Anna Yang, Associate Art Director at J. Walter Thompson Shanghai, reflects on her Cannes experience as a 2016 Young Lion. Anna and Copywriter Hsien Chao won Young Lions Media Gold.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a brief tasking competitors to craft a solution that influences businesses to make education accessible for all. My partner and I proposed a resolution asking corporations to enter into binding contracts with children. They must pledge to sponsor the child’s education and pre-hire them, hence providing them with future employment opportunities. This is “The Right Kind of Child Labor.”
Bam.
So, how did we arrive here?
I ask, have you ever Googled yourself? A question that I never answered yes to until now. Hearing “Team China” called for Gold was a rather intoxicating moment, and for my own guilty pleasure, I wanted to relive the high through the words of others (please forgive the 23-year-old).
To be honest, there really aren’t that many words. However, the existing ones all shared one thing in common: “Anna M Yang – Copywriter.” Though I’m not quite sure what gave them this impression, I am amused. I did write copy this time, and it got me thinking. At work, I’m an art director, but that’s simply semantics. J. Walter Thompson’s pioneering process allows us to work outside of silos, and that has made all the difference.
I joined the agency as a relatively blank sheet of paper. It was the amazing people around me who picked up dusky paints, brilliantly neon markers, pink pens and flung color on me (Justin, you were first). The senior leaders doodled the right way, and I am beyond grateful. I’ve been trained in art, design, copy, and heck, even strategy. Though I did not understand it at the time, I do now.
There will be moments when there is no brilliant planner to lay out your foundations and no meticulous account to plan your timeline. It’ll just be you, and your partner.
Anna Yang & coworkers pose for a group photo with Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
This moment came at Cannes for me. Here, my partner and I met lions, a sir, the UN Secretary General, and more remarkable people than we ever could’ve hoped to. We bedded the provocative allure of Great Gatsby-esque soirées and wondered how a human could consume such an inhumane amount of liquor. Our “Cannesginity” was lost, and it was… enlightening.
In our industry, the number of hours we work is often a hot point of contention. But, it is at moments like this that I am thankful for putting in a few more each day. To all the other young people out there: our necks are often bent so far backwards that our eyes can only see the grandeur and fame written in the stars. However, with greedy hands outstretched, we sometimes forget to take the stairs.
You’ll get what’s yours. I’ve always believed that.
Cheers,
Anna Yang
