I had my first international trip in three years, and it was so good to be back! What better way to take my first trip since COVID impacted the world than to Cannes Lions. As I have shared many times over the years, Cannes Lions has been one of my all-time favorite events to attend.
While this may spark some reactions from my fellow colleagues in academia – it is important to say that the value you are able to get from Cannes Lions is beyond what any academic conference can offer to professors and students.
Yep, I said it. Just waiting to see if the lightening bolts from the academic community will come down.
With the growing expectations we are seeing in our field and what we need to do to make sure students are prepared for the industry, we have to make sure we are going where we will be getting the most value. Cannes Lions is one of these places where you get a lot of value from.
Seeing examples of tying in online to real world experiences. I feel that with the events we all experienced the past few years, everyone was looking for connection. Whether this was in person meetings or sessions, or even experiences – this was a major theme at Cannes Lions.
I loved how this was on full display across the board. I would have to say that reddit did this very well in their experience and activation at Cannes Lions. Their activation was front in center, and had a cool interactive experience on the first floor, and networking / panel session on the second floor. Plus, what a great way to integrate their platform than to allow people to upvote/downvote on the building? Loved this!
For educators and students, this is a great example of what a brand can do to translate what they have been doing online to the physical world. Putting a human face on a brand is key, and a core concept I know I teach (and others do as well) in their classes in social media.
A place making a difference. I think one of the things that Cannes Lions does compared to other events is bringing people together to make sure we are moving forward as a profession and industry. From setting up academies for young professionals to other mentorship events, there are many options here for the future generation.
However, one of the biggest news that came out from the festival was the launch of The Creative Ladder, a nonprofit dedicated to helping underrepresented audience members get the opportunities in the creative industry. This is SO needed in our field, and I am excited to see what happens next with this nonprofit!
Branded spaces were were the sessions and networking came together. Everyone would say that the main events happen in the main Palais, but the same could be said about the beach set ups that were launched at Cannes Lions. Each platform and company (ex. Meta, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, TikTok, Snap, etc) were all present on the beach and had their own sessions.
Adweek partnered with Whalar and had their own sessions too. I loved this since it allowed me to meet up with the Adweek team (I am part of their Academic Council) and hear all about creators, branding, and TikTok. These sessions were SPOT ON some of the best and super relevant to what I am covering in my classes. We got to hear from UGG, TikTok, Washington Post, and more.
I really felt that Pinterest won the activations for the platform – hands down. They offered not only branded experiences that are showcased on the platform, but they also had various activities (ex. hairstyles, shoe painting and even tattoos!) at their location. This was truly epic!
Got to make sure to show some love to one of my favorite platforms, Twitter. However, I wish they were a bit more open at Twitter Beach with their sessions. Google didn’t even open to the attendees at Cannes Lions, which was a surprise compared to previous years.
Having multiple options to attend various sessions and activities. As mentioned earlier, you are able to have many different options to attend the conference from panels, workshops, meet ups, and more. The biggest challenge is figuring out where to go, at what time, and what sessions you want to attend for the day. I definitely was able to get my steps in walking all around to get to one session to the next.
To give you an idea of how much walking I did, I walked 25 miles in a course of three days – just around the facilities! That made up for all of the croissants I consumed during the time I was in France, so it was a balance!
Hearing from incredible speakers. This is where Cannes Lions excels and stands out from the crowd. They bring in the people who are leading the field, changing the industry, and are approachable in a way that may not be like other conferences. As an example, Cannes Lions was able to bring lots of great speakers to the event, but the one I felt was the most successful (and packed!) was with Ryan Reynolds.
Y’all know at this point I think Ryan is the GOAT of marketing, but it was so great to see Cannes Lions recognize this and invite Ryan to speak. Ryan’s session was awesome – he gave practical advice, insights, and discussions on the process of what his team goes through in his marketing and campaign efforts. These types of insights are crucial for students to hear – because sometimes they think everything is all easy and good, but they do not know what all happens under the surface. Ryan shared his experience in marketing the first Deadpool movie, and how this taught him what he needed to do for his marketing. Learn by doing with the world against you are some of the toughest (but also most educational) ways to see what works and what doesn’t.
Another thing that really stood out to me was when the woman who was on stage with him said – when the world is hurting, you know Ryan is there to bring joy to the world. This is very true, and even Ryan made a reference to Mr. Rogers – and it’s true. He’s the Mr. Rogers of Marketing, and along with creative and innovative marketing efforts, he’s positive in his entertaining content.
The world needs more of this, and being able to share this with students is key for inspiration. As educators, we need to make sure we are bringing joy into our work as well.
Well done, Ryan! It was great to be part of the audience (and class!) for Professor Reynolds.
In summary, Cannes Lions is back, and there are going to be more future opportunities for students and educators to be a part of the event. When it comes to looking at value, one of the things that comes up time and time again is this:
Karen, Cannes Lions is so expensive! Academic conferences are more cost friendly.
Well, I have heard this time and time again, and all I have to say is this whenever I hear something like this from fellow colleagues in academia:
- If you attended two academic conferences this past year (NCA, AEJMC, ICA and/or PRSA) – you would have spent more on these conferences than at Cannes Lions.
- Fun fact – I just realized that my hotel room in Cannes Lions (which was nice and provided a free breakfast) is LESS than the hotel I reserved for Detroit for AEJMC. Yes, you read that correctly.
- At Cannes Lions, everyone is welcome. No one cares where you are coming in from. At some academic conferences, some programs get access and exclusive opportunities while others do not.
- You get access to industry level work, resources, and case studies for a year. At academic conferences, you get to hear about research that *may* be relevant today, but may not.
With the current standing we are seeing with the global economy, we have to really look at the value we are getting and focus on quality of sessions and events, not quantity. If we are looking at quality, Cannes Lions offers this and probably will be one of the main events I will attend.
Hope you all are doing well and have a great day!
Best Wishes,
