Cannes 2024 costs—pitch deck reveals how much brands pay to advertise at festival

The thing about the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is that it is also one big advertisement—branding is for sale everywhere. Signs hang from the facades of historic hotels and digital screens flash at the Palais and along the beach’s Croisette thoroughfare. The activations cost anywhere from $40,000 to upwards of $200,000, according to a pitch deck obtained by Ad Age, with prices rising about 25% since the event returned to an in-person format in 2022. At Cannes, everything has a price, even coffee carts, which come in at $161,000, according to the pitch deck. Here is a sampling of Cannes branding, partnership and housing opportunities from the pitch deck, which can be seen below: * All prices converted from euros to USD Also read: Is Cannes pricing worth it? The advertising spaces for the top ad agencies, media companies and platforms can be as small as chest-high signposts to a beachfront property—or in Pinterest’s case, a pier. Last year, Netflix made its Cannes debut by erecting a giant version of its “N” logo on the top of the JW Marriott. An out-of-home ad campaign at JW Marriott for the festival starts at $75,000, according to the pitch deck. The ability to slap a brand on a hotel includes hanging banners down the front of the building, rooftop digital screens, balcony signs, branding on storefronts along the street and on the Croisette, the pitch deck says. Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns XR Extreme Reach, which co-hosts multiple events throughout the week with ad agencies and platforms, noted the price tags are rising at Cannes. It found this year was even more competitive because of renovations at the Marina, which created a scarcity of yachts, according to Meredith Brace, chief marketing officer at XR. “That became a mad scramble,” Brace said of the rush for yachts, which are especially prevalent among ad tech companies at Cannes. XR is partnering with companies and groups at Cannes, including Procter & Gamble, Dentsu and Ad Council. XR is even helping promote ad icon Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday. All of the activity requires a marketing push on the ground, and this year Cannes organizers were aggressive with their sales efforts, Brace said. “The chatter among some marketers was about how long they can continue to pay [these rates],” Brace said. For XR, the event this year will be about getting “back to the roots” of Cannes, Brace said, highlighting creativity and creators. Also read: Creators to take on an even bigger role at Cannes Beachgoers Every year at Cannes, there are debates about prices and the return on investment attendees can expect. Also, there are Cannes purists who bemoan the fact that the creative community gets priced out by the major tech platforms. There are beaches for tech companies; for instance, Amazon takes over the whole port. TikTok has become a regular at the Carlton and Spotify commands a central perch on the beach, where it hosts live concerts. A beachfront presence starts in the low-seven figures, and that’s before hiring celebrity talent to show up or building large installations, according to Cannes veterans. But Cannes has greater competition brewing in marketing circles with the surprising rise of events such as Possible, which launched in 2023 in Miami. Possible, created by Christian Muche, the co-founder of DMEXCO, and affiliated with marketing group MMA, appeared to be an attempt to recreate a Cannes-like event within the U.S. The Cannes Lions is part of major events company Ascential. Representatives for Cannes Lions did not return a request for comment for this story. Read more: Possible 2024 and its role in advertising For many festivalgoers who continue to show up in the South of France, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has proved its value. It’s hard to recreate the immediacy and intimacy of Cannes and all the big companies, attendees said. Pinterest, for example, has executed many different activations throughout the years. For one, it has a pier across from the Carlton, where it hosts a “Manifestival” party all week for attendees to manifest their goals. Pinterest also has erected totem-poles in the past pointing to its beachfront. This year, Pinterest is focusing on its Gen Z audience with programming aimed toward that age group. The platform tries to stand out at Cannes, according to Xanthe Wells, Pinterest’s VP of global creative. “Cannes Lions is an important moment for our B2B audiences … both professionally and personally,” Wells said in an email. “With so much messaging, it's important for us to be thoughtful on our approach to Cannes.” Marketers cope Brian Rappaport, CEO of Quan Media Group, an out-of-home specialty agency, has a history of handling the marketing for companies at Cannes. While out-of-home is kind of the “forgotten child” in creative discussions and awards at Cannes, OOH activations are one of the best ways to be seen at Cannes. As the pitch deck from the event shows, marketers buy everything from “totem-poles” on the Croisette to a share of the main digital screen at the Palais. “They’re sold out months in advance,” Rappaport said of the official out-of-home spaces at Cannes. “It’s almost virtually impossible to have an OOH presence unless you take care of it in January.” For close to $45,000, perhaps the cheapest signage, “totem-poles,” are one of the more effective activations, Rappaport said. “So many people walk up and down there,” where the poles are highly visible, Rappaport said. The main digital screen at the Palais, at about $200,000 for 25% of the time during the week, costs more than the average Times Square billboard, Rappaport said. Barring an official deal with festival organizers, some marketers hack their way into Cannes by buying digital billboards on trucks that ride up and down the main street, too. As for the entire Cannes experience, Rappaport said that it mostly pans out in the positive for the brands there. “I think it’s worth every penny,” Rappaport said. “You’ll see marketers and agencies say not to go to Cannes, and say take that money and spend it on X, Y or Z. I think that’s their way of coping.”

Cannes 2024 costs—pitch deck reveals how much brands pay to advertise at festival

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