On a day when the last thing anyone wanted to do was sit in an auditorium - with sunny skies and beach beckoning - the opening sessions largely reflected the day and condition of most delegates - many who were either jet lagged or in Saturday night recovery mode. And yet, while not all sessions proved worthy of the Festival's reputation (with one being nothing but a sales pitch), a few nuggets emerged that offered some insights into the thinking of agencies and marketers in today's uncertain and rapidly evolving business climate.

In talking of the "Death of the Creative Director", LBi's Chris Clarke and Lorenzo Wood captured the re-newed focus on the need for compelling content, compelling stories and awesome creative if one is to capture attention in a world where attention is at a premium: "Do something interesting if you want to say something interesting", they posited. "(It's) not enough to be clever... you need to be clever with impact." . Instead of defining the experience, brands today must create spaces where consumers can interact and create, and then identify opportunities to intervene in ways that add value. All of this was positioned in the context of the social media (r)evolution and the oft-stated fact that individuals are now both consumers and producers of content.

Further down the docket, Sapient moderated a discussion with members of the Coca-Cola team talking about how interactive technologies are transforming their campaigns. Carol Kruse, VP Interactive Marketing, discussed the challenges of running global digital campaigns and their success in taking ownership of, and transforming, their fan-founded Facebook page which now counts 3 million-plus fans. Perhaps the most interesting point raised was the shared consensus of all panelists that mobile will be the next 'big' thing for marketing - particularly in emerging markets where, Kruse stated, Coke has in fact bypassed the web and gone straight to mobile.

With the addition of Richard Rosen's discussion on the convergence of brand and direct marketing, and a reinforcement of the power and potential of social media to enhance both personal and corporate brands from the good folks at LinkedIn (more on that later), the day - which began in a booze and jet-lag fuelled haze - ended up quite enlightening.

Much like Dell on the day it launched its first corporate blog to a cacophony of the 'righeous', Skittles faced off against the wrath of the (m)asses and (barely) endured. Trent Reznor, on the other hand, is calling it quits. And can you blame him?

I will be tuning out of the social networking sites because at the end of the day it's now doing more harm than good in the bigger picture and the experiment seems to have yielded a result. Idiots rule.

Without question, the social web is a toxic place - often filled with vitriol and hate and the desire of a vocal few to knee-cap anything and anyone attempting to elevate the conversation (or at least keep it civil). And it's often why marketers are afraid to play in this space. Which would be wrong. As wrong as it is to attempt to jump in with no understanding of the "rules" and "customs" of the communities they are seeking to target and engage.  

In the social web, it's not only the brands that need to be thick-skinned, it's the people behind the brands, or those that represent them. Are they prepared for what they might face? And are rules in place to ensure they know how to respond - whether to silence the attacks that are flung at them without merit, to walk away, or - and dare it be said - to fight back.

The always thought-provoking Karen McGrane argued recently why "Web ads suck", She cites a litany of usual suspects: lack of investment compared to other channels, questionable measurement, size and technical constraints and, most interestingly from my perspective, the fact that advertising should be "about more than awareness". As a career PR professional, this last point caught my attention - particularly her citation of Bob Greenberg of R/GA in Art & Commerce: Funnel Clouding:

... Real engagement requires entirely new teams of people—like information architects, data analysts and an army of technologists of various stripes. The traditional teams found at agencies simply do not possess the skill sets needed to tackle areas that are deeper inside the funnel, where purchase decisions increasingly take place.

She complements this by suggesting:

You get flashy, glossy microsites because you’re dealing with an industry of advertisers and publishers that haven’t had a chance to develop and assimilate a new set of values.

While we may be coming at this from slightly different tangents, the point itself is valid. As consumer expectations change with respect to interaction, transparency, and as they look for ways to engage more meaningfully with brands, new types of expertise will be required at the table - to drive forward the opportunities as well as to manage the risks. Moreover, and where this debate seems to end at the purchase decision, increasingly brands must now consider what happens post-purchase - to encourage evangelism, to address issues, to build community and loyalty, and to deliver a "sustained" brand experience.

If advertisers can't do it. Who will?

[Photo: Flickr/qthrul]

According to Revolution, the big question brands will be asking agencies at this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is:

Do you really understand digital marketing?

Not without good reason, they say. The rise of social media platforms like Twitter has left brands exposed to consumer backlash, yet the risk of any brand-led digital campaign backfiring is enormous.

Faced with such risks, I think brands would do better asking agencies what they know about managing online reputation.

It's all very well creating an award-winning promotional campaign, but knowing how it might get perceived by non-target audiences, how to mitigate those risks, and how and when to engage if someone does take offence are equally important.

And that's what I'm hoping agencies can learn from the PR industry's presence at this year's awards.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the mind-blowing creating coming out of the best advertising, digital, direct marketing and design agencies, but equally hoping in some small way that they - and their clients - might appreciate that digital marketing isn't just about creating something cool and making it go viral. It's about managing the risks and being able to respond quickly if a campaign looks like backfiring too.