Hannah Bay, Product Portfolio Owner - Brand, and Ally Young, Spark Game Arena Lead at Spark New Zealand, reflect on their experience attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024. In this article, they share key lessons on the role of AI, the importance of human connection, cultural responsiveness, and aligning creative efforts with commercial impact. With insights from top campaigns and advice for future attendees, they offer a glimpse into the dynamic intersection of creativity and business at Cannes. Read below to learn more.

Hi, Ally and Hannah from the Spark brand team here.

We were lucky enough to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the first time this year. With 35 years’ experience and 18 Cannes Lions between us, we’re long-time listeners, first time callers!

It was both humbling and inspiring to be part of the 15,000 creative minds in one place, all eager to see the best creative work from around the globe.

It's cliché to say it’s “so much more than just an awards show”, but the awards are just the reason to come together. It’s what happens during the day – the talks, the panels, the workshops, the conversations – that’s the magic bit. During the festival, Cannes is ultimately a hub for commercial creativity, bringing together top executives from leading global brands, agencies, tech companies, and consulting groups.

People are there to network, brands are there to showcase their epic experiences and a lot of participants spend hours going through all the work that is carefully curated and presented.

Some themes that came through again and again – in the work, in the talks, and in conversations:

1. The role of AI:

Last year, a lot of the work that featured AI felt gimmicky. Like the technology was an add-on, or an experiment. This year was a different story. In work that was awarded, AI was a creative amplifier, central not only to the idea, but to achieving the brand or business’ commercial objectives. For instance, Pedigree’s “Adoptable” campaign created by ColensoBBDO for the global market used AI to connect dogs with potential owners, aligning brilliantly with the brand’s mission. Adoptable went on to win 4 Lions (including the Grand Prix in Outdoor), so look this one up if you haven’t already. It is brilliant to see NZ on the stage taking out the top 0.1% of the work entered from around the world.

2. The Importance of Humanity:

Despite technological advancements, the most impactful campaigns are those that resonate on a human level. Insights into consumer behaviour, such as the Specsavers Misheard Version campaign which saw a 66% increase in appointment bookings, demonstrated that understanding and connecting with your audience is crucial. Brand can be anywhere.

3. Responsiveness to Context and Culture:

The ability to swiftly respond to cultural moments can significantly enhance a campaign's relevance and impact. Examples like Coors’ rapid production of new cans with their Lights Out campaign within 48 hours of a major event showcased the power of agility in marketing. Coors is an organisation of over 16,000 employees. If they can pull this off in two days, what are the possibilities for our leaner, more agile brands in this market?

4. Commercial Impact:

It was heartening to see Global CFOs taking the stage alongside their CMO counterparts (maybe something to pitch to your head of finance for next year?) McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden talked about the importance of aligning creative efforts with business goals, and having a shared language across the business. Heinz, who won a Grand Prix for Sustained Success, are a standout example of a brand who has been doing this for a long time. Over five years, their campaigns have not only been interesting and creatively awarded, they have consistently driven growth for the business.

Given we were experiencing Cannes for the first time, we wanted to leave you with some advice for future Cannes first go-ers:

1. The brands (Spotify, YouTube, Meta etc), have their own talks and experiences, and these aren’t detailed in the Cannes Lion app. We recommend you do your research and check out what the brands are doing separately.

2. Once you’re registered with these brands, you can gain access to the talks. You won’t be able to get into these experiences without pre-registration and this happens the few weeks before the festival. Use your industry contacts to get on these registration lists.

3. Wear worn-in and comfy shoes. We walked about 30km each day and had the blisters to prove it!

4. Make time to review the work. We spent hours roaming around reading & watching case studies, and this was one of our favourite parts of the week! The work is also available online to watch for a few weeks afterwards for anyone with a Festival pass.

5. Be prepared to be amongst some A-Listers! We watched Will.i.am talk about his AI business, got photobombed by Paris Hilton after her DJ set for Meta, and got to chat to Zak Brown about his McLaren racing team’s plans (Ally also got a pic with Lando Norris, which she will find a way to slip into any conversation you have with her!).

We came, we saw, we got the free TikTok pins – and we experienced some incredibly inspirational global brains.

Source: Hannah Bay & Ally Young, 5 August 2024