#Cannes19Views: “Don’t just talk about it, do it” – the central message of the festival

With Cannes Lions festival in its last day, AdHugger received a few opinions on how this year’s edition was.

Cannes 2019 didn’t disappoint on so many levels: the bars, beaches and parties all provided the right backdrop for business to be done and the conversations were largely positive. Fraud and brand safety reared it’s head although Google and Facebook were quick to side step questions on this during their discussions; except in reiterating their conviction to fight fraud. What was being discussed was the real world consequences that fraudsters are faced with now and that the real threat of litigation combined with tech to prevent it in the first place, is taking effect. Damon Reeve, Ozone talked at the TAG/ Smart+ panel about the need for marketers to use the tools and capabilities that are right in front of them. Don’t just talk about it, do it seemed to be the message on this topic and in general at Cannes this year.

Julia Smith,

Director of Communications, Impact

It is interesting to see the evolution of Cannes and to note that Google and Microsoft have minimal to no presence here this year. What we also noted was that the theme of technology enabling creativity has been reversed and is now creativity enabling technology. This is no doubt driven by more tech brands than ever are getting involved in the creative space. What is true of Cannes 2019 is that creative is leading the conversation.

Jenny Stanley,

Appetite Creative Solutions MD and Founder

Cannes Lions has come at a time when there the circle of mistrust is at its highest and consumer trust in advertisers is at its lowest ebb for 60 years. Conversations on the yachts, the panels and in the Palais talked about the need to reestablish trust and CMOs need to prioritize emotional considerations and customers need for 1.2.1 contact. The rapid rise of chatbots, voicebots and chatvertising is expected to provide a solution to helping customers buy, interact and respond to advertising. Consumer first is a message that has resonated through every conversation. Let’s see if it now follows through back in London,

Steffen Svartberg,

CEO and co-founder, Cavai.

The circle of mistrust is at it’s highest level and what is clear throughout our conversations in Cannes is that brand safety is not a nice to have. It is a must have. There is a feeling of  skepticism around ‘best endeavours’ approach to brand safety. This has been fueled by bad actor stories and issues around data and given that a brands’ reputation can be irreversibly damage if you get it wrong, it’s time to act, not talk.

Mattias Spetz,

MD EMEA and co-founder, Channel Factory