Edition #538
Edition #538 – Cannes, creators and a huge step up in AI substance.
Cannes was super productive this year, with an expansion of brand cafes, and as an attendee you can’t complain, with a dearth of choices. And the quality of panels, at least from my corner, were a lot better. It’s like the AI chat took a 5x step up from last year.
There was a heat wave, but it didn’t seem as hot as last year? I guess being by the ocean played in our favour a bit this year.
A dichotomy was creators. Creators getting more involved in Cannes, is a great thing, it’s a big tent, there’s room or all of us. And they as a collective, are keeping brands close to culture.
One panel I was at, it was clear these (successful) creators hadn’t really dealt with advertisers in person before. It was uncanny, the way they carried themselves, having built up immunity to online vitriol, gave them a sense of confidence but a vibe that no one really keeps them in check. It was weird.
Another anecdote (on the positive side) was an ex tv anchor, sharing how their YouTube led content, was more relevant than ever. People stop them on the street, to talk about it. And that was exciting, seeing (and hearing) that impact.
I touched on it in Dux, the creator class, kind of spans, creators, semi-formal like Substacks/Newsletters and then Publishers. Each attracting their own set of customers.
Celebrities are somewhere off to the side, more brand endorsement.
On the AI step up, last year I wrote on how it felt like most were giving lip service, this year, was a huge step up in discourse but also learnings and substance. I’m not sure I’ve seen such a leap forward before. But epic to see.
The post covid trend, of returning to events, dinners, panels, meant that there were more brand cafes than ever before. But also each stepped up their merch game. To give the right vibe, aesthetic. So overall a great week of events, a shout out to Status for their breakfast and Jonesy & Co for their pre event. I also attended wonderful events at Adweek, Axios, Codeword, Dept, FQ, FPC, Microsoft, Post, Seedtag.
Alas, I found out too late The xx were playing! Ah well, next year.
Notable stories this week
- ‘The breakout success of Fox’s World Cup marketing influencers.
- These creators are hacking ChatGPT to rake in brand deals.
- People don’t trust AI – they trust creators says People Inc’s Jonathan Roberts.
- M&C Saatchi lalauncehs entertainment marketing practice.
- Adform reinforces commitment to open standards for agentic advertising.
- Forget the ad break: brands are buying the whole show.
- Advertisers await programmatic pause ads.
- The user is the content.
- AI content didn’t stop working, your metrics did.
- The CMS is becoming the AI operating system for brands.
- Brands are commissioners now: Jamie Oliver Group has big plans for branded content.
- OpenAI launches custom audiences.
- Programmatic shift: impact of agentic media buying.
- Cloudflare is opening the waitlist for their monetization gateway.
- CMOs from Coach, American Eagle, and more dish on the platforms and tools they’re most focused on.
- Integral Ad Science’s New CEO dishes on her plans for the company.
- F1 executives optimistic bout Apple deal despite limited data.
- The New York Times‘ top editor explains why its new push into video is a ‘race against time’.
- Dentsu strikes Meta deal to build plumbing fro mass influencer activation.
- Cannes Chatter: Agentic Ambitions, Holdco Anxieties and M&A buzz.
- LiveRamp launches brand campaign n Netflix as Publicis Deal fuels scrutiny of its neutrality.
- IBM hires Stagwell as lead creative partner.
- How Moonbug hopes to engage advertisers and debut not he big screen with CoComelon movie.
- Threads, Meta’s ‘Twitter Killer’ finds its people.
Deals/M&A
- Walmart to acquire Vibe.co to expand access to connected tv advertising.
- Criteo is subject to a takeover bid, further proving private equity’s continued interest in ad tech.
Campaign of the week
- TC Brand Studio with Nori. AI agents are coming for family life — Nori’s SuperNori is one of the first.
Smartest commentary
- “Cannes represents a tangible reminder of the reordering of the media landscape that has largely swallowed media. YouTube is far more powerful than any Hollywood studio or broadcaster.” – Brian Morrissey.
- ^ Caught via Ben Smiths note.
Events
- Next breakfast coming up August.
That’s it for this week.
|
|---|