When Kotaro Sasamoto and Yasuharu Sasaki of Dentsu were presenting Jibo, „the world’s first social robot for the home“, they made a point about extending the creativity of agencies to other businesses. In doing so, agencies will have to mix and mingle with other industries.

That’s pretty much exactly what’s going on, already. Cannes today is a mixture of industries, call them entertainment, tech, research, film-making, product-design, etc., each bringing it’s own cultures, protagonists, ideas. Consequently, walking over the festivals grounds, the cliché of the creative class doesn’t hold true. There’s a melange of languages, cultures, age groups, dress and hairstyles, reflecting just how diverse the people working in the field really are. It’s surprising that the Lions’ jurying process manages to assemble a showcase of winners that everybody here somewhat agrees on.

Visiting 30+ lectures and workshop, seeing 50+ people on and off stage, I wanted to unlock the secret of Cannes 2016. I started by making a list of recurring themes and statements, checking if any one of them would evolve into that single trending topic. So far I’ve got on my list: Purpose. Learning. People. Beauty. Effectiveness. Triggers. Automation. Immersion. Depending on the schedule go you through, you might have others.

The point to me is: any single issue just wouldn’t do justice to what’s going on. The magic of Cannes – and of creativity – is in-between. In cross-breeding, in connecting the dots.

Connecting the dots is and will be our greatest creative resource. Personally, and for the creative industry. Triggering inspiration. But also demanding orchestration.

Mix and mingle – admittedly the most simple recipe for creativity. It’s happening here. It’s happening in the industry. It’s what I will take home from here.

Thomas Schatton