Cotton candy clouds. Sun-kissed hilltops. Topaz waters. As we land inNice, my heart soars. I feel a little like the Gorilla that took Cannes by storm the last time I was here. That year, a man in a primate suit gave a whole new meaning to ‘a glass-and-a-half full of joy'. It was a celebration of art in advertising, feted in what must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. St. Pauls' magnificent cobbled streets, glorious colours, stunning street fashion, pretty cafes — they take beauty very seriously here.

But it's more than just the scenery that draws brand owners to Cannes each year. There's a lot to be said for the commercial value that creativity delivers, and I'm willing to bet that the work we will see here over the next week will prove, yet again, that creativity is the most powerful force in business.

I welcome the decision to introduce the Cannes Effectiveness Lions to this year's programme. Creativity and effectiveness are soul-mates after all, and ought to be lauded as one.

Who're going to be the big winners this year? My guess is that we will see the world's largest marketer take Cannes by storm again. Last year's film Grand Prix-winning shirtless hunk of a man should take the cyber lions by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shake.

We will doff our hats to Wieden and Kennedy for making Old Spice cool again. No amount of attention's enough for this campaign. This isn't some small-time shack's lame attempt at social media, we're talking P&G. More importantly, this is a campaign that sits outside of media silos — and was spawned on good old fashioned network TV.

Hopefully, it will knock some sense into the digital hype junkies who forget that it's always going to be about brilliant thinking and skilful execution — and not about the technology.

I don't know of one person in the world who wouldn't want to see Deutsch's heartachingly beautiful Darth Vader spot for VW win big. It's such a charming story, so endearingly told. It'd be a crime for juries to ignore it.

We're also interested in what the judges think of Droga 5's latest sleight of hand with Jay Z's autobiography. And, of course, we're keeping a close eye on the entries from India.

Tracking the fate of the favourites and the familiar is always fun. But the most thrilling thing about Cannes is the discovery of lesser known ideas. Last time I was here, we were blown away by X Box's terrific staging of the Halo 3 launch — which tied with the Cadbury Gorilla for the film Grand Prix.

By the end of the week, we will have been surprised by (yet) unheralded pieces of work that change the way we think about advertising.

As always, we're going to be treated to an incredible array of speakers. Besides the best and brightest advertising minds, we've got pop culture icons such as Patti Smith, will-i-am and Piers Morgan; giants from the movie business including the team from the Social Network ; stalwarts from technology and media such as Eric Schmidt, Tim Armstong and Arianna Huffington.

Besides the usual issues that advertising folk like to spend time talking about, the billing suggests three overarching themes — technology, ‘doing good', and ‘advertising as entertainment'. These should make for gripping discussion and debate.

So much to do, so little time. As our ape friend on the drums would say — Bring It On!

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