�The good news is marketing is everywhere. The bad news is consumers care less and less about marketing.� These were the opening remarks of Michael Fassnacht, Global Chief Strategy Officer, DraftFCB, while speaking during the session on �Capturing Consumer Attention in the Critical 6.5 Seconds that Matter� on Day Three of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2010.

The other speakers in the session included Tom O�Keefe, Executive Creative Director, North America, DraftFCB and Matthew Willcox, Director, Strategic Planning, DraftFCB, San Francisco.

According to Fassnacht, marketing complexity had increased by 26 times in the last 34 years. �The average engagement time between consumer and brand across segments, channels and categories is 6.5 seconds,� he pointed out.

While Microsoft Windows, Google Chrome and Apple Mac were some of the popular operating systems in the computing world, for agencies the three operating systems were Agreement (100 per cent agreement on client�s needs), Breakthrough (striving for attention of the consumer), and the self-explanatory Channel Excellence, according to the team from DraftFCB. However, for DraftFCB, the operating system �is reduction� - reduction of numbers into creative expression.

Numbers are more instinctive than words, the team said. �Facebook is now being cited in 20 per cent of the divorce cases in the US. Numbers have that ability to shock and jar and help the rest of us buy with confidence,� the team said, adding, �Our job is to make these numbers into a creative that is simple enough, and reduced from the creative brief.�

Overall, the team tried to put across the point that howsoever complex the brief or the problem may be, �it was important for the creative to be simple�.

Reducing the numbers from the data available for the Cannes Advertising Festival since 1990-2009, the team threw some interesting projections. �From the data available and reducing them, it seems that New Zealand is the most creative country, followed by Singapore,� Fassnacht said.

Talking about the �odds� at Cannes, based on the reduction of numbers, Fassnacht said, �Sole brand advertisers have better odds at Cannes; India has the best odds for a country; Promos, the best odds in a Medium; and Wieden+Kennedy has the best odds amongst agencies.�