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Goodbye to the daily croissants and cappuccinos. To the hot South of France, matched only by the Fortune 500 brands. To the parade of boats on yacht row and the promenade of brand beaches opposite the Croisette. I’m back to reality.
There isn’t a “chief” in my title, though I was honored to be asked to attend and speak during the Cannes Lions festival on behalf of Hubilo and BizBash. For those unable to attend, I’d love to share my thoughts as an unlikely attendant, the good and the bad, and steer away from a perspective that only sees this experience through rosé-colored (inebriated) glasses.
The good (le bon)
Cannes. It’s a brand in itself. As a destination for the fashionable and wealthy, the South of France doesn’t disappoint. Locals understand its place as a destination hot spot; they are friendly and adaptable to their festival guests, whose French is barely passable.
It would be interesting to see a Duolingo activation here in the future, as one can imagine many fun opportunities to learn more French during the festival itself.
Connection. After the past couple of years, we have become significantly more connected through Zoom, remote working processes and the ability to join as long as we have Wi-Fi. We may feel more connected, but the lack of human interaction in person is deeply felt, and it’s impossible to overstate the energy of being surrounded by others at an event of this kind.
So far, some of my fondest memories are talking to people at Twitter Beach, doing a thoughtful drawing at Pinterest Beach and hanging out on boats, talking to people about everything from their delayed flights to their favorite panels or activations.
We desperately need connection again, and the opportunity to share this brand and Advertising Wonderland together fostered relationships in days that would have usually taken weeks or years.
The people are what made this such an exceptional experience. Everyone was kind and gracious, excited to connect and learn more about each other.
Activations and programming. There is too much to do; this is a good thing, as it forces you to prioritize your experience. You gravitate toward the unique.
Pinterest Beach was my favorite activation of the week—walking through a tunnel of internet anxiety, with toxic messages adorning every wall that say, “Lions are for winners,” “not everyone has talent” and “you look like a before picture.” You are inundated with the sounds of social media notifications. Finally, you escape a deluge of online negativity, opening the panels to see a bright, sun-drenched beach with a French-style pergola adorned with the words “it’s different here.”
You are met with micro-activities like a drawing center, mini line tattoos, giveaway stations and trend prediction boards, along with a much needed respite from the social notifications. The staff offers data to showcase how Pinterest users feel about the platform and its positive UX as opposed to other options. The entire beach is a testament to the Pinterest team’s understanding and embracing of their differentiation. It is a breath of fresh air.
This experience is further improved by the Pinterest team responding and liking tweets and social posts discussing the experience. As a result, Pinterest not only provided a getaway for us professionals glued to our phones and social accounts but also fostered further engagement both in person and on those channels. Well done.
The bad (le mauvais)
Sessions. Not all of the panels and sessions were bad, but it is worth noting that word salad was displayed daily. With some of the biggest brands and their teams in attendance, no one wants to be served “be authentic and listen to your customer” anymore.
As more and more programming is available to people, these sessions are not only competing with Cannes and the beach itself but smaller events that provide more value. By the end of the week, it feels like one massive party, because at least you’re having fun and connecting with others instead of hearing the same rhetoric you’ve heard in a million webinars.
This is exacerbated when it seems the brands saying these platitudes don’t follow their own advice. So, for example, if you talk about connecting with your audience, but your customers at Cannes can only reach you if they are VIPs, that’s a problem.
I challenge these brands to return to work and treat their customers like the celebrities they hosted during the week’s events. Making them feel appreciated and special will take significantly less time and money.
Checked boxes. There were multiple sessions on women’s equality in the workforce and how to drive change. There was also the first LGBTQ+ panel, and it was not unnoticed that it took so long for this to happen.
These sessions and panels are great, but if the work isn’t continued outside Cannes, these are just checked boxes.
When Greenpeace took over the Palais, the festival seemed to stand still. Traffic was halted, and it became the morning’s main event. But, sadly, it feels like in a week of events and stunts, Greenpeace chose to speak the language of the festival and do what it took to get attention.
Like with these talk sessions, we understand the problems facing our world, whether it be the environmental crisis, racism, misogyny or homophobia. But when do we address that the sessions are done sometimes in lieu of action? That the programming itself constitutes as “we tried”? We need more impact.
Opulence. The opulence was jarring for many that I talked to. All of this with the backdrop of a world that is seeing an economic downturn, startup layoffs and the war in Ukraine. This Wonderland felt like more of a bubble that we would be ripped out of at the end of the week.
As we left the festival, reality embraced us with welcoming and aggressive arms, a stark reminder of the burning world we were able to escape for a week.
Final thoughts
Cannes is truly a bucket list item, a festival that makes you see the marketing and advertising world with childlike wonder. You will party, you will connect, you will determine what nuggets of creativity you can bring back to your team. A worthwhile time that I hope will expand its impact beyond the shores of France, as these brilliant creative minds need to not only win Lions but help make the world a better place.
