Gen Z at Cannes—what these ad professionals liked and disliked about the festival

Attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is typically reserved for top agency brass and brand CMOs who meet on the Croisette to strike deals and drive new business. But this year’s ad festival included multiple Gen Z ad professionals and creators eager to show brands how they can help them authentically connect to younger demographics. Although this year’s Cannes drew a lot more Gen Z attendees, it was clear they had some different expectations from the festival than other generations, according to interviews with several people from the cohort. (The eldest members of Gen Z turn 27 this year.) Also read: 23 Gen Zers to know in advertising For one, they seemed less focused on generalized Palais conversations and more on niche panels that fit their interests or enabled them to learn about areas they aren’t as familiar with. They were seeking more substance in the areas of diversity, purpose and politics. And they were keenly interested in hearing from creators rather than big industry names. Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns Most of the Gen Zers Ad Age spoke with at Cannes said they were particularly interested in the diversity conversations. Halle Ihenacho, a social strategist and content creator at Gale focused on purpose-driven marketing for the agency’s MilkPep account, said she was interested in the storytelling and inclusion programming. “Gen Z is really focused on the future, we are the future, but also we’re becoming more diverse than ever, in so many ways,” Ihenacho said. “I think it is important to consider how we’re becoming diverse. It’s not just in race, I think we’ve shifted away from multicultural sector marketing into culture, marketing, subculture marketing.” Reid Anderson, a junior art director at Day One Agency, said he was less interested in panels and instead looking to see what is happening around sports. Anderson is taking on more sports projects at his agency, but isn’t as familiar with some of them, he said. Ad Age Gen Z Contributor Column We welcome Gen Zers to submit fresh takes exploring Gen Z within the ad industry Learn more here Eli Williams, a director of creative strategy at Day One Agency, said he was interested in seeing more usable applications of AI after seeing how theoretical the conversations were in Cannes last year. “Someone like me who’s a millennial, I used to go see award shows, because that’s what they’re all about. How to make great creative,” said Karan Dang, the co-founder and CEO of Dang, an agency focused on understanding Gen Z. “The paradigm has shifted. A lot of the younger audiences are now going to be looking at a lot of creators, they’ll be looking at AI applications to take the technical work away and essentially make it more efficient.” “While they do know the big stalwarts of the industry and respect them, they’re also viewed as unapproachable and unattainable,” Dang said. In fact, the Gen Z content creator Kahlil Greene, who makes videos that act as history lessons, landed a prime speaking slot on the Palais stage that traditionally hosts creative industry titans including David Droga and Jeff Goodby, among others. These are signs of a paradigm shift between millennials and Gen Z, Dang said. Other areas of interest among the Gen Zers interviewed included Stagwell’s Sport Beach and how entertainment is interacting with brands. Read more about Stagwell’s Sport Beach Gen Zers who spoke with Ad Age also said there is room for improvement at Cannes to better cater to the demographic. Ihenacho said she felt represented thanks to activations including Inkwell Beach, the festival’s first DE&I beach launched in 2019, but noted that other diverse groups may not feel the same way. “It’s important to have more spaces dedicated to people just being able to connect with each other, find their people, and even be allies to each other within the industry. I hope to see more dedicated diverse houses, beaches and collectives in general, as we evolve,” Ihenacho said. Also: How Juneteenth was recognized in Cannes and the US Some Gen Zers also said they would be interested in seeing more programming around politics or news topics. Greene said it was a “disservice” not to have any panels at the conference on the ongoing Palestine conflict, especially given the focus on social purpose in marketing. Also, general-sounding panels seem less effective at getting the attention of Gen Z. “I’m trying to steer clear of the very generic-sounding panels, that’s like AI and creativity or why ‘We need to be brave,’” Williams said. A place for Gen Z JUV Consulting, which was acquired this year by UTA and launched as its Next Gen practice, hosted the first ZCannes, an event created by Gen Zers focused on helping brands and marketers better understand this important marketing demographic. When Shaina Zafar, co-founder of JUV, first attended Cannes last year, she said, Gen Z didn’t “fully understand how Cannes works.” “When I talked to the students that were here they were like ‘We can’t get into any of the parties. We can only get into panels,’” Zafar said. “There was a lot of gatekeeping. JUV was speaking [on panels last year] but we were the only Gen Zers talking on Gen Z panels.” ZCannes was designed to fix this. The main event included panel programming featuring different types of Gen Z members and throughout the week the Next Gen practice also partnered with brands. ZCannes helped sponsor a cocktail hour at the Hearst House, participated in a “Delta Next Gen” happy hour at MediaLink Beach and helped curate a Pinterest Beach event that allowed attendees to get personalized bracelets, tattoos and aura readings. There was also a Gen Z panel at Spotify Beach, and the Next Gen practice helped provide influencers for eos’ programming at Cannes this year.

Gen Z at Cannes—what these ad professionals liked and disliked about the festival

Featured Stories