The Cannes Lions 2024 Creativity Festival showcased groundbreaking trends that are shaping the future of marketing and advertising. The leading discussion was around the transformative impact of AI.
Will AI take over marketing and agency teams’ roles?
WPP founder and ex-chairman, legendary advertisement guru, Sir Martin Sorrell, who attended Marketing Society’s private session, questioned this and stated that he heard one well known CMO put a brief in chat GPT, got three campaign options and he picked one of them.
Is this how it will be in future? People in Cannes discussed that humans may win, Elon Musk said humans may not win and Sorrell also agrees with that.
Sorrell stated in the age of AI, ‘Agility’ is key to win and differentiate your brand.
One of the most sought-after sessions was the interview by WPP CEO, Mark Read with the billionaire entrepreneur and engineer known for founding and leading innovative companies like SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, Elon Musk.
Musk said, “The most likely outcome of AI is abundance, where everyone has everything they need. And then the question becomes about personal meaning, if AI can do it better than us, people will have an existential crisis”.
He suggested teaching AI to be truthful and curious. AI can be creative and original. He predicts 20 billion humanoid robots. So as many people have smartphones, in future will we have humanoid assistants?
I think the key here is how much that new technology will ease our lives, add efficiency, productivity and make our lives happier.
Elon ended his speech with saying companies that will succeed will be the ones who most successfully use AI. “AI is an immensely powerful thing. It gives you a better answer than a bunch of links. It is real-time aggregation of collective wisdom. Enjoy the ride.”
Generative AI is rapidly transforming the marketing landscape, becoming an indispensable tool for creating personalised and scalable content.
Many panels and discussions at Cannes Lions 2024 have underscored the significant impact of generative AI in various aspects of marketing, including:
Building with AI: From Hype to Reality by Google’s Vidhya Srinivasan and Alexander Chen emphasized how AI tools are being used to streamline and enhance creative processes.
The AI-Driven Future of Marketing featured insights on how AI can deliver personalised customer experiences and predictive analytics to optimise marketing efforts.
AI and Creativity: Unleashing New Possibilities explored the balance between human creativity and AI capabilities, showcasing successful AI-driven campaigns.
AI-driven Grand Prix campaign: Pedigree – Adoptable
Pedigree also won a Grand Prix at Cannes for its ‘Adoptable’ campaign, an innovative AI-driven initiative developed with Colenso BBDO and Nexus Studios.
The campaign revolutionised how shelter dogs feature in global advertising.
This technology transformed basic shelter dog photos into high-quality studio images, integrating them into any Pedigree digital ad.
This move not only promoted Pedigree products but also shined a spotlight on adoptable dogs, amplifying efforts to tackle dog homelessness worldwide.
Other experiences and activations at Cannes Lions 2024
Creating exceptional event experiences or activations is crucial because they forge lasting memories and emotional connections with your audience, enhancing their overall perception of your brand.
Memorable events make attendees feel happy and comfortable, fostering a positive association that extends beyond the event itself.
This approach elevates the brand’s prominence and cultivates enduring loyalty, setting the brand apart in a crowded market like Cannes Lions where you have hundreds of events per day.
- Female Quotient’ Equality Lounge at the Roof of Hotel Martinez, with their welcoming all, inspirational top notch speakers and joyful activations highlighting women empowerment in every corner of the suit and the amazing and maybe best Cannes view
- Dinner at Cannes Carlton Beach with the UK Advertising and Marketing Society, with one of the top venues, networking, and adding humor to the show.
- Cannes Lions CMO Accelerator Program Alumni gathering, brilliant idea to bring the program participants together to build a culture, network and common sharing platform
- Tiktok Garden at Carlton Cannes – great alternative to Beach activations if you do the experience better. Loved the Tiktok team energy on each activation corner explaining the service and making it fun.
- Meta Beach – Content and bringing top notch speakers like Coca Cola CMO, Manuel Arroyo, Unilever CMO, Esi Eggleston Bracey and so many other inspirational people and welcoming all in a nice hospitality environment.
- Linkedin Carlton Roof – Brand activation and inspirational talks.
By Ebru Tuygun, Managing Director, GVGL Global Marketing Management & Marketing Society Board Member
