What you missed in Cannes

Well the wristbands have been cut off and the roar of the lions is over for another year.

Tonight I'm on stage at VCCP for the Innovation Social talking about the Cannes week that was....and well what to say....this year was interesting. As always not quite what I was expecting but in retrospect perhaps some of the signs of where are industry is heading were already sown before the throng hit the croisette

Cannes is a reflection of our industry. The good the bad and the ugly. This year the disconnection betwixt creativity and the rest of the industry was palpable.

There are a couple of reasons behind this malaise but personally I think the Cannes Lions organizers are taking too much of the flak for what is simply out of their control. As an industry, we need to look at ourselves.

Our business has changed dramatically from the Cannes heyday when relationships were the primary driver of business. Today with all the big tech platforms relationships are important but not essential. Tech has a cunning way of disintermediating, creating relationships direct with the customer, which along with a product led mindset has given rise to a slightly frostier shoulder for us marketing folk. When Google and Facebook take 80+ cents in every digital ad dollar relationship building with the agencies is good practice not fundamental to delivering their desired results.

The knock-on effect from this dominance is that agency $ yield is therefore not what it used to be. They’re in desperate need of redefining their business models and it’s not easy. Trading, Consultancy, Engineering are always done better elsewhere. Getting back to the nut kernel of agency value was the biggest question to come out of Cannes this year.

Speaking to a variety of media the general vibe was one of consolidation. Not necessarily with each other, although Oath had their first outing and is the poster child for market consolidation, but their own internal housekeeping. One large publisher told me they had reduced 4 creative teams over 4 very different titles into one. Back end efficiencies are all the rage! This is of course being driven by tighter revenues and GPM’s but also in my opinion the first flower of how technology is making our business more efficient chiefly and most ostensibly through Programmatic. We all knew it was coming… but here it is. There will be no nuclear event…. it will be slow and somewhat insidious.

The corollary of all this was that attendance was down. You did not feel it at specific events but you certainly felt it on the street. Entries were nominally down from 44k to 41k…but I don’t think that’s the issue. The issue for me is that Cannes needs to transform reflecting where our industry is currently and casting scenarios of where we need to go. A bell-weather and prophet.

It is and through no fault of its own become symbolic of the bloated success of the media business. It needs to acknowledge some of the change. As the industry contracts and makes lay off’s the Plage45 is selling a cheeseburger for €56 a pop…something must give. When brands are desecrating the Carleton with wrap arounds I’m calling it people…it’s too much!!

The team at Ascential are doing what they can. The excess that we talk about is out of their control. All this bloat is at the fringe. The DSP boat party with b list artists playing to a soporific corp crowds is intolerable. The innumerable Agency QBR’s who attend because…well because it’s Cannes…. and therein lies this endemic problem.

Yes, Cannes needs a tighter focus on what Value it brings to the industry but finger pointing at the Lions as the cause is not the problem. The fact the Lions exists correlates to all these secondary and tertiary business’s attending and driving this excess.

These brands and agencies needs to take a long hard look at themselves and ask why they want to attend. The Lions must respond in the right way and I champion the creation of the advisory committee set up to help develop the conversation with the industry to help ensure Cannes remains and becomes what it should be: A Festival of Creativity and Inspiration

So, what where the hot topics of last week that I missed?

Publicis: Well no one saw that coming, not even senior Publicis people who I spoke to. This bombshell was designed in a room with a very small cabal of people and disseminated to the world mid Cannes Lions for maximum impact to the surprise of everyone. I say everyone because it’s probably the most absurd announcement I’ve heard in my 13 years at Cannes. An ad agency who does not believe in the basic KPI of winning awards. That’s like a Hollywood studio saying they don’t want to win an Oscar. It’s ridiculous and has only served to rally the industry around ensuring we uphold awards as the bastion of the creative KPI. IT IS the only barometer of success. The reason given was to develop a new internal connection tool powered by AI called Marcel (insert long guffaw). Please. This is not an either or play. Their creatives and clients will simply find a backdoor to enter all awards…. it’s just that Publicis won’t be paying. Perhaps this is the most amazing strategy of all time…they don’t pay but their work still gets in and they create a debate in the industry which re-assess itself and becomes more focused……I’m sorry I’m not buying it. It’s stupid and I think they will back track. What would I have done? Not been so incendiary. Be collaborative with the industry to help redefine. Get Microsoft to come and build your tool for free and surf all the great PR with you.

Conversational Marketing: It’s here at its making an impact. Big impact. I forgot to include in my Hot Topics last week and was the first thing my old creative partner called out. However, after speaking with some of the companies it’s clear to see their transforming engagements rates for brands. Everything from Chatbots for branding to transaction. All in the same channel. It feels like this is heating up and the results are staggering. If it’s not on your TO DO’s. Make it so

Lions Innovation: Whilst Cannes Lions all up has taken some flak this year the Lions innovation is roaring. The Stages had more engaging content, amazing brands such as Alibaba offering more zest for the future and the startups which I was mentoring were sensational. I was blown away by the caliber of companies that came with an open mind to new ideas & potential colabs. There were biometric clothing companies looking to develop their brand and tech, sentiment analysis companies, conversational marketing, 360 video platforms to audio watermarking. My biggest surprise was the % of companies not only driving revenue but already profitable. More please

Spotify: If you want to see a brand do Cannes well and know how to express their strategy in the right way look no further than Spotify. I’m talking about a brand whose DNA allows them to put on a decent party with real artists….Phoenix, 2manyDjs, Solange. It rocked. Their branded area and chill out zone at the little hotel next to Carleton gets better every year. Spotify know how to do Cannes well. Their only challenge is the lovely Ramona has left…I hope they can execute as well next year without that firecracker.

Content: One of the areas the Lions can transform next year is their programming. When I was a little Cannes Grasshopper I found the content mind blowing. Perhaps that’s because I was a whippersnapper fresh to the industry. However, my Columbo curiosity has not dampened and yet I struggle to find stuff (outside of Innovation) that blew the doors off. The chief problem is the amount of inane celebrities that bloat the panels. My god they’re dull. I was searching around for a pen to poke in my eye when Karly Kloss was on stage. They have nothing to contribute to creativity so please don’t bring them next year. Cannes organisation needs to get tougher with celeb inclusion. If they’re coming don’t let them be a seat warmers. Let them be A$AP Rocky. I fell in love. One on one, eloquent, smart, setting cultural trends, music taste from Jefferson Airplane to Run DMC. We bow down to Rocky. A true modern day multi hyphenate.

The Work: I said last week that there are always surprises…well not so much this year. If anything, the majority of the work I thought would win, did win. Meet Graham, Fearless girl, Los Santos pride etc. I don’t think the quality of the work was worse…there are another ten examples I could write here off the top of my head. I just don’t think the diversity was there

Diversity: It may not have been in the work but it was front and centre in the conversation. One of the area’s our industry should be proud of is how we act as the bell weather for industry and society. The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion drive is alive and well in marketing. It’s bona fide and a testament to the men and woman of our business that truly want to drive sustainable change. There is still more to do however with woman making up 43% of the jurors this year its’ moving in the right direction

Overheard: Along with the above mentioned €56 burger….I find restaurants in Cannes the most enlightening of places. The best line of the week I overheard was

“I hope they don’t put caviar on my omelette “ J

First.World.Problems.

I’m not sure whether the shift in perception this year is cyclical, secular or structural…it’s probably all the above. However, let’s not blow this out of all proportion. There will always be a year when the reflection is caught in the ripples of change and 2017 was it. I’m confident that all of us can get Cannes back to what we know and love: A festival of Creativity, Wonder, Inspiration….and €26 Cheeseburgers

Big Love

JC