This year’s festival starts on the 20th, which marks the return to the French riviera after two years
Cannes Lions lives the expectation of the return in person. But without ruling out digital access on the Membership platform. The pandemic has affected profitability, says chairman Philip Thomas, who also clarifies that profit will return from 2022.
Also according to the executive, this year’s festival is built on the pillars of Sustainability; DE&I; Talent; Data and Technology; Business Transformation and Creative Effectiveness.
“We are committed to revising our criteria, increasing transparency about representation in the country,” says Thomas.
What are the expectations for the return of Cannes Lions in person?
There is a real feeling of reunion. Everyone is looking forward to getting together again; humans are social beings and the return of the physical Cannes Lions is a time for the industry to come together – from all corners of the world – in a way they haven’t been able to do for over two years.
Will the model be hybrid?
Lions members will have digital access. They will be able to access dedicated content through the Membership platform, including awards and festival highlights shows and on-demand content.
What changes and what remains in relation to the 2021 online event?
For those unable to attend, Lions Membership remains the platform that brings our community together remotely and allows them to access Cannes Lions digitally. Anyone who accesses Cannes Lions digitally will benefit from the awards and festival highlights, as well as live streaming of the awards and on-demand content from our stages.
What was done in the online version will follow in the physical version?
Physical and digital events offer different opportunities. Last year’s Cannes Lions Live was a success in terms of working within the constraints we had, but now we can physically bring the industry together again, the in-person festival is about maximizing opportunities.
What is the ideal business model for Cannes Lions in this digital age, where transformations never stop?
In 2021 we announced the launch of our master brand, Lions. He’s brought together the disparate parts of what Lions have been offering for some time, whether it’s our consulting services for brands looking to improve their creativity and marketing effectiveness, Lions membership, benchmarking the Global Creativity Report, inspiring and celebrating festivals we hold, year-round training courses or The Work digital. We know how powerful creativity can be, and the Lions platform is designed to equip our community with the support, tools and insights to better understand and embrace transformational creativity.
Is Ascential’s compensation for the event satisfactory?
Lions are fortunate to have Ascential’s support and to be within their strong portfolio of brands that maximize marketing impact.
Has profitability decreased in these two years?
Naturally, we’ve seen a drop in profit without the physical event taking place since 2019. In 2021, Lions revenue was much stronger, an indicator of the strength of the Lions product portfolio that exists year-round and outside of the festival.
Will the recovery be as early as 2022?
The Cannes Lions provide a good temperature check for the industry, so I hope to see our recovery move accordingly. What’s worth noting is that service levels are currently tracking in line with 2019 – a strong indicator that things are heading in the right direction.
What lessons have been learned in this two-year period of the pandemic?
By launching the Lions flagship brand, we accelerated our existing business strategy. For some time now, our customers have been asking us for year-round support to help them realize their creative aspirations and enable them to move forward. So I think, like many companies, we’ve learned the power of being agile, we’ve mastered the ability to pivot, and we’ve used creativity in the face of the restrictions that the pandemic has brought. It’s amazing to think now that Lions Live (which had over 80,000 people involved) was created in just a few months.
Has Lions become a platform for creativity to go beyond in-person festival days and be an annual environment like the WGSN subscription model?
Absolutely. The Lions flagship brand and product portfolio exist to support the creative marketing community year-round.
What will be the central theme of Cannes Lions 2022? And why this option?
The program is built around six priority areas, as identified by the global creative marketing community through the Lions State of Creativity Study. Thousands of people participated and identified the main issues facing the global industry. Thus, this year’s themes are: Sustainability; DE&I; Talent; Data and Technology; Business transformation and creative effectiveness.
And how does this topic add value to the global communications industry?
By using the industry to identify the challenges they are facing, we can be confident that Cannes Lions provide the platform for the world’s greatest creative minds to come together to collectively address them, take action, find solutions and drive progress through creativity. .
How will the metaverse be included in the Cannes Lions content agenda?
Within the Data & Technology theme, there will be content from WGSN, R/GA and Twitter throughout the metaverse; particularly how brands can grow and exist in this world.
And how will the games industry, which has become more robust than Hollywood, be treated at Cannes Lions 2022?
Last year gaming was a big theme that came out of the Lions winners and I don’t expect that to change this year; is transforming the way brands interact with consumers and is an area that continues to grow at a rapid pace. We have Activision Blizzard on stage for the first time, with its CMO Fernando Machado, formerly of Burger King, looking to the future of brands and games.
What prevailed in the choice of jurors?
Balancing factors including holding, network, country and specialization, as well as previous Lions achievements. To date, we have achieved good representation and inclusion at the global level, but we recognize that we still have some way to go with representation at the country-specific level. We are committed to revising our criteria, increasing transparency about in-country representation, and ensuring that country-level juries are representative of society.
And what are the guidelines for the jury?
The role of the jury is extremely important – the result of their work sets the global benchmark in creative excellence and it is not an easy task! The jury president will set the tone for the jury – how they want to work and what they want to achieve – but from our side it is crucial that the guidelines and instructions provided by Lions prepare the jurors to be able to do an effective job. We’ve been working with the Unstereotype Alliance for a few years to update the guidelines for the judging process; they urge jury members who review submissions for awards to see whether the work perpetuates negative stereotypes and inequalities. All of this, of course, is supported by sophisticated and unique judgment technology.
What are the expectations for the B2B Lions and Commerce Lions categories?
Creative B2B Lions have been under construction since 2013, but we always try to get the timing right, so the awards reflect the industry and align with your needs. Having seen an increase in B2B work earning Lions and with many in the industry believing that an expert Lion will raise the creative bar in the discipline, we have decided that now is the time for B2B to have its own focus in the global creative marketplace. We have expanded Creative Commerce Lions to reflect the different emerging areas of commerce and ensure it is relevant and aligned with a rapidly changing landscape. With these areas, the juries will work to set the new standard in these disciplines and we can’t wait to see the result.
How is Cannes Lions addressing diversity?
In addition to our DE&I Global Growth Council for Progress, we have sessions with The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Harris Reed, Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA), Issa Rae and many others, all focused on how the industry can move forward and drive DE&I to its core.
And climate issues?
It will be addressed in initiatives such as Ad Net Zero, from the UK-based Ad Association which aims to have all ads net zero by 2030; With initiatives like this, we know we have a responsibility to use our platform to bring global players together to commit to their simple but powerful goal.
Where is Cannes Lions headed?
The physical return is about a festival that is purposeful and more focused, but also more accessible. The pandemic has really democratized the event and more people in the industry have been able to engage with Lions over the past two years than ever before. This is something we want to build on – we know that the more voices we have in our community, the more relevant we will be as a brand. Which is to provide that point of contact for Lions and the wider creative community throughout the year.
How does Cannes Lions see emerging markets like Brazil?
I continue to marvel at the creative energy and passion of Brazilian industry. Last year, São Paulo was ranked the third most creative city in the world, and since 2013, Brazil has consistently ranked among the top three most creative countries in the world. It’s truly an incredible performance that shows no signs of slowing down.
What is the weight of Brazil in the festival?
The presence of Brazilians at Lions – juries, delegates and the work – is so important to the festival and it simply wouldn’t be the same without this community.
How will you combine the roles of CEO of Ascential Events, which organizes Lions, with Ascential Intelligence?
We recently brought together some of the Ascential brands into a division that I lead as CEO of Intelligence & Events. However, I remain President of the Lions – I could never walk away from this, I love the brand and everything it stands for so much!
