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Twitter is beachless but bullish and Meta hearts AI

Twitter gave up its beach and new CEO Linda Yaccarino is not in the south of France; she is apparently sipping cold beverages elsewhere. But the platform owned by Elon Musk still sent some ad sales folks to Cannes where they are trying to convince advertisers the company cares about brand safety, Ad Age’s Garrett Sloane reports. 

Twitter today announced it is talking with ad viewability and verification firm Zefr. Meantime, Chris Riedy, Twitter’s head of ad sales, tweeted that “more than 75% of 2022’s Top 100 advertisers have returned to paid media on Twitter.” And Tim Perzyk, VP of marketing and research at Twitter, used the platform to solicit Cannes gatherings, saying, “If you’re not already meeting with us, give us a shout.”

Twitter competitor Meta—which does have a beach—is plugging its brand safety tools as a strength, while also touting plans to serve more ads into Reels. And the Facebook owner is talking a lot about AI, like just about everyone else. Get all the details of Meta’s Cannes sales pitch here.

NBCU's new global play

Yaccarino’s former company, NBCUniversal, tried to gain some of its own Cannes buzz by announcing a global expansion of its One Platform, which in partnership with Comcast sibling FreeWheel will now allow brands to manage global linear and connected TV campaigns in a single buy across markets in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Ad Age’s Jack Neff got the details on the strategy from NBCU President and Chief Business Officer Krishan Bhatia, who positioned it as a way to appeal to growing demand from brands to manage media planning and buying with greater scale across regions.

Let’s make a deal

Other Cannes deals/announcements we tracked today include:

Omnicom is integrating Google’s generative AI models into its ad tech, which the holding company plugged as the first commercial use of Google’s generative AI tech.

Measurement rivals Nielsen and EDO are coming together for an offering that combines their data for planning, buying and outcomes measurement. 

VideoAmp inked a 10-year agreement with Allen Media Group, which owns The Weather Channel, to serve as the media company’s primary trading currency.

Stagwell’s Gale signed a pledge to refuse to work with fossil fuel companies, marking a win for the nonprofit Clean Creatives. Read more on that pledge in our blog.

Also in our blog: Adlook, a new ad-buying platform that factors in sustainability, announced a new product called GreenPath that it says will help advertisers buy programmatic ad inventory while cutting carbon emissions by up to 40%.

Celebrity sightings

It wouldn’t be Cannes without celebrity news. And on that front, Trevor Noah spoke about his new deal with Spotify to stream a non-exclusive show on the service, which is wooing advertisers this week with a concert lineup that includes Foo Fighters, A$AP Rocky, Jack Harlow, and Florence + the Machine. 

Also in Cannes is Kevin Heart, who will be honored as Entertainment Person of the Year. Ad Age’s Tim Nudd caught up with the comedian to get the latest on his media and production company, Hartbeat.

The Cannes winners circle

Today’s award haul includes:

Clash of Clans’ ‘Clash From the Past’ wins two Grand Prix—in Entertainment and Gaming

Michelob Ultra’s effort to help a blind man call a basketball game wins Entertainment for Sport Grand Prix

Japan Railway station stamps project wins Industry Craft Grand Prix

Nike’s ‘Never Done Evolving’ with Serena Williams scores Digital Craft Grand Prix

McCann New York’s 'ADLaM' for Microsoft wins Design Grand Prix

Kendrick Lamar’s short film ‘We Cry Together’ wins Film Craft Grand Prix at Cannes

Apple’s ‘The Greatest,’ Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Beautiful Life,’ win music Grand Prix

Two Volvo safety ideas, protecting cyclists and pedestrians, win Future Lions Grand Prix

Number of the day

30%: The ownership stake taken by WPP in Majority, the hot shop co-founded by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. 

Quotable

“I think it points the light at a couple of areas that people need to take a hard look at.”—Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard on Association of National Advertisers report on the programmatic supply chain, which was released during Cannes.

“Beryte Restaurant. It’s my favorite spot to eat!”—Cannes pro tip from Diego Machado, global chief creative officer, AKQA, who offered Cannes observations in Ad Age’s weeklong series in which creatives share insights about their nominated work and other Cannes insights. 

Read more from our Cannes 2023 Snapshots series here.