The Lions Share: Takeaways from this Year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

After a two-year hiatus, Cannes Lions reunited global advertising leaders on La Croissette this June. The break was due to the pandemic, but had the unplanned effect of reinforcing the importance of spontaneous, in-person encounters.

“Seeing anyone IRL was a breath of fresh air, and I bumped into quite a few old friends,” said Michael Horvitz, Magnet Media’s Director of Marketing, Strategy, and Development. “Donald Knight [Chief People Officer at Greenhouse] and I had lunch at Inkwell Beach to take shelter from the rain and share our takes on the Atlanta Falcons' upcoming season.”

Many were elated to see peers, friends, and acquaintances after a long absence. A collective effervescence bubbled at events and cafes, during cozy tête-à-têtes, and from the largest stages. Optimism with a desire for deep change pervaded.

“I met a ton of people and had so many interesting and fun conversations that went beyond ‘what can I do for you/what can you do for me,’” Magnet Media’s Senior Account Manager Crystal Edmonds said. “I was on the Teads yacht with Nadia Masri from Persky, and she had recently had a traumatic accident that affected her memory. She couldn't remember my name but she remembered my dress from the previous day. We started talking and I really got to know her beyond her work.”

Major presentation themes this year reflected the maturation and increasing seriousness that’s taken hold of the industry during two years of cultural upheaval. Sustainability, diversity and inclusion, data and technology, and talent development were chief among them.

“DE&I was everywhere,” said Edmonds. “My takeaway was that it's a trending topic for sure, but very few companies are actually ​moving the needle the way they think they are.”

"Major presentation themes this year reflected the maturation and increasing seriousness that’s taken hold of the industry during two years of cultural upheaval. Sustainability, diversity and inclusion, data and technology, and talent development were chief among them."

Inkwell Beach was the primary destination for these conversations on representation. Presented by Cannes Can: Diversity Collective, Inkwell Beach hosted executives and creatives doing the real work to make underrepresented groups seen. Like Microsoft’s Global Director of Cultural and Inclusive Business Impact, MJ DePalma. DePalma led a conversation and panel on inclusive analytics, which encourages companies to include and build for audiences that aren’t necessarily already their dominant one.

“Most of the time we build products, services, and experiences on the best performing 20 percent of customers, the 80/20 rule. And what happens? The 20 percent becomes the driving decision maker for any changes or updates to that product,” DePalma said. “We’re leaving out 80 percent of the population, and no wonder they’re not buying because they’re not being designed for.”

“Microsoft's The Data Bias at Inkwell Beach was perhaps the only discussion that showed the endemic flaw of data analytics overlooking those who are so often overlooked,” Horvitz remarked. “Inclusivity was prevalent throughout Cannes, but MJ Depalma led an inspiring conversation.”

Also at Inkwell Beach, filmmaker Samantha Knowles debuted a series of films she created with Magnet Media for software company Greenhouse that explore the personal dynamics of hiring.

“We were talking about this idea that Greenhouse has of being a ‘talent maker,’ somebody who finds and builds great talent,” Knowles said. “One person compared being a ‘talent maker’ to being Michelangelo and unlocking talent. Another woman during her interview got emotional because she said that through this process she was seen as human in a way she never was before. For me as a director, that’s gold. It's amazing that corporate videos can become so deeply human.”

“Creativity is back, said Horvitz. “ Performance marketing has overshadowed much of the advertising industry for the past several years, but brands have learned that impactful and relevant storytelling remains what wins.” Horvitz mentioned Global Head of Creative Lab at TikTok Kinney Edwards’s presentation on the importance of narrative and creativity in social video stories–the fastest-growing ad format over the last 3 years–as another highlight.

“My favorite parts of Cannes had nothing to do with any of the presentations,” said Edmonds. “It was the moments of honesty and openness during those in-between periods. It was Adrianne [Smith] talking about why she started the CC:DC and how much it's grown over the years. It was Travis Montaque [co-founder and CEO] and Bonin Bough [co-founder and chief strategy officer] of Group Black opening Nas's performance by telling the roaring crowd how a popular New York newspaper listed all the must-visit beaches at Cannes but left Inkwell off the list–maybe not intentionally, but because they likely couldn't fathom that so many of us would actually be there."

‍But if you weren’t there, there are more ways to explore the festival:

You can view the award highlights at the Cannes Lions site here.

Innovid asked our CEO, Megan Cunningham, and other industry leaders to share their key takeaways and highlights from the festival’s return.

LinkedIn Live sat down with some of the festival’s luminaries and speakers for thoughtful conversations on a variety of industry topics, including:

• Sir Martin Sorrell on data-driven creativity and the need for agility
• Progress through creativity with Anheuser-Busch CMO Benoit Garbe and Beca Founder and Board director Jerri DeVard
• Artsy CMO Everette Taylor on the democratization of art

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