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AI overload

As everyone knows, unless you are living under a rock, the ad industry is obsessed with AI. And that obsession has spilled into Cannes, so much so that it has become a bit of an annoyance for some people, who are complaining it has overshadowed other topics such as creativity and sustainability, as reported today by Ad Age’s Asa Hiken and Brian Bonilla. 

Read more here on how AI is showing up in Cannes panels, deal-making, out-of-home ads, Grand Prix awards and more. 

But will the hype last? “No one is talking about the Metaverse and NFTs anymore. If you came here last year, everyone was talking about that, now everyone's talking about AI. God knows what they'll be talking next year,” said Fernando Machado, the former Burger King and Activision Blizzard marketer who is currently CMO at plant-based food maker NotCo.

Climate action

It can be tough to spot someone in Cannes throngs, but not Richard Edelman, who was trailed along the Croisette yesterday by the environmental activist group Clean Creatives. The group held signs pointing to Edelman that read, “This person works with fossil fuel clients” and “This agency is happy to greenwash fossil fuels.” The group also hijacked the agency’s Gen Z Lab presentation, with an audience member asking Allison Cirullo, the agency’s global chief operating officer, how the shop’s work with clients such as ExxonMobile and Shell squares with Gen Z.

In a statement to Ad Age, Richard Edelman said, “We work with clients committed to change. We have educated every employee on sustainability communications best practice. We have a very thorough process for evaluating new clients. We have introduced an important study at Cannes to show best practices in sustainability communications to the festival.”

Retail media network standards

“It’s not a stone tablet. It’s a call to conversation,” said Kristi Argyilan, senior VP of retail media at Albertsons, before a presentation at Cannes urging retail media networks to adopt a standardization framework to improve transparency in retail media. Omnicom, Unilever, Pinterest and R3 are already on board with the push, which is to establish common definitions and standards among all retail media networks, a business expected to reach $106 billion by 2027, according to an eMarketer projection. 

Albertsons also wants retail media networks to adopt IAB standards on elements such as ad units, non-disruptive ad experiences and new media experiences such as virtual reality, digital video and connected TV.

Ad Age’s Jack Neff has more on the Albertsons proposal here.

No comparison

During a press conference today, director Spike Lee was asked about the difference between the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and the Cannes Film Festival. He cited “a big difference” between the two. “No belittling Cannes Lions, but when you get a film in Cannes [Film Festival],” he said, “it is the big time.” Lee was there to receive the inaugural honorary award as Creative Maker of the Year.

The Cannes winners circle

Today’s award haul:

• Cadbury’s ‘Shah Rukh Khan My Ad’ small business ad tool wins Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix
• Renault’s ‘Plug Inn’ wins creative strategy Grand Prix
• Mouthpad,’ a touchpad for your tongue, wins Innovation Grand Prix at Cannes
• ‘Ted Lasso’ FIFA 23 integration from EA Sports and Apple TV wins Grand Prix for Brand Experience & Activation
• Delivery app Pedidos Ya wins Mobile Grand Prix for World Cup play
• HungerStation’s ‘The Subconscious Order’ wins Creative Commerce Grand Prix
• McCann New York’s ‘ADLaM’ for Microsoft wins Grand Prix in Creative Business Transformation

Number of the day

12.7%: How much weight transparency will have in new scoring criteria to certify measurement companies as transactable currencies in media deals, according to an announcement from OpenAP at a Cannes Lions event today. 

Read more: How the Joint Industry Committee will certify Nielsen alternatives

Quotable

“AI is overshadowing the fact that I think the work [across the industry] is still pretty bloody average. …Creativity is probably not in its boldest place right now. And it's been three years and we're out of COVID so at what point are we really going to acknowledge that?”—Troy Ruhanen, TBWA\Worldwide, president-CEO. Read more from his interview with Ad Age's Brian Bonilla here.

“We just need to tune the product into better shape.”—Ray Cao, TikTok’s managing director, global head of product strategy and operations, on making TikTok shopping work in the U.S. See his full interview with Ad Age’s Garett Sloane here. 

“I know they’re not here anymore, but I’m still here for them.”—Susan Hoffman, employee No. 8 at Wieden+Kennedy, on founders Dan Wieden and David Kennedy. Hoffman, who will accept the Lion of St. Mark award this week, reflected on her career with Ad Age’s Tim Nudd.

—Judann Pollack contributed to this newsletter