Good morning, delegates!
It’s all happening now. The creativity, once a trickle, has become a flood.
This daily email is your guide to all the news and chatter from Cannes Lions 2017, by Jenni Avins and Jason Karaian on the ground in Côte d’Azur. Jenni is Quartz’s LA-based lifestyle reporter, a veteran of Fashion Week scrums, and chronicler of creativity, culture, and the good life—which she’ll be hunting down this week—for the weekly newsletter, Quartzy. Jason, Quartz’s London-based finance editor, is more commonly found in Davos, and will be quizzing creatives about what this all costs and how marketing chiefs will sell these brilliant ideas to their CFO.
This year, we are told, the festival will be a more sober affair, with less focus on free-flowing rosé and more on free cash flow. “People love coming here but boondoggles are harder and harder to justify,” said a media consultant over dinner. “You have to come home with more than a couple scarves and a tan.”
Speaking of tans, the weather will be lovely today, with sunny skies and a high of 29°C (84°F).
What’s going on today
Can robots be creative? It depends who you ask. On Monday, the balance of programming is pro-bot, with sessions like “How to Build Robotics at the Speed of Advertising,” “AI, the Future of Creativity,” and “Is the Future ‘Robot Shaped’?” all taking an optimistic view of artificial intelligence in a creative context. Things won’t be so friendly for the algorithms later in the week.
Magazine Monday. Hearst chief creative officer Joanna Coles, the former Cosmopolitan editor who is also a reality TV star and the producer of a new drama based on her career, will interview Karlie Kloss, the supermodel, recipe tester, and champion of girls who code. An hour later, in Condé Nast’s power slot, New Yorker editor David Remnick will talk about real news in the age of fake news.
Bookmark this page. MediaLink is hosting a “Daily Dose” series of panels every afternoon with the CEOs, CMOs, and COOs of more media companies than you can shake a baguette at. If all that branding brainpower doesn’t leave you breathless, the view of the sea from the Sean Connery suite at the Carlton should impress even the most jaded Lions veterans.
The youngest young Lions. In what’s likely to be the day’s most precocious panel, the daughters of female executives at Design Army, Goodby Silverstein, and Leo Burnett will discuss their aspirations, views on success, and the pros and cons of their mothers’ jobs. The youngest of the panelists is in fourth grade, in case you don’t feel old already.
Existential session of the day: “What are memories made of?”
Stand back. Stevie Nicks will be performing at AOL’s—sorry, Oath’s—party at Palm Beach. She’s the rare performer sure to delight both old and new media types, so we hope the wild hearts among you have invites. If not, there are plenty of other parties on tap—including the official Cannes Lions opening gala and a rooftop party put on by Variety at the Radisson Blu, overlooking the old port.
What people are talking about
Aggressive brand activation. If brands are supposed to be cutting back at Cannes this year, Snapchat—with that giant yellow Ferris wheel plunked outside the Palais—didn’t get the memo.
The ROI of creativity. McKinsey crunched the numbers, and companies whose campaigns consistently win Lions awards are linked with stronger sales, profit, and shareholder returns. It was no coincidence that this research featured in the first act of the festival. Yay advertising!
Ultimate fighters. Attendees suffered whiplash in the Lumière Theatre yesterday. First, UFC president Dana White and mega-mogul Ari Emanuel took the stage for a conversation on “Survival of the Fittest,” in which the two said their biggest obstacles to success were sleep and lawyers, respectively. In the following session, Laura Dern—who exuded zero killer Renata Klein vibes—chatted amicably with YouTube star Grace Helbig. Dern said she wished someone would convince stars on press junkets to talk more about worthy causes. “Narcissism only lasts so long,” she said.
Simon sings. One of the few people at the festival on Saturday was none other than Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon—a man who knows his way around a yacht. Early birds were rewarded with the opportunity to collaborate with Le Bon, by recording a singalong that will be incorporated into a song to be released next week.
The first Grand Prix went to “Graham.” Clemenger BBDO Melbourne took the top award in Health & Wellness for its “Meet Graham” campaign, commissioned by an Australian road-safety authority to highlight how vulnerable our bodies are to trauma in car accidents.
Seen and heard
What dress code? We witnessed a man-bun, deep v-neck tee, and flip-flops within a single panel. (If we’re being honest, on a single panelist.)
“Social media is not kind to jargon or bull****.”—Kathryn Minshew, CEO of The Muse
It may have been Sunday, and well before sunset, but that didn’t stop an unfortunate PR from taking an unscheduled dip in the pool at the cocktail hour. The floor was slippery. Really.
Away from the Palais
Really old media. Lions will give you new appreciation for To Catch a Thief, the Alfred Hitchcock caper starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The action unfolds in Cannes’ beaches, villas, and, most importantly, the Carlton Hotel—before its façade was plastered with brands’ banners. For a similarly retro, romantic Cannes, download F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night to your Kindle and sneak to the beach.
Chart interlude
Size of the prize. This year, internet advertising will overtake traditional television spots as the biggest global ad medium, worth 37% of total spending, according to Zenith. But not all internet advertising is created equal—mobile ads are forecast to grow by 25% per year through 2019, accounting for the vast majority of growth in the industry over that time.
Hello from Quartz
Killing time at the palais? The best way to keep up on news throughout the day is with our innovative app for iPhone and Android. Apple named it one of the 10 best apps of 2016.
News from around the world
France said “oui” to En Marche! President Emmanuel Macron’s party won a commanding majority in the National Assembly, routing the traditional socialist and conservative parties. Yet historically low turnout may be a warning against huge changes in France’s economy.
A van rammed into worshippers leaving a London mosque. At least one person was killed and eight were hospitalized after the assault, which occurred just after midnight on Monday morning local time. The Muslim Council of Britain condemned what it described as a “terror attack.”
Seven sailors were killed in a US Navy accident. The USS Fitzgerald recovered the bodies of seven sailors from flooded berths after reaching port, following a collision with the container ship ACX Crystal. US and Japanese authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred in a busy shipping lane south of Tokyo in the early morning of June 17.
Secret North Korea talks were revealed. The Wall Street Journal reported (paywall) on talks between US diplomats and North Korean insiders to free US prisoners and constrain the rogue state’s nuclear program. Such discussions have been hindered by the recent return of a badly injured American detained there.
A new connection between Donald Trump and Russia emerged. Russia’s patent office extended six expiring trademarks owned by the US president, including four on election day in 2016. His attorney said the trademarks were renewed to prevent infringement.
Matters of debate
Hindu extremists turn to violence for the same reason as Islamist terrorists. Cattle-defending lynch mobs are just another sect imposing their views with violence when they can’t win over adherents.
Bill Cosby’s mistrial reveals the truth about power in America. Women in the US face the death-rattle of the last desperate bastions of masculine dominance.
Philando Castile should be an NRA martyr. A licensed gun owner is shot dead during a traffic stop after calmly telling the officer he was armed. For the National Rifle Association, there’s only one problem: He’s black.
Surprising discoveries
Power rots your brain. Neurological research offers a compelling explanation for why our leaders are so disappointing.
A Brazilian Catholic exorcist cult believes its dead founder is plotting to kill Pope Francis. The Vatican is investigating.
Father’s Day was once marketed as “second Christmas.” How Big Necktie created the patriarchal holiday.
A rare movie was found of New York City in 1911. A Swedish film travelogue has been restored and shared by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Tweaking the DNA in gut-dwelling bacteria made worms live longer. Scientists wonder if it could do the same for humans.
Our best wishes for an inspiring day in Cannes. Please send any news, tips, yacht party invites, and Beyoncé well wishes to us at jason@qz.com and jenni@qz.com.