Bonjour!
This is the end. One more day to drink in all the rosé, er, creativity that the Cannes Lions festival has to offer. Make it an extra casual Friday when choosing your wardrobe, because temperatures of up to 27°C (81°F) will be paired with high humidity.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to today, and what we’re taking back with us tomorrow:
What’s going on today
You again. Martin Sorrell is back. Yesterday, the former WPP boss made his first appearance at Cannes since his ignominious ouster at an event hosted by The Drum, at a pub at the far end of the port. He wasn’t particularly contrite, so we’ll see if the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta can extract more about the tumultuous end to his reign at the top of the industry at noon at the Palais. (Sorrell already got some digs in at the media critic’s latest book, so things could get spicy.)
Real and raw power. Three of the teenage survivors of the Parkland school shooting in Florida—Kai Koerber, Madison Leal, and Sam Zeif—appear in the Palais, talking about how after the tragedy they “quickly moved beyond thoughts and prayers to rallies, fundraisers, marches, websites, and causes.”
Focus on female entrepreneurship. A group of female-led startups in the marketing and communications fields got coaching from R/GA this week to sharpen their business plans and hone their brand messages. They showcase their work in a session at 2pm on the Innovation Stage.
Existential session of the day: Art’s Future Past
The final batch of little lion statues. The awards for agency, network, and holding company of the year will be announced, among others. The Lion of St. Mark, a lifetime achievement award for “significant and outstanding contributions to creativity”, will go to brothers Piyush and Prasoon Pandey, the first Asians to win the award.
When brands compete. Nike (Brazil) vs New Balance (Costa Rica) at 2pm, Nike (Nigeria) vs Errea (Iceland) at 5pm, and Umbro (Serbia) vs Puma (Switzerland) at 8pm.
Are we still doing this? If you still have the stamina to party, head to the Lions official closing soirée at Carlton Beach from 9pm. Plus, from 5pm until late, Google Beach hosts a Pride edition of its evening happy hour, with drag performances, glitter face-painting, and “pride-inspired cocktails.”
Clean-living Cannes
If this week has left you feeling strong and full of energy (somehow), Adobe will host a 100-mile bike ride over two mountain passes between Cannes and Monaco, starting at 7am. If that’s 90-odd miles too many, just stroll along the beach or take one final dip in the Med.
Three takeaways
1️⃣ Cannes sobers up—emotionally. Duncan Painter, CEO of the festival’s parent company, Ascential, told us he was happy to see less of a “party emphasis” at the event this year. More people in the Palais and fewer on the Croisette suggests that the focus has shifted from media buyers mingling at beach cabanas to creative directors spending time seeing shortlisted work. But this doesn’t mean Cannes has returned to being a forum for creatives to congratulate each other for creativity’s sake. Just about the only group that boosted their presence at the festival this year—in delegates, activations, and yacht berths—were the consultancies. Accenture Interactive even won its first Grand Prix, a sign that the number crunchers can get creative, too. And if that wasn’t worrying enough for traditional agencies, Painter says it is “inevitable” that marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba will grow their presence at future festivals, diverting even more attention from the chief marketing officers who come to Cannes every year to shop around for partners to help them build their brands.
2️⃣ The first rule of authenticity is don’t talk about authenticity. “Authenticity” is a word frequently bandied about the stages of Cannes, but rarely displayed in earnest. At the beginning of the week, Unilever announced it would no longer spend any of its multibillion-dollar ad budget with social media influencers who buy followers, prompting a wider conversation about this relatively new marketing channel. Social media marketing is broadly praised for its ability to foster an authentic conversation with consumers, but how can consumers trust people whose primary function is to “influence?” Onstage at the Palais, Conan O’Brien threw shade at the idea of creating and controlling one’s personal brand: “My brand is myself, I’ve been working on this brand since the day I was born… it’s not an act… I don’t need a team to explain it to me.”
3️⃣ Why do we do this? If micro-targeting on social media platforms or bulk keyword buying on search engines was a sure-fire way to boost sales and brand recognition, there wouldn’t be much point to this festival. But creativity in advertising and marketing still matters, and that’s what ultimately draws brand leaders to the south of France every summer. The most effective campaigns “wrap imagination around the data,” an agency creative director told us. Even Martin Sorrell, whose new venture, S4 Capital, is pitched as a disruptive, data-driven challenger to the behemoth he built at WPP, hasn’t given up on the Lions as a marker of creative quality. He has criticized Cannes in the past as an expensive boondoggle, but when we asked whether he expected S4 to enter and win Lions in the future, he responded: “Definitely.”
Seen and heard
A Kardashian among us!
“All targeting is broken, except Facebook and Google”—Ad-tech exec
“When Jesus stood on the mount, he spoke to the masses. He didn’t just say, I want to talk with 18-to-24 year olds”—John Hegarty, founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Kevin Costner’s elevator pitch for his television debut: “It’s me on a horse”
“I worked at WPP for one year and that was enough”—Overheard on a yacht
“With so much money at stake, we still act like idiots”—Ad industry veteran
News from around the world
Quebec wants to charge crypto miners more for electricity. The power generator Hydro Quebec, owned by the Canadian province, halted approvals for new digital currency mining projects, which use large amounts of electricity. The area’s cheap power has attracted many such operations from China and elsewhere. They’ll now have to bid for energy (paywall).
Euro-zone nations agreed on a deal to bring Greece out of financial crisis. After receiving more than €300 billion ($346 billion) in bailout money over the past eight years, Greece, thanks to an arrangement with international creditors, will be allowed to safely emerge from its third and final bailout on Aug. 20 and face the markets again—under strict supervision.
Tesla is cutting back its solar division. The electric-car maker will close about a dozen installation facilities of what was once SolarCity, Reuters reported. The closures raise fresh questions about CEO Elon Musk’s rationale for acquiring SolarCity, founded by two of his cousins, in 2016.
Matters of debate
The US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council is a gift to China. Beijing wants to redefine human rights after the “China model.”
Audiobooks are more emotionally resonant than TV or movies. Psychologists made their case by measuring subjects’ heart rates and skin conductivity.
Children are targets in Trump’s America. The mere act of parenting in peace has become a privilege, rather than a human right.
Surprising discoveries
Immigrants are changing the way Kansas residents speak. Isolated towns and rapidly changing demographics alter cadence, emphasis, and phonetics.
Koko the gorilla passed away. Known for her love of cats and ability to communicate through sign language, Koko died Tuesday at 46 years old.
An airport hangar is slated to become a “mega brothel.” The Belgian city of Ostend will convert an abandoned terminal into “Hangar d’amour.”
Et voilà! Thanks for letting us be a part of your inbox this week—we look forward to seeing you on the French Riviera next year. In the meantime, keep in touch.
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Au revoir, mes amis créatifs!