Ad execs take lessons from celebrities at Cannes
CANNES, France -- Stars are shining in Cannes, but they are not walking the red carpet.
Instead, director Spike Lee, Who front man Roger Daltrey, actor and musician Steven van Zandt and the Barack Obama political campaign manager, David Plouffe took the stage at the 56th Annual International Advertising Festival to lend marketing lessons to the industry.
Plouffe addressed hundreds of ad executives in a standing-room-only audience Thursday. He shared the campaign strategy — built on social media, authentic messages and targeted, streamlined communication — so that ad professionals could apply it to the industry.
"Nothing is more powerful than authenticity," Plouffe said.
Plouffe said the combination of a grassroots marketing, which had Obama supporters on the streets and in cities speaking from their hearts, and social media, which helped those supporters reach out to voters on the fence, helped the campaign raise $580 million through online donations. Donations from 4 million averaged $85.
"There is nothing more valuable than a human being talking to a human being," he said. An Obama victory "would not have happened without people talking to people."
Some of that communication included popular videos and direct marketing from celebrities such as Sarah Silverman and singer Will.i.am. Silverman appears in a video that was part of The Great Schlep, a campaign targeted to Jewish seniors in Florida to vote for Obama. Plouffe said that campaign was one of the many that originated with concerned voters.
"There was some very creative stuff and they did it on their own."
The campaign, by Droga5, has won numerous awards this week at the advertising festival including a Gold Lion in the cyber category. But he was clear that the campaign was not a directive from Obama. Voters created them "on their own, on their own time and using their own tactics," he said.
Among the big winners this week have been campaigns in which user participation, rather than passive viewing on TV, helped fuel the campaign and make it bigger.
Related Stories
ABC News Live