It's hard to imagine WPP staying entirely away from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, but CEO Martin Sorrell was clearly feeling the effects of the event's length, sprawl and price tag last Friday when he spoke with Ad Age Editor Ken Wheaton.
The festival has morphed from a parochial French exhibition into a costly mass networking event, Mr. Sorrell said, as a long week continued (and he absorbed the surprise results of Britain's vote on exiting the EU). There's no guarantee Cannes will always be worth the expense, he suggested.
"Maybe we take a breath and a pause, maybe stimulated by the results of the referendum, to think again, you know, what we do here and how we do it and dare I say whether we do participate or not," Mr. Sorrell told Ad Age editor Ken Wheaton in this video interview. "I mean, because, it has become a very big exercise, a very expensive exercise."
Watch the video for his full remarks.