Cannes and DE&I—how diversity and culture will show up at the ad festival

When Adrianne Smith attended her first Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in 2017, she was energized by the creativity and buzz of the festival, yet she also found something troubling. “Out of the 20,000 people that were attending, only 200 looked like me,” said the senior VP and chief diversity and inclusion officer at FleishmanHillard. “So every person of color you saw, you made sure you gave them a nod or wave. Out of that 200 people, probably most of them were either” support staff or entertainment, she said. That startling lack of diversity led Smith to create Inkwell Beach, the festival’s first DE&I beach. It is one of a growing number of activations aimed at amplifying diverse voices at a festival that made its debut seven decades ago and has been slow to evolve. Through the efforts of independent groups like Smith’s—and Cannes itself, which recently named its first chief DE&I officer—the festival has made strides in becoming more inclusive, but some say there is more work to be done. Below is a look at some of the ways that DE&I and culture will be showing up at Cannes in 2024. Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns Inkwell Beach Smith’s Cannes Can: Diversity Collective, the nonprofit organization that launched Inkwell Beach, began in 2019. Inkwell Beach, named after the African American haven on Martha’s Vineyard, has been a mainstay since offering panels centered around different industry topics. This year’s Inkwell speakers include Queen Latifah, John Legend, Deepak Chopra, as well as executives from Mastercard, Expedia, Translation, TikTok, McCann, Google and Microsoft. Also read: The state of diversity in advertising and marketing More ‘equitable access’ Cannes Lions’ first chief DE&I officer, Frank Starling, is working on improving what he called “equitable access” to the festival. To that end, Cannes Lions has pledged to spend over $1 million to provide free passes to members of underrepresented and underserved communities. This initiative complements Cannes’ existing programs such as See It Be It, which offers free festival attendance and mentorship opportunities to 16 women and non-binary individuals, and the Lions scholarship, which invites 10 individuals under 30 to participate in the festival. The festival has also added an area for people with service dogs at the main stages in the Palais; more gender-neutral bathrooms; and technology integrated into Cannes signage to help those who are visually impaired, according to Starling, who attended the festival for the first time last year. This is also the first year that Cannes will have a celebration for Eid al-Adha, the Islamic holiday, which will take place Monday. Google Beach will host a Pride celebration on Thursday, followed by an LGBTQ+ event hosted by Revry at the Palais on Friday. The Cannes Lions also created an accessibility guide this year. Also read: A celebration of creative excellence for Pride Month 2024 There are also new partnerships focused on gender rights and empowerment. The Women in Advertising and Communication Leadership organization and PR company Propeller Group are introducing the Empower Cafe, a women-centric inclusive hub that will host panels and other events throughout the week. Among the panels: “The Role of AI and Inclusive Storytelling with Media.Monks” and “Being Seen: Celebrating LGBTQAI+ Trailblazers and Their Legacy of Authenticity.” There will be several panels throughout Cannes based on AI’s role in inclusive marketing efforts. On Thursday, WPP will host a panel at its beach activation centered around how brands such as Honda and Microsoft are leveraging AI to reach untapped markets. Panel speakers include Christina Mallon, head of inclusive design at Microsoft, and Josh Loebner, global head of inclusive design at VML. Inkwell Beach’s second day of panels is dedicated to tech’s role in inclusive advertising. There will be several panels with a focus on AI and diversity as well, with speakers from Omnicom, McCann, Microsoft and Accenture Song. Also read: Inside the multicultural marketing debate Cannes has also entered into a partnership with TimeTo, an industry initiative set up to take on sexual harassment in advertising, with a focus on guidance and education around sexual harassment at industry events. This will be promoted with a series of out-of-home ads, with original work created by Lucky Generals, during the festival. The Female Quotient’s Equality Lounge will be returning this year at the Hotel Martinez. Speakers throughout the week include Kate Jhaveri, global head, marketing at TikTok; Carla Hassan, chief marketing officer at JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Cathy Oh, head of marketing at Samsung Ads; Sophie Bambuck, CMO at The North Face; Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T; Tammy Henault, CMO at the NBA; and Erin Riley, U.S. CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day. Black at Cannes Black at Cannes, an organization created to ensure inclusivity for Black professionals in advertising, is also returning this year at its Black House headquarters. The organization collaborates with the festival to increase the representation of Black jurors, while also providing a space for Black executives to host events. Also read: How to get on an awards jury Last year, the organization partnered with Cannes to name Spike Lee as the Cannes Lions’ first Creative Maker of the Year. Black at Cannes Founder and CEO Peter Ukhurebor said he has seen a decline in interest from holding companies and brands in sponsoring the organization this year compared to previous years. Last year, Black at Cannes had around 10 sponsors, according to Ukhurebor, including Unilever, the Jordan Brand, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Ebony, Vice and News UK. WPP was a sponsor in 2022. Google is the organization’s sole sponsor this year. Ukhurebor believes the decline of sponsors is indicative of a larger issue within the industry, that brands and holding companies backtracking on promises made following the George Floyd murder in 2020. “The Cannes Lions themselves have been very liberal in introducing new countries and giving opportunities to different perspectives of people. So I’m perplexed with the fact that the agencies are not following suit when they are supposed to be at the forefront of innovation and change,” Ukhurebor said. Black at Cannes, which Ukhurebor said has thousands of members, is still committed to hosting its CMO brunch, a yacht event and other planned activities. But the decrease in sponsors will impact the group’s ability to sponsor attendees for the Cannes festival: Last year, Black at Cannes sponsored 30 individuals; this year, the number will be fewer than 20. The organization will also officially launch its app, currently in beta, which enables marketers, agency employees and other advertising insiders to connect for advice, recruiting and business opportunities. Smith, the Cannes Can founder, agreed that getting sponsorships from some companies has become more difficult, especially since it has gotten more expensive to rent space during the Cannes festival. But Smith believes there will always be companies willing to invest in DE&I. “I think that people who are truly committed to the work are going to stay committed to the cause. We’ve got sponsors who have been in it since day one and are still with us,” said Smith, who is leading a talk at the Palais about how “DE&I will never die.” “Yes, there have been shifts in terms of the amounts, but then there are other people who have actually leaned in and been able to continue to support what it is that we’re doing.” Also read: How much brands have to pay to advertise at Cannes Juneteenth celebrations In addition to holding a toast at Inkwell Beach on Monday, Group Black will bring back “Club Quarantine,” a live performance and party hosted by DJ D-Nice, on Wednesday at the Bisous Bisous Club at Hotel Barriere Le Majestic. Last year’s event included a special appearance by rapper Q-Tip. “Before Group Black, there wasn’t this type of place and presence at Cannes,” said Cavel Khan, chief growth officer at Group Black. “It’s about having certain conversations and bringing the culture to Cannes. That’s how Club Quarantine came to be. We said, ’Here’s something massive in culture, Club Quarantine, and let’s bring it to Cannes and have this advertising ecosystem see what this culture does, because it is a culture that drives excitement, it is a culture that drives influence, and it’s why you should be investing with companies like Group Black and others.’” (DJ D-Nice, whose real name is Derrick Jones, started Club Quarantine virtually during the beginning of the pandemic.) Also on Juneteenth, WPP will host a “Belonging @ Cannes” event in partnership with music licensing company Songtradr that will include live music performances and feature speakers such as WPP U.S. president Michael Houston; VML executive chairwoman Tebogo Skwambane; and record executive and co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment Kevin Liles. Gary Williams Jr., co-founder and chief creative officer of agency Creative Theory, is also organizing a “melanated group photo” on Juneteenth, according to a recent LinkedIn post. Other cultural events Advertising Week will host U.S. Latino Day on Thursday at the roof of the Five Seas Hotel. The event will feature networking sessions, roundtables and an activation by the Hispanic Marketing Council, centered around a campaign launched in April. The campaign aims to encourage CMOs to invest in more authentic Latino marketing. While the organization is looking to keep specific details of the activation under wraps, one of the leaders of the campaign, Luis Miguel Messianu, founder, president and chief creative officer of Messianu Edelman Lerma, said it will include a stunt on the Croisette as well as an ad in the Wall Street Journal. Tubi will host panel conversations around understanding Black and Latino audiences, Gen Alpha and multicultural marketing at its Cabana space. Austin, Texas-based agency Bakery will host a cocktail break on Tuesday featuring a fusion of French and Texas food and drinks. TDW+Co is hosting its second annual Stop at Nothing Cafe on Tuesday, meant to connect the Asian community at Cannes and anyone else who is interested. Tim Wang, the founder of TDW+Co, thought of the event after feeling overwhelmed during his first Cannes trip three years ago. Along with the event, he has put together a WhatsApp group of over 100 people to help each other navigate Cannes.

Cannes and DE&I—how diversity and culture will show up at the ad festival

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