Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2023

I was fortunate to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2023 as a summer study abroad. Here’s what I took away from the experience:

Favorite Panels:

Measuring Creativity, Creatively with Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential, and Ruslana Zbagerska, Vice President of Technology and Product Development at Amazon Ads; moderated by Atifa Silk, Managing Director at Haymarket Media Asia.

These speakers discussed the major market shift, highlighting the rise of influencer marketing and shrinking consumer attention with TikTok. It’s no longer about headlines and more about trendlines.

Every Body’s Business with Patricia Corsi, Chief Marketing and Information Officer at Consumer Health Bayer; Kristen Cavallo, Global CEO at MullenLowe Global; and Halle Berry, Academy Award-winning Actor, Director, Producer, Advocate and Founder of Re-Spin.

These incredible women gave an empowering talk about how taboo subjects create opportunity. Women’s health is often ignored and overlooked because it’s “awkward” or “uncomfortable” and that needs to change.

Evolving Icons: A New Generation of Brand Representation and Beauty with Amanda Gormon, writer, activist, and Estee Lauder Global Changemaker; Jane Lauder, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Marketing and Chief Data Officer at The Estee Lauder Companies; and Anna Klein, SVP, Global Corporate Affairs and ESG Communications at The Estee Lauder Companies.

We are living in an era of transparency due to how easy it is to access information, which means that companies are being held more accountable than ever before. Trust is the most important currency of brand now, especially in today’s social climate where accountability dominates the space.

The Journey of Creative Risk-Taking with Doug Martin, Chief Brand and Disruptive Growth Officer at General Mills; Melissa Wildermuth, Global Creative Director at General Mills; and Scott Galloway, Professor at NYU's Stern School of Business.

Nothing new ever came out of staying safe. Creative risk-taking is what leads to new ideas and new methods of advertising, and the best place to start on this journey is building relationships. Human relationships lead to conversation, which leads to trust and big ideas.

What Brands Should Learn from the Personality Economy with Jessica Giles, editor in chief of Cosmopolitan and Alex Cooper, podcaster and creator of Call Her Daddy.

Sitting on the floor of the packed room for this talk, I soaked in the knowledge from these two women. They echoed the concept of transparency, but what really stuck with me was Alex Cooper’s authenticity. She has a very distinct voice and is always open and honest with her audience, which makes them extremely loyal.

Why We Need to Make People Laugh with Andrew Robertson, President and CEO at BBDO Worldwide.

My favorite ad advice is “Help me or entertain me” and this talk reminded me of that. I was laughing so hard by the end of it, and he nailed home his point: Gen Z is 94% ore likely to remember a funny ad. No more sad ads - we’re going all in on goofy, funny ads.

Favorite 2023 Winners:

  1. #TURNYOURBACK - Dove and Ogilvy - Grand Prix for Media

  2. Beautiful Life - Michael Kiwanuka - Grand Prix for Entertainment Lions for Music

  3. The Last Photo - ITV x CALM and ADAM&EVE DDB - Gold Lion for Health and Wellness and Outdoor

  4. Dirty Laundry - ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality - Gold Lion for Entertainment

  5. Newspapers Inside the Newspaper Edition - AnNahar Newspaper and Impact BBDO - Grand Prix for Print & Publishing

  6. Self Love Bouquet - Doordash and GUT Los Angeles - Grand Prix for PR

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