Bonjour!
Is it Thursday already? That means the end is near. Dommage.
Today’s high will hit 29°C (84°F), and it will be “sunny and breezy.” We’ll believe the breeze when we see it.
What’s going on today
Arise, Sir Martin. Former WPP boss Martin Sorrell, who left the group he turned into a global ad giant amid alleged impropriety earlier this year, makes his first public appearance in Cannes after his ouster. At noon, he sits down with The Drum’s editor Stephen Lepitak at the Irish pub that the trade mag has taken over this week. Sorrell is drumming up interest—see what we did there?—for his new “technology, data, and content” venture, S4 Capital. If the bouncer turns you away, the ad man will also appear in the Palais tomorrow.
Tales of scale. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman speaks about how his massive, rowdy web forum can serve as “the largest focus group in the world” at 11am. Then, at noon, Steve Vranakis, Google’s executive creative director, pulls back the curtain on how creative decision-making affects its billions of users across various channels. Finally, at 2pm, Seng Yee Lau of Tencent shares insights from the 1 billion Chinese consumers his company serves.
Wait, what? session of the day: Learning to Fly
Celeb watch. For the final day of programming at the Girls’ Lounge, Tyler Perry talks diversity and David Schwimmer weighs in on harassment. At the Palais, Game of Thrones’ Jaime Lannister—known to his parents as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau—launches of a conservation campaign; Vic Mensa schools agencies on the impact of hip-hop; Lena Waithe leads the way on empowerment and storytelling; Common talks about the tension between Hollywood and advertising; St. Vincent reveals how she resonates emotionally with her audience: and Kevin Costner talks about his new TV project, Yellowstone.
The beautiful, branded game. Hummel (Denmark) vs Nike (Australia) at 2pm, Nike (France) vs Umbro (Peru) at 5pm, and Adidas (Argentina) vs Nike (Croatia) at 8pm
You still want to party? TBH our Vice party details are still TBD but if you know, you know. That allegedly starts at 9:30pm. The Havas Café has got you more reliably covered from 11pm. Get some sleep, it’s been a long week.
Clean-living Cannes
You’ve still got options! At the Girls’ Lounge, the 7:30am boxing-inspired training runs for a final day. The more mellow among you can stretch before you travel: Hearst and iCrossing’s Vinyasa yoga starts at 8am. At 8:30, MMA fighter Angela Lee leads a high-impact martial arts circuit on the Palais Beach that’s “suitable for everyone.” (Ha!) Or, cycle away with Adobe at 7am or 9:15am for a 90-minute ride along the coast. “Spandex is not required” and bikes (which we hear are nice) are provided.
What everyone is talking about
Rallying cry. At the IPG Women’s Breakfast, Gloria Steinem and #MeToo founder Tarana Burke talked about how advertisers can foster a “collective unlearning” of biases and stereotypes: “More than government, more than religion, more than any force in the world, advertising shapes our idea of what is possible,” said Steinem. “So if you show a man with children, people think it’s possible. If you show a young woman doing sports, people think it’s possible.”
What we should be talking about. This week, we’ve noticed passing mentions of mental health issues—and a desire to discuss them more deeply. Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd described how her 2014 harassment lawsuit against Tinder brought her “to the point there were days I didn’t know if I wanted to live anymore.” Designer Rebecca Minkoff said she holds regular office hours for employees “like therapy time,” and Girlboss’s Sophia Amoruso described trying to destigmatize mental health by discouraging adjectives like “crazy” and “psycho” at work. Berlin Cameron president Jen DaSilva said, “there should be a whole panel about that, actually.”
Art meets commerce. One of the few additions to the Lions’ slimmed-down awards lineup is telling: “Creative E-commerce.” The first-ever Grand Prix in this category—which could rise quickly in prominence as Amazon, Alibaba, and the like muscle in between brands and consumers—was awarded last night to an Xbox initiative (“The Fanchise Model”) created by McCann in London. The campaign allowed gamers to customize premium controllers, and receive a commission if others bought their designs. “All our work ends in a transaction,” said Fadi Shuman, global chief digital officer at Geometry, who sat on the jury. The award “finally puts money and creativity together.” Imagine that.
Seen and heard
“Feedback is a gift… but every day at Facebook feels like effing Christmas”—Carolyn Everson, VP of Global Marketing Solutions
Chris Cuomo: What does Shaq like to shop for?
Shaquille O’Neal: [long pause]
Conan O’Brien: He’s trying to remember what brands he’s associated with.
“I have to go sort out Yemen now”—Corinne Woods, marketing chief of the UN’s World Food Program, puts things in perspective
Word to the wise: Security does check the badge photos at the Palais. We spoke with a designer who loaned his pass to a not-similar-looking-enough colleague and got it confiscated for a full day.
Here on the advertising riviera, jaunty stripes and discrete logos abound. Facebook and YouTube translated their respective signature colors and emblems into Breton-style shirts: Who wore it better?
By the numbers
Growth in ad spending for mobile devices will dwarf every other medium over the next few years, according to Zenith’s forecasts. But you already knew that. (Right? Right?!)
News from around the world
Fox accepted Disney’s improved offer. Rupert Murdoch and his fellow directors decided that Disney’s sweetened $71 billion bid (paywall)—which would bring The Simpsons, X-Men, Pixar, and Marvel under one roof—was “superior” to Comcast’s. There is still time for Comcast to up its ante, although its debt-heavy balance sheet doesn’t provide much room to maneuver.
Instagram introduced hour-long videos. IGTV, which will be an in-app feature and standalone app, will help Facebook’s Instagram compete against Google’s YouTube and its army of influencers. Unlike YouTube, though, the new offering will use full-screen vertical video, catering to the increasing number of people watching video on their phones.
Daimler issued a profit warning. Chinese retaliatory import duties on vehicles built in the US would hurt sales and profits of the SUVs it makes at its Alabama factory, the German carmaker said in a surprise announcement (paywall). German automakers export many of the vehicles they build in the US to China and other markets.
Matters of debate
US home prices have nowhere to go but up. Facing less competition than in the past, big home builders are in no rush to boost production (paywall).
The best employees are not the agreeable ones. Workers who are grouchy yet giving in nature are often more valuable.
The way offices treat pregnancy is dangerous. The demands of workaholic culture put expectant mothers and their children at risk.
Surprising discoveries
Burger King Russia pulled an ad offering free food and cash to women impregnated by footballers. The public found the promotion “insulting” and the chain has since apologized.
Yoga students are learning from cadavers. They explore human anatomy and physiology by handling parts of dead bodies.
Drug-polluted rivers are getting eels high. Cocaine in aquatic groundwater doesn’t just make eels hyper, it alters their physiology.
Our best wishes for an inspiring day at the festival. Please send any news, tips, Xbox controllers, and confiscated passes to us, Jenni and Jason. This email was brought to you by copious canapés and compliments from Canadians.
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