Celebrating work, cheering rivals and that sense of camaraderie

Viewing the ‘Cannes-winning’ work from the UAE in a cinema alongside those from the ad industry can bring back memories of the Palais de festivals. This would be true not just for those who went up on stage in Cannes, but also those cheering them on. It’s heartening to see peers cheer each other in that moment of glory. At the Vox Cinemas last week in Dubai, the applause was not reserved for colleagues’ work.

At Cannes, the experience is even better. Rivals at home rise to cheer for each other. The men and women whose work resonated with the juries have been carried on shoulders. National flags are a common sight. One might be forgiven for thinking it was a match being screened on the other side of the red carpet, especially in a year of a FIFA World Cup. There are chosen unwinding joints where everyone from a market congregates at the end of the day’s festivities. Winners treat those from their country, often until sunrise. That experience offers a few lessons in camaraderie.

There are some who contend that advertising is hardly an industry. They say that it is a ‘cottage industry at best’. We beg to disagree, being inextricably interlinked with this beautiful profession. What we would love to see, is a little more sense of community in the region. Far from preaching, Campaign Middle East’s job is to facilitate that process, being a stakeholder in this commercial art.

While we don’t agree with the ‘cottage industry’ tag, the industry is too small – and beautiful – to be fragmented.