But the biggest pressures tend to come internally, when agencies push themselves to constantly be better.
“The anxiety, it’s self-inflicted. Nobody’s putting that pressure on me. I don’t have a bonus that’s based on it. It’s just why I do what I do,” said Taylor.
The darker side of awards
Gareth Moss, founder of executive search company The Blueprint, heard the term after talking with a global chief creative officer at a large agency. That CCO works with some of the world’s most awarded brands and used the term “Cannesxiety” to describe the mounting pressure coming from brands to not only win awards at Cannes but to win bigger awards and stay at the top.
“He said that the client has won every award under the Cannes sun, and he talked about his client never wanting to settle and always pushing for even more. And though year on year, the client was winning awards, it stopped simply being about winning an award or two awards, and became ‘how many awards do we win this time, and what color?’” Moss told Adweek.
In talking with other people who frequent Cannes, Moss found that some think the festival is less about the celebration of great work and it’s become more of a business exercise measured by results.
Then there are the other sources of “Cannesxiety” that go with the festival of creativity. They include pressures to go to as many meetings as possible, and taking your best talent and then possibly losing them as they get poached by other agencies or brands.
“It’s the best kind of talent that is there, and all of these meetings are happening under the noses of agency bosses as well. So, it’s that double edged sword—you want the best award-winning talent, but then they’re put in the shop window,” said Moss.
That recycling of talent, Moss said, means that the industry isn’t infusing itself with enough diversity that it claims to crave, which was uncovered in a recent study that found that the industry has made little progress in diversity since 2021.
“Cannes should focus on the work, how effective it is for clients, the diversity of the people that reflect the actual audience,” said Moss.
Settle down and enjoy the ride
With all the negativity that Cannesxiety can bring, Cannes is still a celebration of great work, and certainly most clients will agree that getting good work done that moves the needle is most important over getting awards.
Bianca Guimaraes, partner and executive creative director at Mischief @ No Fixed Address thinks that it is always nice to have a trophy case full of shiny Cannes Lions, but it shouldn’t be the sole goal.
