Campaign maintains the theme of building advertising that integrates the creative economy, which is expected to reach US$480 billion by 2027
The hunt for the Lions starts next week. The biggest global advertising award organized by Ascential, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is the headquarter, so to speak, of creativity for brands’ interaction with consumers in channels that often surprise. The festival reaches its 71st edition with revenue that could reach US$100 million. Or more. The event’s chairman, Philip Thomas, and CEO Simon Cook gave interviews to propmarktalking about news and insights from this year.
“We have introduced an AI disclaimer into the application process. It is a new mandatory question that asks participants to reveal whether they have used AI in their work and, if so, how this serves to help the jury judge the work fairly, with the complete picture”, emphasize the executives.
The charm of Croisett, the avenue that houses the Palais des Festivals de Cannes, is even overshadowed by the activities provided by Cannes Lions. Many parties feature the gargle crowd on the sidewalks, who are satisfied with just listening to the shows and the fireworks display that marks the end of the festival. In addition to the internal agenda, only for accredited people, brands schedule meetings for their marketing teams; for the week of the event, producers show their reels to attract projects. Organizers are betting on the strength of the luxury market.
Perspectives
Philip Thomas: “We are building on last year’s festival to bring innovations that offer a variety of new initiatives and provide a balance of opportunities for everyone to participate in 2024. This includes the Lions Creators Pass, designed especially for the creative economy. It is a Start-Up Pass that offers small businesses and individuals the opportunity to access the festival. We continue to invest in creativity. Additionally, with the 2023 analysis, we saw that the creative impact stream is the most valuable to participants and their businesses (84% said they would find it very or extremely valuable in the future). The 2024 agenda will build on this and continue to provide the business case for creativity, ensuring the global community leaves with the tools and evidence needed to connect creative and marketing departments to CEOs’ living rooms.”
Simon Cook: “We introduced ERA Pass as part of our ongoing efforts to make the festival more accessible and representative. ERA stands for equity, representation and accessibility. This is a new initiative that prioritizes supporting underrepresented and disadvantaged communities to participate in the festival – it’s about promoting equity and increasing accessibility so that everyone in the global creative community has the opportunity to participate and benefit from the possibilities of promoting the progress that Cannes Lions brings, both on a personal and business level. We provided over €1 million in free passes and they went to some amazing individuals and organizations around the world. We know that the more lived experiences, perspectives and voices we can bring to the festival, the more our community and industry can grow and progress.”
Alignment
Simon Cook: “We identified the areas that are top of mind within the industry and community and used these to create five content streams that will run throughout the festival. Therefore, we will analyze: insights and trends, and the strategic challenges, consumer behaviors, cultural changes and creative thinking that drive the industry’s advancement; Innovation Unwrapped, providing the guide to the pioneers, technologies and transformations already shaping tomorrow; the Creativity Toolbox, which looks at crafts, processes and techniques to help you achieve creative excellence; Talent and Cultures, which addresses the people and practices behind the creative organizations that thrive; and Creative Impact, which is the definitive guide to proving the effectiveness of creativity.”
Read the full article in the June 10th edition of propmark
