Design differently for the activation the boss will actually see in person.

principle — attributed to Brian Feit

Most activations are approved from a distance; a regional team green-lights a pop-up and never sets foot in it. Cannes inverts that, because the CEO and CMO fly to the Riviera themselves and watch their own brand perform in front of peers whose opinion is the only one they actually care about. Feit designs for that specific pressure, building a conveyor-belt dinner or an equivalent piece of engineered wonder because the client in the room is a person, not a company, hoping to look brilliant. Knowing who is physically present changes what the work has to accomplish.

For agencies treating every activation as interchangeable regardless of who will actually attend.

client-psychology, design-intent, stakeholder-awareness, cannes