Cannes

An Uncensored Review

Cannes 2024 signals a sea change for the industry

This month, I bring you my uncensored review of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Despite rumours of it being a pointless event where ad men gather to navel gaze, whilst drinking rosè on yachts, I found it diverse, friendly, and inspiring.

For the uninitiated, Cannes Lions is the biggest global event in advertising, featuring agencies, brands, media owners, tech innovators, and the occasional celebrity (this year’s included spots John Legend, Halle Berry, and Elon Musk). While the main event in the Palais is reserved for ad men (more on that later), the fringe events are where the real magic happens—intimate, insightful, and bursting with positive creativity.

I set out with three simple goals to learn something new each day, make meaningful connections and have some fun. Keeping it simple and not overly structured, provided space for serendipitous connections to happen; and boy did they.  Here are my key takeaways and memorable moments.

Linkedin Lounge Cannes 2024

Linkedin Lounge at the Carlton Rooftop

At WPP beach: Dove predicts by 2025, 90% of online content will be AI-generated. This eye-opening insight is behind Dove's recent campaign, "The Code," which examines the impact of AI on beauty standards. Their ad features a female music producer (representing 3% of music producers) and a disabled female music artist. A powerful statement against traditional notions of beauty and the creative industries.

LinkedIn highlighted a big problem with B2B marketing: the disconnect between brand and demand generation, causing a huge slowdown in sales. B2B brands average just 5% alignment between brand and demand. High alignment can boost marketing-generated revenue by 208%, (Linkedin) underscoring the urgent need for a unified brand strategy

Creativity is overrated A bold statement by the marketing legend Mark Ritson who concluded that when considering the 4Ps of marketing (product, price, positioning, promotion) creativity contributes just 3% to sales. Even more shocking is the fact that the most awarded Lions ads over the last 20 years score 1 or 2 (5 being excellent) on System 1’s ad effectiveness rating. Proof that the official awards are nothing more than ‘Mad Men’ too far gone to realise the customer is the real judge of their work.

I made some amazing new connections. Standout moments included Julie Thompsons’ VIP annual dinner, with guests including Cindy Gallop and Prompt’s closing night dinner with the lovely Kate Hall and Destiny. But the pièce de résistance was roasting Mark Ritson for his ‘f’ugly’ trainers at the Uncensored CMO podcast with Rory Sutherland – talk about a career-defining moment!

The fringe events showcased a vibrant and diverse mix of people redefining Cannes. However, the award winners were still predominantly men. Despite women driving over 80% of buying decisions, they make up only 12.6% of creative directors (The Drum). Change is long overdue, but the energy at Cannes signals a promising shift towards a more inclusive future for the industry.

If you are thinking of attending next year, here are my top tips:

Roasting Mark Ritsons’ shoe choice. Caught on camera by Rob Mayhew

Panellists:The Female Quotient Lounge

Julie Thompson’s’ VIP Dinner with Katie Street of Street agency.

Top Tips For Attending Cannes

If you are planning on attending Cannes Festival of Creativity make sure you read my 5 practical tips

  • There is so much to see at the festival and the venues are spread out. If you try and plan your day too much you will be have constant FOMO and limit fantastic opportunities to connect and learn from new contacts

  • Cannes involves a lot of walking. Comfortable , yet stylish (this is Cannes after all) shoes are a must.

  • The fringe offers more than the official program, no ticket needed. The fringe offers more programming and networking opportunities than the official Lions event. Unless you want to attend the talks in the Palias save your money for rosè.

  • Cannes becomes gridlocked during the festival. Your experience will be much more enjoyable if you can stay within stay within walking distance of the Croisette.

  • The Croisette turns into a catwalk during the festival. Don't be afraid to peacock, but always wear a smile because the connections you make a Cannes maybe life changing.

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