"noitulovE" may be on the tip of everyone's tongue as the Cannes favorite, but while many of us take pause to reflect on a year's worth of work since the last batch of Lions were doled out (or more accurately, take pause to look back and say, "Damn, it's Cannes time again? Guess that diet really fell through."), others are looking for change of a more rapid variety.

For some, the target in the crosshairs is award shows themselves. As Steve Wax, executive producer of both Chelsea Pictures and branded entertainment company Campfire, argues in this issue (see Cannes report, pg. 26), the current structure of the industry's institutionalized reward process is sorely lacking. The rules of engagement for what Wax dubs New Marketing are totally different than for traditional advertising yet the rules of adjudication fail to effectively consider or reward multi-faceted, non-traditional marketing ideas.

Given that this is award season and innovative projects such as Campfire's Art of the Heist for Audi or BBH's The Gamekillers and so on are either misunderstood by juries or given only a few outlets for recognition, this could sound like sour grapes - until you consider his assertion that award shows "function as barometers for cultural and creative shifts in a business that desperately pursues all new things cultural and creative - particularly when the industry is in major upheaval, as it is now".

This year, entries for the Titanium Lion were up by 52%, consisting of 202 large-scale big ideas, while entries for Film were down by 2.7%. If this rate continues, the awards machine doesn't have much time before the proverbial lunatics take over the asylum.

Even SAG and AFTRA, the poster organizations for entrenched status quo, are getting in on the revolution party. As we report on pg. 15 (Issues), the unions are currently in talks with the ANA and the AAAA about how to deal with talent compensation in a world where the video iPod and YouTube are being considered distribution channels by forward-thinking clients, and the notion of sending spots virally online is no longer a novelty but a necessity.

With so much going on in the industry right now it stands to reason that we'd reflect the current climate in our third annual It List. So, naturally, we did. This year, we opened the list to trends and products as well as people. In addition to the movers and shakers, you'll see technologies that have changed how we think about consumer engagement, clients who are actively championing new ideas and are moving marketing forward, and companies that are equipping themselves to handle whatever brilliant/harebrained idea comes their way.

Not convinced things are moving at mach speed? Just remember, in only six months and with the help of a Saturday Night Live skit that garnered over five million views in a month ("Lazy Sunday" aka "The Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia"), YouTube was transformed from a post-it-yourself geek site to a platform from which legitimate brands like Adidas could launch a campaign (adicolor).

Cheers,
Rae Ann Fera
Editor