Leo Burnett Worldwide And Contagious Present Wildfire / Full Of Tomorrow Seminar During Cannes International Festival Of Creativity

CHICAGO, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As Cannes International Festival of Creativity celebrates its 60th anniversary, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Contagious will look 60 months into the future to offer a head-start on the most significant technological innovations that will redefine how brands connect with people.

On Tuesday, June 18, from 5:00 – 5:45 p.m. in Cannes (10:00 – 10:45 a.m. CST) James Kirkham, Leo Burnett's newly appointed Global Head of Social and Mobile and Paul Kemp-Robertson, Co-founder and Editorial Director for Contagious Communications will explore how technology can be applied to the natural cadence of our daily lives in order to make routine activities and behaviors more streamlined, meaningful or entertaining.

Voted the "Seminar of the Day" by the first-ever Lions Live, Full of Tomorrow will be live streamed on Cannes' Lions Live page for viewers at home.

"Working on this already feels like a career highlight; I get to work with Contagious on exploring incredible technologies which brands will be able to humanise in the very near future," said James Kirkham. "It is like being a part of your favourite book and getting to talk about it to the world live on YouTube. What's not to like?"

Full of Tomorrow will explore fledgling technologies, including affective interfaces, which detect human mood and emotion; cognitive computing, which absorbs medical data from the body to make more accurate diagnoses; and epidermal electronics, which can measure skin hydration, temperature and electric signals from activity in the muscles and the brain. The seminar will also explore multisensory projections and new e-commerce experiences that affect the way we shop and interact with products. Lastly, the session will explore the human body as interface and how advanced motion tracking could engage consumers with brands through the slightest movement.

"Brands are best placed to adapt new technologies that seem miraculous, but will soon become small wonders of everyday life," said Kemp-Robertson. "They have the reach, scale and access to creative collaborators (including, of course, agencies) to make this happen, driven by the brand/consumer data exchange and the value this brings both parties."

"Wildfire will show amazing stuff – all rooted in practical examples and real world evidence," Kemp-Robertson adds. "That's the value to the audience – they hear stuff like 'haptic,' but we will show what's already happening in this area and what opportunities exist for brands."

The seminar will leave marketers with important takeaways and thought starters as we attempt to navigate the future of advertising and consumer interaction, including:

• How can experimenting with technology let brands step outside their traditional limitations?
• Are you using technology to mask bad ideas? If it's not useful, relevant or entertaining, it's not worth sending out into the world.
• With technology moving at such a rapid pace, how do marketers ensure they keep humans – not consumers – at the heart of everything they do?
• How can brands use technology to solve real problems or make enhancements to people's everyday lives?

To follow the continued conversation, view Leo Burnett and Holler's Wildfire Cannes / Full of Tomorrow Tumblr page, which displays cutting edge examples of tomorrow's technology. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter using #WildfireCannes.

About Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett Worldwide, part of Publicis Groupe, is one of the world's largest agency networks with 96 offices and nearly 10,000 employees. In 2013, the global network was named "Most Awarded Network" by the International ANDY Awards and received "Network of the Year" honors from Dubai Lynx and AdFest. At the 2012 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, Leo Burnett won a record-breaking 55 Lions and was also named "Network of the Year" by YoungGuns, Golden Drum and the MENA Cristal Awards. A HumanKind communications company, Leo Burnett Worldwide has a simple and singular approach: put a brand's purpose at the center of communications to truly connect with people. Leo Burnett works with some of the world's most valuable brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Fiat, Kellogg's, McDonald's, Nintendo, P&G, Samsung and Tata among others. To learn more about Leo Burnett Worldwide visit our site, Facebook page and follow us via @leoburnett.

Contagious Communications
Operating at the intersection of marketing communications, new technology and consumer behaviour, Contagious is a strategic resource and creative reference tool for brands and communications agencies around the world. Its mission is to identify the marketing world's most social, shareable and inspirational creative ideas and to showcase the latest technological wonders. At the heart of Contagious lies its flagship magazine, app and online resource. It also has its own consultancy business. The bedrock is Contagious Feed, a secure web service that acts as a bespoke, filtered intelligence resource, a decoder of news stories and an interpreter of trends for advertisers and agencies. Meanwhile, Contagious Insider – the human face of Contagious – is an advisory service offering tailored briefings, trend overviews, customised reports and training workshops for advertisers and agencies. Contagious is headquartered in London, with an office in New York.  Find out more at our site or follow us via @contagious.

SOURCE Leo Burnett Worldwide