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Though upfront week focuses on the U.S. marketplace, Cannes Lions is where media companies think globally.
“There is not a single streaming partner that we work with that doesn’t have a desire to be global, if they don’t already have a global footprint,” said Kelly Metz, managing director of advanced TV activation at Omnicom Media Group. “Netflix has a global footprint; Disney+ has a global footprint; Paramount+ recently launched in multiple markets, going to the U.K.; Max laid out their entire agenda for global releases.”
So, to talk about that global presence, TV and streaming publishers are showing up at Cannes in a big way.
In its first year as an ad-supported platform, Netflix will take over the JW Marriott, hoping to create an interactive and immersive space for clients to engage with the platform’s most popular films and series.
Meanwhile, Roku, the largest connected TV platform in the U.S., will be camped out at its own Beach House.
“We’re excited to have that this year because we’re focused on letting our brand partners know and continue to drive home that Roku is the platform that is going to make their brand unmissable,” Rachel Helfman, director of Roku ad marketing and creative solutions, told Adweek.
Prior to former ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino departing for Twitter, an NBCUniversal spokesperson confirmed the company’s major Cannes presence to Adweek, saying that this year will focus heavily on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, in 2025. A buyer also confirmed to Adweek that SNL’s 50th anniversary would be a big topic of conversation.
Other companies not yet ready to share plans include Tubi, though a spokesperson confirmed the platform would have a presence at Cannes.
My most important meetings and commitments were directly related to measurement.
—Kelly Metz, managing director, advanced TV activation, OMG
But just because publishers are talking globally, they’re not all looking to make waves during the week known for boats and bubbly.
Warner Bros. Discovery won’t do “splashy things” at Cannes, according to Metz. Instead, the company is sending its leadership team to conduct strategic meetings around capabilities.
Top-to-top meetings are one of the most important aspects of the festival, Metz said, allowing space for senior leadership and partners to connect and learn about the latest industry innovations.
It’s all part of the evolution of Cannes.
Cannes you keep up?
Now in its 70th year, the festival of old was more focused on “creative inspiration,” according to Amy Lanzi, CEO of Digitas North America. Lanzi, who’s been attending Cannes for seven years and, this year, is on the jury for Creative Commerce Lions, says today it’s more about “outcomes.”
“Amazon is a great example of how much Cannes has transformed,” Lanzi said, noting the company built out a 27,000-square-foot space last year and will have an even bigger presence this year. “Originally, it was much more around sponsored products, and now it’s about content to commerce opportunities.”
And with recent reports of Amazon adding an ad-supported tier to Prime Video, the company may have even more to share with marketers. However, when asked about its supposed ad tier, an Amazon spokesperson told Adweek, “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”
For its part, Disney will prioritize top-to-top, strategic business meetings with key global customers and partners, a company spokesperson said. (Adweek’s presence at Cannes will include our annual Brand Genius honors, which this year includes Shannon Ryan, president of marketing for Disney General Entertainment.)
Traditional TV companies are now cross-platform, multifaceted, large conglomerates.
—Mike Bregman, chief activation officer, Havas Media Group N.A.
“Cannes Lions always brings together the leaders of the media, technology, advertising and, of course, the creative industries on the world stage, so it’s a critical opportunity to connect with constituents across the industries we serve,” the spokesperson said.
The company is also looking to continue the conversation about how it can bring results and outcomes to clients through data, ad tech innovation and Disney’s Audience Graph.
Netflix plans to focus on client meetings and engagement, building off the company’s first upfront presentation and reinforcing its long-term goals to create a sustainable ads business.
Roku is also set to focus on 1:1 meetings with clients and partners at its beach cabana.
“It would be a miss for us, thinking of our long-term approach and strategy on how we’re going to make our brand partners unmissable, to not be at that creative and innovation festival,” said Roku’s Helfman.
The lion’s share of the market
Audience measurement will be among the topics of conversation throughout the week. The Joint Industry Committee, an organization led by Open AP, which is looking to create measurement certification and standardization, will be holding meetings at the festival.
“If I look back at what happened at Cannes last year, my most important meetings and commitments from partners were directly related to measurement and how we go forward,” said Omnicom’s Metz. “And I fully expect that to happen again this year.”
AI and ad tech will also be hot topics across the board as the line between media and technology continues to blur.
“Traditional TV companies are now cross-platform, multifaceted, large conglomerates, and they don’t just have assets that can be put into different types of screens and different types of devices, but they’ve essentially become ad tech companies,” Mike Bregman, chief activation officer at Havas Media Group North America, told Adweek.
And as media companies change and compete with large-scale digital advertisers such as Google and Facebook, as well as social media platforms such as TikTok and Snap, the Cannes conversations change as well.
“It’s more about how you buy in a different way. How do you transact in a different way? How do you take the upfront negotiations that are still ongoing—and very delicate kind of matters—but how do you then make a more flexible investment pool?” Bregman said.
It’s another example of how, as Lanzi puts it, there’s “the story of convergence across the board.”
“The funnel doesn’t exist, and there’s a convergence from discovery to purchase,” Lanzi said. “So then the requirement is that the infrastructure underneath running anything like that must be converged, as well as the idea of creative and media.”
And as those converging companies continue to grow their infrastructure and ad tech, their presence at Cannes will grow in kind.
“Digital infrastructure is not constrained by a country or a territory. Those are business terms that we impose now, not technical capabilities,” Metz said. “And I think that that nuance makes Cannes more and more important for media and for global media over time.”
