Scorching Hot Sun has been silent for another year at the annual Shindig at the annual Cannes Lions in southern France.
The vast event had a thematic whiplash level. During your hour on the main stage of the Palais, you will hear about the creation of an iconic snicker to hear a speech from human rights activist Sonita Alizadeh on the humanitarian crisis of children's brides in Iran and Afghanistan, and then you will go from hearing about the creation of an iconic snicker.
Festival attendees can catch Mark Ronson DJs set in Spotify Beach. Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
There were also many parties. Spotify's beach concert stage featured rappers Cardi B and Indie Rockers' Royel Otis. Diplo had spinning the deck for Yahoo. Talent Agency UTA's annual VIP “Dinner” gorgeous Hôtel Du Cap-Eden-Roc had no sit-in meals, but instead had a punchy set by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.
Business Insider was on the ground and sometimes had yachts to showcase the big topics that are at the heart of the industry experiencing earthquake changes in the world. Here was an important theme.
All AI
If the advertising industry is losing people to artificial intelligence, that certainly didn't look like that at Cannes this week. The street was bursting with strapped hangover lion attendees trying to find a gorgeous branded beach set up where the next meeting was placed. Still, AI was about towns.
The famous palais where the Cannes Lions awards ceremony is held. Cannes Lion
As AI spins up thousands of ads cheaply and in seconds, the client's billing business model is under time threatened. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg disrupts his feather before Cannes when he said that AI would essentially automate the advertising business.
“Please tell me what your purpose is, you connect to your bank account, you don't need creative, you don't need target demographics other than you can read the results we spit out, you don't need measurements,” he said in a May interview with Stratechery, a high-tech newsletter. (Do you hear the sound of Don Draper dropping a glass of roses in the distance?!)
In an interview with BI, Meta's chief marketing officer, Alex Schultz, the boss said he was talking about small businesses rather than Fortune 500 brands.
“I fully automate my advertising campaigns and don't think I'm using my agency at any point,” Schultz said.
(Donny D! Come back, you're safe!)
Tech companies like YouTube will build huge structures in Cannes Beach to host events and meetings. Cannes Lion
For all AI promises, advertising still seems to be HR business. Cannes showed people in the advertising industry believe that relationships are important. Attendees are a way to convince the finance department back to their hometown that Rosé's Jeroboam's 2am festival pass, flights, air bumbs, meals and 2am receipts are all worth it at the Carlton Hotel.
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Marketers compete for sports
If you don't have an F1 sponsorship agreement, will you even have a CMO in 2025?
Sports has been a broad theme at the Cannes Lions this year, and athletes have been effective. A walk through the famous and extremely hot promenade could have hit tennis champion Serena Williams, McLaren racing driver Oscar Piastri, or the tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs. Advertising company Stagwell's “sports beach” had the longest line in town, some for the bragging rights to defeat colleagues with pickleballs due to star-studded panels. (Disclosure: BI also held events at Sports Beach.)
Serena Williams went to the Cannes Lions stage to discuss ways that the brand could help build a “healthier world.” Cannes Lion
With traditional or linear television viewing in decline, sports are one of the last destinations where marketers can guarantee that brands will win in front of large audiences.
“That's how you get involved in that moment, live,” CMO US Bank's Michael Lacorazza told BI. The US Bank has been involved in a number of teams and recently announced a partnership with the Premier Ara Cross League.
It's not just about placing a 30-second spot or a slapping logo on the jersey. Marketers spoke about how they enhance their live experiences at the stadium while people are feeling happy. Uber Advertising was pitching its clients using a Beauty Brand La Mer case study, sponsoring a ride between the Miami F1 Grand Prix, which was packed with Skincare Goodies.
F1 is a little bit. Sponsorship spending on Formula 1 and its teams is expected to increase by 10% this year in 2024, according to research firm Ampere Analysis.
“We had to see new fans appear in the sport, and we had to show up in their world and have meaning in their world,” Louise McSewan, chief marketing officer for McLaren Racing Formula One team, told BI. “Only one percent of the fans who go to the truck in their lifetime.”
Let the consumers take charge
The power of consumers is stronger than ever.
At the tubi cabana in Cannes, we spoke with Chief Marketing Director Nicole Parapiano. Streamers like Tubi can't easily test shows or films, so they easily monitor social chats to determine how much and where the show is sold, Parlapiano said.
Daniel Lawrence Taylor's hit show “Border” got a sign at Times Square in New York City. And it's because Parapiano's team is flexible and pours extra marketing dollars into the “border” after seeing the social media reaction.
Chubi's CMO, Nicole Parapiano, stopped by Bi's Cannes Suite. Business Insider
Laurie Lam, chief brand officer at Elf Beauty, said at the BI event that its product pipeline is often driven by what consumers say on social media.
“They tell us exactly what they want, so we put it in the market for them,” Lamb said.
“And they're not polite about it,” she added. “Previously, I was like, 'Hey, if you could make this primer, I would really love it.' Well, “Where is my primer now?”
Brand safety is brand risk
With all the stories of AI supercharger creativity and the “superpower” of the advertising industry, Croisette has avoided the big topic executives and kept them out of the way.
People writhed remarkably when they asked about the current discussion of brand safety. This is all industry terminology that describes how advertisers avoid platforms and media that don't match their brand. A few years ago, I was unable to go to the panel on Cannes topics. Speakers are looking for a big platform to do more to protect their brand. Has the US government questioned the validity of those decisions this year? cricket.
Port of Cannes. Cannes Lion
Everyone in Cannes wanted to discuss this huge elephant in their rooms. Even the term “brand safety” has become something like Voldemort. One executive said the industry is instead talking more comfortably about “brand guarantees.”
Perhaps no one wants a target on their backs. Turnabout shows how Cannes Lions holds the mirror that communicates to the industry.
