Media, ad execs and celebs return to Cannes Lions

It’s that time of year again when the mega-yachts of titans of media, tech and advertising drop anchor in the Mediterranean Sea, where the industry’s biggest names will convene in the glitzy French seaside town of Cannes to make deals and debate the industry’s biggest issues.

The rosé and champagne-infused week-long event, known as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is roaring back this week for its 72nd year – and boasting over 12,000 attendees from over 97 countries, including a heavy-hitting list of top execs, celebs and athletes.

“These are the biggest numbers they’ve ever had,” said 3CV founder Michael Kassan, who has not only been going to Cannes Lions for over 25 years, but is also instrumental in shaping it into what the event has become.

“You have the agencies, you have the brands, you have the creatives, you have the media side and the platforms,” he said. That’s why you get the buzz and that’s why Cannes is a must-attend event. I’m not saying it’s immune to economic pressures and the like but the numbers for Cannes Lions are through the roof [this year].”

The self-proclaimed grand poobah of the illustrious event rattled off a slew of top names in media who will be at this week’s event, including Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy, newly named Instacart CEO Chris Rogers and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden, who is in the running for the top job when Mouse House CEO Bob Iger is slated to step down in late 2026.

Headlining speakers for the five-day fest, which starts Monday, include Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen, who will grab the Creative Champion of the Year award, as well as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan tennis star and entrepreneur Serena Williams, NFL player and Taylor Swift beau Travis Kelce, actress and Hello Sunshine founder Reese Witherspoon and “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon.

Despite the strong attendance, the economy will be top of mind for execs, who are grappling with how to deal with President Trump’s looming  tariffs, a tepid mergers and acquisition environment and uncertainty about how the implementation of artificial intelligence will impact the advertising industry.

“I might have a bit of a hot take on the economy,” said Yahoo Chief Revenue Officer Rob Wilk.”If you look at what you read, it seems way more gloomy than what I experience day to day.”

Wilk. whose media company is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, said that the advertisers are “holding on to dry powder” and waiting to spend versus “slashing budgets and pulling back”  and that he’s seeing that same caution reflected in dealmaking, due in part to the tariff conversation. 

He said M&A deals will only happen if they’re an “accretive acquisition,” giving the example of Yahoo’s April acquisition of Artifact, the AI-driven news aggregation app from Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.

3CV’s Kasan  said he expects the M&A environment to heat up later once two major deals close. He cited  the $13.25 billion merger between ad giant Omnicom and Interpublic, which is expected to close later this year, and Skydance Media’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global.

CBS-parent Paramount is currently embroiled in talks to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against “60 Minutes” over the editing of its sitdown with former Vice President Kamala Harris. The legal settlement will be key for the deal to move forward, according to media experts.

“I do think the M&A landscape and entertainment will get a little busy once the Paramount deal is done,” Kassan said, noting that Cannes will be a hot bed for dealmaking and conversations about how to grow businesses.

This year, execs will be focused on four top issues that can drive revenue; artificial intelligence, commerce, creators and sports media, he said, adding that his new company 3CV will be hosting talks on these themes throughout the week at Plage 3CV on the Croisette.

“AI is everything, everywhere all at once,” he said with a laugh. 

Christopher Vollmer, managing director of MediaLink and partner at UTA agreed, explaining that the “conversations around AI have shifted from can AI create something interesting to how do we create AI responsibly, distinctively and at scale?”

“It’s more about a pragmatic application of AI versus a ‘gee whiz’ reaction,” he said, adding that chief financial officers of companies are pushing their marketing heads to spend efficiently and do more with less money.

“The ability to do that – with the advancements in data, technology, etcetera— reinforces that it is possible to do more with less every year,” he said. “There’s a real focus on what price performance, what marketing investments of any kind can be tied to return on investment.”

Retail or commerce media has become a huge focus for brands looking for growth. He pointed to Amazon– which will have a strong presence once again at Lions– as leading the charge in its value-proposition to partners. 

“Amazon’s whole proposition is ‘we know what you watch and we know what you buy,’” he said, adding that the e-commerce giant is driving a convergence across content, advertising, commerce and shopping.

“It’s not just the big giants anymore,” said Lauren Wiener, Global lead of the marketing, sales and pricing practice of the Boston Consulting Group.”New players and category leaders are turning commerce data into media engines and redefining how advertisers reach consumers.”

Wiener added that chief marketing officers are “reshaping” how they spend, “not retreating,” and this is taking the form of “doubling down” on areas that unlock both efficiency and growth while slashing costs and legacy business models.

Brand building is also central to any marketer’s agenda, and that the importance of sports media and creators/ influencers have exploded in recent years due in part to, its ability to reach younger audiences.

Professional athletes will take center stage at events held by Axios, Medialink, Deep Blue Sports and Stagwell with its impressive Sports Beach complex, addressing a variety of topics from the creator economy, AI, mental health, style and how to support female athletes.

Cannes will welcome NBA all-star Carmelo Anthony, WNBA champion Sue Bird, former NFL star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, former Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez and  soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, among others.

Brands have leaned on athletes because they have become as important as traditional entertainment franchises due to their popularity and ability to drive engagement with consumers.

Pointing to the NBA finals, Josh Rosenberg, CEO of creative communications firm, Day One Agency said fans across the country are “really lit up.”

“I think it is perfect for storytelling,” he said, referring to the finals. “Everyone is rooting for their person and I think that in this day and age, it is what is uniting large groups of people – and also this is one of the only times that audiences are tuned in at the same time to the same things.”

Rosenberg touted the rise in popularity of women’s sports and sports overall, as a way to also reach younger audiences.

“There are all these new personalities that have their own social media followings and platforms and communities that fans are really engaged with, which are prime opportunities for a brand to capitalize on and for them to support athletes on their journey,” he said.

According to Harry Kargman, CEO of mobile brand and ad agency Kargo, working with creators can help brands expand their reach but it’s imperative to have a diversified, measurable and targeted marketing strategy.

Working with influencers can be tricky because it’s almost impossible to measure the power of their reach, unlike with targeted ads, but he said it can be worth it for a brand if they’re looking to reach new customers.

“I think influencers unlike other places- if they build the right content around a brand or around the brand message and if they have authenticity- it can be extraordinarily effective,” Kargman said, “It’s like close to word of mouth but it’s word of mouth to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers.”