Cliff Notes from Cannes

Here’s a recap from a selection of today’s talks at Cannes, in case you were too hungover to attend any panels today, or maybe you’re not in the south of France this weekend:

“The sun is setting on Cannes,” one agency exec affiliated with a major holding company told
Ad Age.

Clients with each passing year are demanding more accountability. They look at this award show that celebrates a kind of creativity from a couple decades ago. Now it’s not OK to be frivolous. It’s not OK to waste money.

Cannes does have a Creative Effectiveness category where nearly half the judges are marketers. But even in this category, limited to short-listed or awarded work from the prior three years, results and effectiveness account for only half the score, with the rest split between the idea and strategy. In other categories, effectiveness counts for 20% to 30%.

In case you are interested in popping for flights, food and beverage and so on, here’s a nice place to stay (next year).