Technology and culture converged at the Cannes Lions this year, with brands turning creativity into a balancing act between humanity and AI.
AI continued to be at the center of most conversations among the 13,000+ humans in town, but this year marketers came with a little more experience, and a bit more to share. Rather than speculations and fears, the talk was more around practical applications and how to use the tools better to improve outcomes. It became apparent most jobs now require some AI knowledge.
“We looked at 3 million job listings, and the increase in AI requirement as a skill has increased by 640%,” said Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer of Autodesk, at the Brand Innovators Beach Stage. “I’m not talking about prompt engineers or web development. I’m talking about everyday jobs like being a brand manager.”
While AI dominated the festival, the beating heart of the event was focused on the human talent from sports to music. Creative partnerships between brands and talent have perhaps never been so integrated. But it has to be authentic. When PepsiCo approached Seal to star in their Super Bowl ad for Mountain Dew Baja Blast as a seal – a nod towards similar memes – he said he liked the idea. It was to have fun and put a smile on people’s faces, he said on a panel at Tubi Beach, but he took the job because he liked the team, an important decision he makes when doing any job.
“None of it means anything if you aren’t working with great people with a great team, fortunately I was,” said Seal.
This natural collaboration made the ad, which featured a take on Seal’s classic “A Kiss from a Rose,” a natural fit for the brand and its audiences.
“If you look at performance, everyone worries about how did your ad perform? That’s the wrong question. How did your idea land in culture,” said Mark Kirkham, chief marketing officer at PepsiCo Beverages, on the panel.
Brands go big on experiential at Cannes
Experiential continued to be a big push this year at Cannes, especially for digital brands that looked to manifest their identities IRL, with larger-than-life spaces for work and play. Most of them were full of creators creating their own content in the branded environment.
Spotify Beach, perhaps the best, featured a Billions Club room based on a recent campaign celebrating artists like Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande who have been streamed more than a billion times. It also featured a “Songs of Summer” room, based on another campaign, this one decorated with vinyl and posters like any respectable teen’s bedroom. The activation had vibrant and pastel cafes and bars, a DIY station to create your own playlist album covers, as well as a performance stage to really bring the music streaming brand to life.
The space hosted talks, which were preceded by an AI DJ. In conversation with Dustee Jenkins, chief public affairs officer at Spotify, Grammy winning producer/DJ Mark Ronson shared that when he wanted to work with Dua Lipa on the Barbie soundtrack, he just DMed her. He also shared that he’s not afraid of AI.
“There’s something always in the voice of an Adele or a Beyonce or that’s just always going to be able to stir and move us in a way that a computer-generated approximation might not,” said Ronson. “But that doesn’t mean that those tools aren’t incredible to help in the creation of music.”
“I think it’s like when synthesizers came along or when samplers came along, like everyone said, oh, this is going to be end of the music, the orchestras and the unions sort of boycotted,” he continued. “And now we’re all using those things and they’re great. So I think it’s just like combining that with enough of the human experience.”
Amazon’s Port, aka A’Maison, was bigger and better than ever and featured a rosé fountain, a Prime viewing station and a personalization tool that allowed you to curate custom fragrances using AI.
“It’s such a labor of love,” said Claire Paull, director of global marketing at Amazon Ads. “We are customer obsessed at Amazon and wanted a place where our customers could come as a respite, hear great content, be inspired, plug in their laptops, have a drink, have lunch, meet with their customers.”
Always a favorite, Pinterest came back with its immersive Manifestival featuring hands-on activations inspired by Gen Z trend forecasting. You could make a tin wallet out of an Altoids Mars case or have your makeup done with L’Oréal brands. You could even get a tattoo.
“We really try to create a space that feels like what it feels like to be on Pinterest, so literally stepping into a pin,” said Judy Lee, senior director, global brand experiences at Pinterest. “It’s vibrant, it’s energetic, it’s inclusive and there’s tons of inspiration all around.”
Pinterest doubled down on their Gen Z push launching a new co-branded coffee brand with influencer Emma Chamberlain. “Pinterest has been a huge part of growing and building Chamberlain Coffee. I think the first version of Chamberlain Coffee was on Pinterest on a board. That’s how it started,” said Chamberlain at a press conference at Manifestival Beach.
Just as music brings fans together in real life, so too do sports, and athletes were across The Croisette talking about their work and brand collaborations. Travis and Jason talked about The “New Heights” podcast at the Amazon Port. Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Lauren Betts and Myles Garrett were just some of the voices at Sport Beach.
F1 driver George Russell peeled back the layers on a panel with Marriott’s chief customer officer Peggy Roe and shared travel hacks while acknowledging the hotel chain as a partner.
“We are so fortunate to be partnered with you guys because we travel around the world, we are always on the move, but we always know when we get to our destination, we are going to be taken care of, we are going to have a comfy bed and that is the most important to success,” said Russell.
The concerts went big as usual with Wyclef Jean at Brand Innovators Beach the hot ticket for Tuesday night. Wednesday night, the big party night, included Busta Rhymes at Influential, Ludacris at Freewheel NBC, Diplo at Yahoo, Odesza at Amazon.
Anderson .Paak on the mic in the crowd while Mark Ronson spins on stage
Perhaps, the most magical part of the evening entertainment was after the crowds had dissipated from Cardi B’s epic performance at Spotify. Mark Ronson DJed into the night to a small crowd. Anderson .Paak among those on the dance floor took the mic and spontaneously belted out a few songs just before Diplo showed up to get in on the action.
As Ronson scratched the vinyl and ad execs danced in the same space an AI DJ played during the day, we were reminded that thousands of people coming to Cannes to talk about AI proves that the human element will never be replaced.
