Cannes Lions From a British Creative Agency View

I can’t believe it's been eight years since my St Luke’s colleagues and I were congregated on the Carlton Terrace at 2 am on 23 June 2016, reassuring ourselves that of course Brexit wouldn’t happen, we would all be back next year, and that the good times would continue unabated.

What followed that pivotal moment in history – the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn and recession, not to mention the war in Europe and beyond - has given the Cannes Lions Festival a very different feel this year.

Of course, there is still the crazy money around, the absurd villas and fancy yachts. And the big, exciting moments, the creative energy and the buzz remain a major attraction.

When Elon Musk dropped in to tell us that he didn’t really mean it when he told advertisers to ‘go Fxxk themselves’ it offered us all a unique glimpse into the thinking of one of the most influential figures in tech and business. Speculation that Taylor Swift might make an appearance proved wide of the mark, but there were plenty of other celebs to keep us entertained, including her boyfriend NFL star Travis Kelce.

But all the hype aside, this year signalled a stronger business focus, with more accessibility, greater concentration on diversity and a stronger sense of the need to connect with people in other markets.

Clients were present in ever greater numbers, driving the sense that Cannes is the place to be for critical business enhancing connections. The growth of the sponsors this year meant the fringe was bigger, with many more free talks and panels, which meant many more people had a voice and took an active part in the debate.

The joy of Cannes has always been the serendipity, the unexpected reunions at the Gutter Bar, the meet ups on LBB Beach or the long chat with the new friend that was about to become your next hire/client/investor. Now people want more certainty they will have the chance to connect and it feels like the serendipity has become more structured.

As an indie agency finding a stage isn’t necessarily easy, so it was tremendously satisfying to be able to be part of a celebration of UK talent. “106 Lions on our shirt” proclaimed the UKAEG banner while the BBC carried the news that UK advertising exports had risen to £18 billion, making the UK a close second behind the US for ad exports. That clout really helps us as a medium-sized creative agency make our case on the global stage. 

And what of the awarded work? It was a relief to be in a “post-purpose” world where more commercial work and humour could flourish. Purpose will always be important, but it needs to be genuine and credible - I particularly liked the 'Adoptable' campaign from Pedigree which demonstrated how purpose and the commercial imperative can be seamlessly brought together.

Having humour as a new category was a good move. We all need a laugh these days and for many of us making funny ads is one of the joys of the industry.  It was great to see work like Uber Trains and Sammakorn getting recognition, which they might not have done in previous years. It was particularly rewarding that the Uber Trains ads are only 30 seconds long too. That serves as a real inspiration for so much of the work we do for our clients.

And finally on AI. The discussion around whether a return to comedy was an attempt by the advertising world to keep AI at bay received a lot of press, but for me, the positive story was that AI will usher in the age of the “creative generalist”.

While production will be democratised like never before, it leaves the role of a creative agency in the AI process to be the prompt, creating ways to make us laugh or cry in a way that is meaningful, memorable, branded and incidentally tells that story across every channel. AI lowers the cost of entry and so more brands will be able to enter the world of sophisticated marketing and that should mean more competition and more work for creative agencies.

A positive thought, eight years on from Brexit, in a world where we are all finally finding our sense of humour again.

Neil Henderson is the chief executive and founder of creative agency St Luke's.