Cannes ‘25 Debrief: What You Missed & I’m Thinking About

An unfiltered recap of lingering thoughts

Greetings from Brooklyn as I’m back home after a couple weeks in Europe. First a stint at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and then a decompression in København for some incredible grub, the longest day of the year (~11PM sunset!) and a hang at The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

This was my first Cannes, and while I went in with zero expectations, it was very clear this is not as much a festival of creativity but a gathering of “corporate creativity.” There is in fact a difference and the latter, corporate creativity, can be argued to be an oxymoron. I won’t now...

Incredible nonetheless, Cannes is an exhausting experience. Imagine Tough Mudder as a conference. There’s the mental expense of being on, thinking and socializing. This I expected. But then there’s the physical aspect. This I was not prepared for. Humid, oppressive heat, a sun that roasted relentlessly and daily step counts consistently in the five digits. Sweat-soaked shirts. Blisters. Sunburn. Dehydration. Pants.

Shade, AC and cheap, low-powered, branded portable battery fans were currency. Hoard.

This privileged suffering is all then compounded by calorie deficients due to passed Hors-d'Oeuvres for dinner and minimal sleep due to early morning programming, meetings and meet ups, and late night dinners (more finger food), invite only celeb-spotted parties, and corporate card fueled debauchery. This, of course, I have absolutely no experience in... Promise.

I share this to say, the ad industry is impeccably effective at overlooking any glaring sore spots and reframing physical pain as the most special time of the year. Nothing but joyous celebration.

It’s professional cognitive dissonance that only an industry of propagandists can pull off.

Hats off and bravo to all.

Notice the scarcity of food on the plates...

It’s a naturally inhospitable environment, but with either decades of industry experience, a robust network or expense report authorization, it all becomes much more welcoming. Regardless, Cannes was a fascinating petri dish to study: media dynamics, personalities and the state of an industry forever unsure of what comes next.

Here are my takeaways, observations and hot takes from Cannes and Euro travels...

• Cannes gives marketers a taste of their own medicine. As businesses try to get people to their happy hours, meetings, or panels, we learn that flashy activations and mere email reminders are simply not enough. Even a boat ride, a free cocktail or a celebrity (often out of their depth) on a panel, can’t cut it. Chairs remain empty and marketers continue talking to themselves. It’s the same treatment they give to their own consumers. At Cannes, business can learn firsthand that their audience here — and back home — are flaky, forgetful, confused, tired and juggling six other choices at once. You are not the most important thing and never will be. Humility is the ultimate lesson.

• I was interviewed for Cannes LIONS Advisory “State of Creativity” report. When asked, “What’s plaguing creativity?” My answer was easy: Confidence. A shockingly low 13% of creative marketers are taking a “risk-friendly” approach to their comms, while 29% admit to being “highly risk-averse.” Meanwhile, 51% of orgs rate their ability to develop high-quality insights as “poor or very poor.” We’re petrified with low investment in our efforts to seek out insightful inspiration. This is corporate self-sabotage. Which is driving which? The paralysis or the fear? F around. Find out. The results will quickly break this doom cycle.

• At a luncheon roundtable I moderated on the “future of digital,” between TikTok, Pinterest, Forrester, eMarketer, Sky and others, it wasn’t until the 55min mark that I noted that not once has the word “brand” come up at this creative advertising gathering. This would be a subtle takeaway, except for the fact that La Croisette, the famed boulevard, was no longer lined with prestigious creative agencies, but now by tech players, big and small. Optimization is pillaging creativity while the creative work up for the awards are locked in the basement of the Palais. I don’t think that we’re suffering from a lack of creativity, but we’re suffering from a lack of curiosity. Creativity is predicated upon risk. And given the cultural, workplace, financial or geopolitical environments, the appetite for the uncertain is just not there. That said, it’s now easier than ever to stand out. I’m sorry, but with love and respect, Duolingo and Liquid Death are not profoundly creative brands, they’re just not doing what everyone else is. We admire them because they have the confidence (and permission) to zag.

  

• “Creators” were a topic of discussion at Cannes. But I noticed one angle is nearly always missing. If individuals become the means of distribution, entertainment and trust, hundreds of thousands of people are stepping into celeb-adjacent roles. More specifically, we’re not discussing the implications of privacy and prying audiences, public pressures, parasocial relationships, mental health, burnout, financial instability, etc. If corps are going to leverage individuals as broadcast channels, what else do they/we owe these creators? Think: media training, financial planning, legal counseling, mentorship networking, exit strategy planning. Or what about established standard rates, working conditions and group insurance? If such resources are not coming from the advertisers, then who’s offering such needed support? Twenty-three year old “Rachel” just upended cable news. But how do we ensure Rachel doesn’t collapse under the pressures of her new expectations?

• We’re not asking a simple question enough: Are you in service of culture and people, or are you in service of corporations? Ironically, doing the former helps all parties. Helping the latter, often harms all parties. Ask this question each morning before you start the day. Remember the human.

Those were five. The 13 remaining bits are for paid supporters as a ‘Thank You.’ Consider upgrading to access the rest of the debrief + all other ZINE pieces + the 02025 META Trend Report.