Cannes Lions 2024 Key Takeaways

Published: June 27, 2024

Adomni headed to the south of France to attend the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. Industry experts from the world’s most iconic brands arrived for five days of experiences, networking opportunities, and endless creativity! In this recap, we’ve compiled the most noteworthy takeaways, spanning topics such as AI and the creator economy. If you are experiencing déjà vu, don’t worry–these themes were significant takeaways last year!

The Invasion of the Influencers

It’s no surprise creators were a topic de jour at Cannes, reflecting their burgeoning influence in the industry. EMarketer forecasts that US marketers will invest $8.14 billion in influencer marketing on social media this year alone. This shift is underscored by the huge increase in creators attending Cannes, facilitated by the new Lions Creators initiative, bringing brand ambassadors center stage to speak about authenticity and the importance of connecting with audiences.

There were also more intimate conversations between brands, agencies, and influencer marketers. Lauren Steiner, VP of Channel Partnerships at Adomni, and Jenny Penich, President of NA at Influencer, discussed the evolution of the creator economy and extending content from the phone to the real world.

Amazon had Alix Earle and cofounder of Summer Fridays, Marianna Hewitt, on stage to share insights on the importance of authenticity in brand partnerships. They emphasized how genuine connections between brands and their audiences build trust, loyalty, and meaningful engagement.

TikTok hosted panels, happy hours, and parties filled with superstars from the platform and the TikTok Influential Awards celebrated brands’ success on the platform.

Brands are embracing creators whether they want to or not - with expectations to skyrocket in the future! Managing Director of Cannes Lions, Simon Cook, emphasized this saying, “The creator economy has established itself as a respected, increasingly understood and critical part of the present and future of creative marketing communications. Their role in this landscape is growing at a rapid pace. All parties involved recognize that everyone is going to need to be in this space moving forward."

AI: The Unavoidable Star

AI took the main stage, side stage, backstage… basically, if there was a stage, AI was there. This time the topic sparked intense discussions amongst global giants, including Google, Meta, X, including American rapper, will.iam. With conversations maturing around artificial intelligence, the subject illuminated a range of optimism and fears, with X’s very own Elon Musk revealing a not-so-flattering premonition of a “10–20% chance that AI creates a global disaster.” But, if you are looking for a recap on Musk’s apology tour, find it elsewhere.

At the forefront of what propelled AI into the mainstream, generative AI, highlighted prominently by innovations such as ChatGPT, was a central focus on the Croisette. Francisco Javier Campos, author of Grow Your Business with AI, highlighted the rapid advancements in text-to-video technology, noting, "Companies are racing to produce more realistic videos. Current models allow for one to two-minute clips, but progress is swift." This technology is transforming creative possibilities, even the resurrected iconic kids' chain Toys “R” Us, is joining the Generative AI train with OpenAI’s Sora to craft an origin story for Geoffrey the Giraffe.

Josh Campo, CEO of Razorfish, emphasized AI’s role in consumer insights, stating, “We can take silos of data that were not connected before, feed them into a model, and get much sharper on how we think about a brief to a campaign strategy to perhaps an untapped market.” Similarly, Kate Kenner Archibald, CMO of Dash Hudson, underlined AI’s potential for time savings, estimating, “Using genAI should be at least another quarter of a person on your team or at least a day saved.” Meta’s Alvin Bowles, VP, global business group, echoed the sentiment, saying that the company’s goal was to provide AI tools to agencies and brands so that they “could get time back” and “focus on the creative brief.”

At Cannes, AI wasn’t just a topic; it was a catalyst for innovation and strategic evolution across industries, reshaping the future of creativity and consumer engagement.

Creative Revolution

Despite the looming AI takeover, brands are doubling down on creativity (at the International Festival of Creativity, no less). Take Meta Beach, for instance, where they're blending AI and creativity seamlessly. Creators are now using AI and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to explore new ways of creation, achieving greater authenticity and more face time with their communities.

TikTok has ushered in a new era of creativity, showcasing to marketers the boundless potential to unleash their imagination on and off the platform. This was vividly illustrated during the 'TikTok Everywhere' panel at Influential Beach. With platforms like Adomni, TikTok and creator campaigns are being extended into the physical realm by showcasing TikTok videos on real-world screens.

Widespread Inclusion

This year’s Cannes remained committed to its ERA (Equity, Representation, and Accessibility) framework, emphasizing diversity and inclusion.

Numerous panels and activations focused on the importance of DEI. The Female Quotient Equality Lounge® featured topics such as ‘Investing in Multicultural Voices Beyond Ad Spend’ and ‘Steminists: Women at the Center of Shaping the Future’. Novartis, a pharmaceutical company, hosted “Lunch and Learn '' sessions focusing on health equity and innovation to further promote diversity.

The jury composition reflected a notable rise in diversity, with a 20% increase in Latino representation, and increased visibility in the APAC and Middle East regions, including jurors from countries like Pakistan and Uzbekistan for the first time, thereby broadening its global perspective and representation.

Sports Spectacular

Can we award Stagwell’s Sports Beach an Olympic gold medal for their showstopping presence at Cannes? They brought iconic names like Carmelo Anthony and Spike Lee on stage, along with pickleball clinics, and lively cocktail parties – no one does it quite like Sports Beach!

With the buzz about Tyalor Swift making an appearance at Cannes turned out to be just that –a rumor– NFL SuperBowl Champion and Swiftie’s boo, Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce graced the stage to discuss their podcast ‘New Heights.’

The upcoming Olympics in Paris next month dominated discussions, with the torch making its grand parade around Cannes. Allison Levin, President of Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal emphasized the anticipation: “As we continue to move into the Olympics again, [we’re] having advertisers that are supporting big, big moments. For instance, in August, there's going to be one day where you have Simone Biles, Sha'Carri [Richardson], and Katie [Ledecky] all going for the gold on the same day.”

The Cannes International Festival of Creativity proved yet again to be a renowned success, bringing together top brands, industry leaders, and creators under one toit. In the vibrant Boulevard de la Croisette, ideas and debates flourished, sparking inspiration and paving the way for groundbreaking collaborations! Excited for what next year holds. Until next time. Au revoir.

Written By: Julia Cramer

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