Charlotte Williams: Eurobest to take place in London’s Bloomsbury, the cool place for pop creative talent
There’s only 3 weeks left until Eurobest, scheduled to take place, in end November, in London’s Bloomsbury, the “rebellious punk rock side” of UK’s capital. To have a preview taste of this year’s festival, Charlotte Williams, Festival Director & Content Manager for Cannes Lions, agreed to answer some questions for our readers.
AdH: Why London for Eurobest this year?
Charlotte Williams:
London is very much associated with the creative rebellion, there is a lot of innovation happening here, we are closely linked to the start up community, this is the city of disruption and cultural diversity. We selected Bloomsbury for the venue. This is the rebellious punk rock side of London, many people from the artistic community are living and working here, then we have the night club community, it’s this cool place for pop creative talent.
AdH: How do you find inspiration when choosing content for Cannes or Eurobest?
We receive hundreds of applications every year. So a first selection is related to “how bold, provocative and shocking the title is”. Then, of course, it’s all about the content: is it really there to challenge the status quo? It’s a presentation capable of moving the industry forward?
AdH: How do you spot trends that are about to burst and integrate the dialogue about them, at the festivals you are managing?
We have a team of content producers that is very well informed. We keep a very keen eye on press, we are reading magazines, reports, we are listening the internal team, the strategy team, we keep close to other partners. Every conversation, every call that I have turns into a research. We are interested in what will be big in the next 5 years. Understanding the industry trends, seeing what has the chance to evolve into a trend is a big part of our role. We work with WGSN, with the fashion design industry and with retail brands. No stone is left unturned.
AdH: Three things the people from the creative community should not miss at Eurobest.
Eurobest is about the spirit of the independence and experiment, so there are a lot of independent agencies speaking. In the second day, they shouldn’t miss the creative writing workshop, a tribute for Bloomsbury Group and their remarkable authors. Day 3 is all about the work. We bring jurors, cultural influencers and legendary creatives like Trevor Robinson to speak about what work they loved and what will be in the trend next year.
AdH: What is the profile of nowadays creatives?
The contemporary creative profile is probably wearing several hats, being the jack of many trends, master of all. All nowadays creatives tend to morph into this sort of this new breed that is able to look beyond the traditional ad campaign, creating intellectual property, getting involved in the service design and be fluent in all those new, exotic areas.
What’s the greatest idea that won at Eurobest so far, in your subjective opinion?
The Sweedish number – it reflects the mantra of nowadays creative industry – “low budget, huge impact”.