advertising (UKAEG) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) trade mission.
As always with UKAEG events, we were given the opportunity to gain invaluable insights, enhance our skills as an agency, and network with visionary individuals driving creative change worldwide.
From networking on the renowned Google Beach to participating in the highly anticipated UKAEG-hosted panels and discussions, it was fantastic to be a part of the buzz of created throughout the week at Cannes, leaving no creative stone unturned.
One particular discussion, hosted by the UKAEG, titled “Sorting Your Dirty Social,” was especially memorable as it directly aligned with our approach to cutting through the noise for our social media clients at Crowd.
The panel emphasised the importance of creating engagement through strategic imperfection, highlighting the contrast between playing it safe with “clean” social media and taking calculated risks by expressing authenticity on social platforms.
The discussion further outlined how brands can find a careful balance between being disruptive, occasionally employing strategic ‘mistakes’ to drive engagement, and adapt to the influencer market while maintaining their composure and professionalism.
Attending Cannes Lions was an unforgettable experience that showcased how the creative industry continues to be an ever-changing landscape, always pushing boundaries for consumers, regardless of their location.
Crowd would like to express our gratitude to the UKAEG and DBT for facilitating another year of insightful conversations that delivered exceptional results. We eagerly anticipate implementing our newfound knowledge and shaking up the industry as we know it.
Crowd Takes AI Centre Stage at Rock Am Ring Festival
After the success of Muse in SXSW, Crowd has taken its AI experience on tour again – this time to the Rock am Ring festival in Germany.
Rock am Ring is an annual event considered one of the largest and most popular rock music festivals in the country boasting a diverse lineup of rock, alternative, metal, and punk bands from around the world.
As you might expect, band merch is a huge multi million pound business, so Crowd partnered with our client Spreadshop, a global Print-On-Demand merch platform, to create an AI experience showcasing how technical innovation could take band merch to the next stage.
Situated in the Rock’n’Tech lounge, Muse was reinvented as a fully immersive rock experience including mirrored walls, colourful laser lights, and specially created music to deliver a mind blowing experience leading into the Muse experience. Guests were invited to use a series of prompts to create their own t-shirt design, while being shown a short video specially created to showcase how Spreadshop’s merch innovations could open up new ways to engage and interact with fans.
As well as an AI t-shirt design based on their prompts, Crowd also created a 20 second music video, with original sound and visuals created purely by AI – yet another example of how merging creativity and technology can push the boundaries of self-expression, and provide new ways to engage us.
It was a real honour to be part of such an incredible event, listen to some of the world’s best rock bands, and mix with so many like-minded creative individuals. Feedback from those who experienced Muse was hugely positive, reaffirming what we already knew – when done right, AI rocks.
Get with the Program: Our 10th Anniversary Winners
Back in October 2022, to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we decided to give back to the industry by offering free consultancy to a deserving start-up. After receiving numerous inspiring applications, we carefully selected a company that resonated with us the most: Get with the Program!
GWTP aims to ‘To inspire the tech innovators of the future by teaching children coding concepts through interactive theatre’. Working with schools, businesses and parents, their shows travel the country and are beginning to be shown remotely worldwide, inspiring many young children about the world of STEM.
After a few introductory calls, GWTP expressed its need for support and guidance in creating an engaging newsletter for its email database and LinkedIn platform, to show off monthly achievements and updates. Through collaborative brainstorming sessions and working together with our design and development team, we helped to create a tailored template that suited their requirements. In addition, we conducted several Q&A sessions and provided tutorials to help guide their ongoing email marketing strategy.
For those who haven’t had the chance to follow Get with the Program, we encourage you to take a look at their first LinkedIn newsletter to see the great work they are up to!
About Crowd
Crowd is a global creative agency that specialises in amplifying demand for brands around the world.
