Gideon Spanier: Long may we rain: British creativity is a hit at Cannes

Rain pouring down on a Union Jack umbrella at a beach installation in blazing June sunshine is one of the more eccentric stunts seen at Cannes Lions, the annual gathering of the global advertising industry in the south of France.

Delegates at this week’s festival can pose for pictures under the rain with a variety of props from Harry Potter scarves to giant Marmite pots to celebrate British creativity.

Given the fact indecision about Brexit has made Britain a laughing stock since the referendum three years ago, the UK ad industry felt humour is one way to win over the cosmopolitan crowd from Brazilians to Chinese in attendance.

There is a serious point because the UK’s creative industries are a growing source of exports. That is why the Department for International Trade has teamed up with the Advertising Association, the UK industry’s trade body, to mount its biggest Cannes charm offensive under the banner “Creativity is GREAT”.

Stephen Woodford, the association’s boss, says: “Whatever happens with Brexit, we’re trying to demonstrate that Britain is world-leading creatively and the reason it’s world-leading is because it’s open to the world.”

The future of creativity is a subject of much debate among the thousands of marketers, agency bosses and media folk at Cannes Lions, which is run by FTSE-250 firm Ascential.

Despite forecasts that show rising global ad expenditure for a 10th year since the 2008-9 crash, rain clouds hang over this £500 billion-a-year industry.

The internet has fuelled growth but it has also led to bad practice - from poor-quality ads that “stalk us” around the web to intrusive data-targeting and illegal and hateful content. The ad industry knows it bears some responsibility as tougher regulation, particularly on data, looms in many countries.

Hence this week’s launch of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media - an initiative that involves some of the world’s top advertisers, including Diageo, Mars and Unilever, all the leading agency groups and, crucially, both Google and Facebook, who rarely collaborate on such matters.

The alliance is short on concrete plans but wants to agree common standards to make the online media environment safer. “This is our ocean plastic and we’ve got to clean it up,” Robert Rakowitz, head of global media at Mars, says.