THE TOP 5 BRANDS AT CANNES LIONS THAT EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT NEXT WEEK

It’s major event season, and if you’re a marketer, you’re hopping off a plane from PTTOW! and jumping onto another one for Cannes, Toronto or New York City. Next week features the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the tech-forward Collision Conference, and the fast-growing NFT.NYC.??

With so much happening next week, there are a lot for brands, advertising firms, technology companies, and media to watch for. New technologies will be taking center stage as brands look towards new platforms and models, more specialized and diversified audiences, and the proliferation of Web3, Metaverse, and Cryptocurrencies. These events will clearly be impacted by the current state of global affairs, including the pending recession and inflation spike, the war in Ukraine, the aftermath of the pandemic, and increased polarization among consumers on social issues and politics.?

The return of Cannes Lions – in person.?

After a few years as a virtual event, the flagship advertising and digital event, Cannes Lions, returns next week. And this year more than any before, the week will feature hot button topics, major announcements and activations, and a healthy dose of brands and technology companies looking to angle for future advertising dollars. With this context, these are the Top 5 Brands At Cannes That Everyone Will Be Talking About Next Week:

1. Netflix

It is well documented that Netflix is taking hits when it comes to slowing subscriber growth, long-time users leaving the platform, and increased competition for eyeballs with many new streaming services entering the market. The company is desperately seeking new sources of revenue, and outside of trying to crack down on account sharing, is expected to make some major moves in short order to launch an advertising-based tier to its subscription service. The expectation is that Netflix will unveil this plan at Cannes Lions when the world’s leading brands and advertising firms are in the same city. This will be the big one to watch.?

2. TikTok

TikTok has proven to become one of the most powerful advertising mediums attracting one billion users, with no signs of slowing down. This will be the company’s first official presence at Cannes Lions. It has, for all intents and purposes, eaten Facebook and Instagrams’ lunch among the highlighly influential GenZ audience and the resulting advertising dollars from major brands. It has simply been more creative, more nimble, and offered more opportunities for creators and brands alike. TikTok was an “Elite” sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival back in May with TikTok users getting exclusive live streaming content from red carpets, as well as backstage moments and interviews with talent. The company also debuted #TikTokShortFilm , a global competition inviting both established filmmakers and emerging creators to submit super-short original videos of between 30 seconds and three minutes. TikTok is hoping to have a similar impact at Cannes, with the audience this time being advertisers and brands looking to do more with their audiences.?

3. Meta

All eyes will be on the post-Sheryl Sandberg Meta, as brands will be eager to see who takes on her role and what the company’s strategy will be to provide new advertising, and thus revenue, opportunities across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Reality Labs. The company is bleeding users from Facebook and Instagram, mainly to Snap and TikTok, and is seeing a similar departure of content creators as well. Combined with Apple’s crackdown on targeting consumers with ads, Meta has a lot of work to do to convince brands to continue making investments in the platform while simultaneously creating news channels and products to reach users across all Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Metaverse platforms. The company recently introduced its first brand opportunities on WhatsApp, allowing brands to build a custom dashboard where they can chat with customers and offer services more easily.

To attract new creators to the platform, Meta will be hosting a Creator Village featuring a diverse mix of 300+ brand ambassadors who will help to amplify their brand messaging and showcase why the company and its properties – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Horizon Worlds, are still relevant and places to be for GenZ. The highly exclusive red carpet will be a first for many of the content creators attending, breaking barriers between established names and emerging ones.?

4. Amazon

Amazon’s strategic advertising hires are proving that its business model has endless opportunities for growth. They are actively pursuing brand advertising, a group that has traditionally shied away from the tech giant as they failed to see the connection as to how the brand could help them grow. Amazon is betting everything on Cannes, by renting out a port next to the Palais theater and announcing a wide variety of programming and activations to kick off this big, bold new push into the world of advertising. Its streaming gaming brand, Twitch, will also have a presence in Cannes to showcase advertising and brand opportunities on its platform and with its community of content creators. Walmart and Instacart, who are also attending the event this year, are forging similar paths to being both an active advertiser and creating opportunities for others to engage with their audiences and customers across channels.?

5. Twitter

The social media giant has dominated headlines this spring, for the wrong reasons, with rumors of its buyout by Elon Musk and high profile departures and internal discourse. The company is also bleeding advertising dollars and needs to make some bold moves to remain relevant. Twitter is partnering with Cannes Lions next week on a “Future Forward” series that plans to preview what the company is working on over the next 12-18 months including live-streaming, an exploration of augmented, mixed and virtual reality, and foray into the Metaverse and world of Web3. Along with these announcements, brands will be eagerly watching to see what opportunities might exist via their new channels and features. If Twitter doesn’t wow the audience in Cannes, it may be in for a long year (or years) ahead.?

The Best of the Rest

Other brands to watch next week include Roku, who will be attending the event “officially” for the first time to sell advertisers on its service and continued growth; Snap, which will continue to highlight its steady user growth and highlight the creative ways that brands and publishers can engage on the platform; Spotify, who will be hosting a live concert series and introducing new ways for talent and brands to create personalized opportunities for listeners, Warner Bros. Discovery will try to generate excitement around the company’s combined offerings and potential hint at future subscription packages; Niantic, who will be showcasing its augmented reality tools that will allow brands to build new AR features and experiences into their apps and live events; and Salesforce which recently launched a NFT Cloud pilot and Web3 studio.

Greg Kahn is the CEO of GK Digital Ventures and Emerging Tech Exchange (ETX). He has connected innovators with investors, grown brands and driven billions of dollars in transactional deals for more than 25 years. Over the course of his career, Greg has launched new ventures and implemented growth strategies for media, tech and advertising companies.