What Marketing Will Miss by Going a Year Without Cannes

Frequent Cannes Lions attendees say the canceled festival is a vital hub of connection, collaboration and insight

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At his first Cannes Lions in 2003, Pancho Cassis was a 22-year-old creative from Chile just setting foot onto the global stage. “It was amazing,” he said. “It changes a lot about how you see the world, how you see advertising.”

At his last Cannes Lions, in 2019, he signed the paperwork to become the worldwide CCO of agency network David—and was promptly handed the brief for his first Super Bowl ad for Budweiser.

Despite its reputation as a place of parties, flowing rosé, yacht outings and occasional Gutter Bar debauchery, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has played a central role in the professional lives of many agency and brand marketing professionals.

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