“They play a significant role in the success of a 360 campaign,” he explained, “so the key to success lies in how [agencies] collaborate with them. Being able to spend a few days together in Cannes, enriching [our] culture with [theirs], is a win-win for sure.”
Elsewhere, a full day of creator-centric content will take over the main festival’s Terrace Stage on June 20. Madeline Argy, creator of the Pretty Lonesome podcast; actors Yara Shahidi and Steven He, and Jay Shetty are some of the personalities slated to appear. Creators will also take to stages beyond the main festival, from MediaLink’s Beach to Amazon’s Port.
Retail media front and center
The ad industry has also been abuzz with retail media’s exponential growth, especially as advertisers turn to retailer data to fill an impending gap left by cookie deprecation. But retail media networks—many of which just started—are about to exit the honeymoon phase and now need to show that they can offer real value to grab consistent investment from advertisers.
A big part of that is supplying retail data to heavily scaled big media firms (that aren’t Google or Meta).
“Retail media will definitely be front and center at Cannes,” Andrew Lipsman, retail media analyst, told ADWEEK. “I expect there will be two big themes: retail and media company partnerships, and the rise of streaming TV in retail media.”
Related video
Lipsman predicts a few new big partnership announcements along the Côte d’Azur, similar to deals announced earlier this year including Best Buy and CNET, Instacart and NBCU, and Walmart and Disney.
While retail media juggernaut Amazon has long had a presence at the festival, it’s back with a major installation, dubbed A’Maison, around the corner from the Palais along the Port de Cannes. Sessions will cover topics such as generative AI in ads and the creator economy.
Retail media network Walmart Connect is back for its third year at Cannes with more speakers onstage and a suite at the Majestic, its largest footprint to date. Target’s Roundel will also have a presence and dedicated space, with programming around commerce media, data clean rooms and collaboration.
But retail media companies will need to sell more than just a scaled data package, experts say. Retailers will need to show the unique value of their audience as they consume content across digital and TV.
“This isn’t just about a plug-and-play of content or a media buy,” said Beth Ann Kaminkow, global chief commerce officer at VML. “This is about an opportunity to amplify and share creativity and engagement through moving an audience with retail media into these channels.”
