Cannes Lions 2022: The Magic Lies in the Unexpected

After two long years of virtual networking and conferences, this year’s Cannes Lions proved to be a fantastic opportunity for the advertising industry to finally come together again. For the Analytic Partners team on the scorching grounds, it represented an opportunity to connect with customers and partners in person for the first time in way too long; during sessions in the Palais, along the Croisette, or just over a cocktail at the bar.

We need to talk about the potential recession

The event provided the industry with a truly unique chance to discuss its pressing issues. Our focus was on combining creative excellence with data and analytics solutions to achieve maximum impact for brands and focus on future growth. We had the opportunity to speak to AdForum before the event and share a great overview of how analytics adoption can help drive growth through market disruption for their byline “The Ad Game Has Changed, Do the Rules Still Apply?”. A topic that Radio Omnicom also covered with us in their live show.

During the event week, our attention shifted towards down markets and how they would impact marketing activities. In AdvertisingWeek, we published the byline “To Recession-Proof Your Brand, Keep Calm and Measure On”, a piece outlining the negative and positive effects of a potential recession on marketing spend and strategy. Many other publications, like Campaign Magazine, jumped on those insights to give their readership guidance in turbulent times.

Additionally, we had the great opportunity to share those insights on the Discovery Stage. WARC had invited us to talk about why advertisers need to keep spending in a recession as part of their freshly released “Anatomy of Effectiveness” white paper. Our CEO and President, Nancy Smith, shared data from the ROI Genome about how brands that cut their marketing budgets during a recession leave themselves at a long-term disadvantage.

A very timely topic that as predictions of a coming recession loom. During the past two decades, markets have been faced with disruption, turbulences and even recession which often tempted marketers “to abandon established best practices, whether that involves spending levels or brand-building strategies, in periods of fiscal stress”, as Nancy Smith stated during her presentation. “Staying the course, however, offers much greater rewards.”

You can watch a recording of Nancy’s full session on WARC.

More than hot air

We quickly learned that the “magic” of Cannes isn’t the obvious, the rosé-cliché, the extravaganza, the parties or even the very topical panel discussion and debates. The magic lies in the unexpected: connecting across topics and interests with industry peers and press alike, and networking with people joining this event from different sectors and places around the world – all open to soak up new information and share their visions in return. To sum it up, the Cannes Lions provided a wonderful opportunity and platform for us to talk about how data and analytics go hand in hand with creative excellence, and how insights can help brands future-proof their business.