The Rebooting in Cannes

A quick update on our Cannes plans:

• Sign up for a pop-up Cannes text edition of The Rebooting
• Let me know if you're interested in coming to any of The Rebooting's gatherings in Cannes

House parties

It’s that time of the year when people ask someone who lives in the same city if they want to meet up 3,000 miles away. A slice of the media industry is heading off to the South of France for the Cannes Lions, an annual pilgrimage that is confidently dismissed as a wasteful boondoggle by many and invariably described to me by seemingly sober execs as a critical gathering spot for dealmaking. The truth is usually somewhere in between. 

As I wrote a couple years ago:

“Cannes nowadays presents itself as a festival of creativity, but it’s really a carnival of capitalism. It is an extroverts’ paradise. It is endless coffee meetings, cocktails, lanyards and wristbands, lavish dinners and intimate dinners. Sales people love Cannes. And in truth, everyone is in sales.”

Cannes is divisive. In previous years, I did a daily newsletter from Cannes. It was always my biggest week for unsubscribes. I’m trying something new this year with Cannes by using Subtext to send text messages throughout the week. My focus will be on what the insanity and inanity along the Croisette and beyond say about the new era the media industry is entering. Cannes should not be taken literally and only semi-seriously.

I’m nearing 20 trips to this strange gathering. You’ll get 3-5 messages a day. I’ll include tips on making the most of the trip as well as my vibe-based observations of this carnival of capitalism. I promise not to spam you. I want to try Subtext because texting is an interesting channel for a direct connection that lends itself to the more casual. My hunch is this is best for short-term engagement vs an always-on distribution channel like email. It’s not like a group text, but it allows for recipients to send back messages. I’m interested in how to make it more of an interactive channel than broadcast. We’ll see.

Like most industry events these days, Cannes is in large part an ad tech event. The programmatic people colonized the yacht scene at Cannes, producing a jarring metaphor as the digital ad middlemen splashed out on fancy yachts while publishers were trying in vain to flag down a waiter to get a 10 euro bottle of water at a dingy cafe with full ashtrays. The marketers are celebrities in Cannes, even with real celebrities all over the place. You start to realize in Cannes that people can say media is dying all they want, but it remains a powerhouse in shaping culture. The monetization mechanics are just out of whack.

The popular move for big publishers is to rent a “house.” In true Cannes fashion, these houses are rarely actually houses. They tend to be an apartment suite with a balcony, or a ground floor unit with a garden in The Wall Street Journal’s case. The Journal popularized this concept, with houses that started in Davos and have spread to other marquee events around the globe. Other publishers have followed suit. These houses act like yachts: A place to have clients, fringe programming, private dinners, and cocktail parties. 

They tend to be more modest affairs, certainly in comparison to the massive beach installations the tech overlords occupy. You can find metaphors everywhere in Cannes.

For some publishers, this creates an optics issue. The more with less era in media doesn’t line up neatly with the Riviera. I don’t expect Elon Musk to resurrect the sprawling Twitter beach anytime soon. In truth, these houses are fairly modest investments that tend to be profitable with sponsorships. Still a tough sell to the troops in the trenches back home in a time of buyouts, layoffs and austerity measures. That brings up a key Cannes tip: Do not complain about going to Cannes. You are in the Riviera. This isn’t a hardship assignment, no matter how dehydrated you are. It’s a perk. Take the W. 

This is the kind of work that AI isn’t going to replace. Point it at the spreadsheet drudgery, not this. I used to take a more moralistic view of all of the conspicuous consumption of Cannes and veneer of glamour for an industry that’s become more about data crunching than anything creative. Cannes is supposed to celebrate advertising creativity. Yet it will be filled with people who are pointing AI at ad creativity. Cannes used to be ruled by the ad creatives in fedoras and white sunglasses; now the robots are coming to make the ads. Expect the Cannes organizers to simply award a Grand Prix for AI. Capitalism is adaptable.

I plan to ask everyone I meet to name their favorite ad campaign of the year. I’m interested to see what responses I get. At least Staples has brought back the easy button, although that highlights how un-creative the industry has become with its reliance on algorithmic ad targeting to drive performance rather than classic marketing. WPP’s rebrand of GroupM to be WPP Media didn’t use the word “agency” once in the announcement. It’s now an AI-powered media company, apparently. This is part of the overall lane changing in media, as what used to be agencies become principals.

I'm leading a few conversations during the week.

• On Monday, I’m recording a live taping of The Rebooting Show at the Hearst House with Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Willa Bennett and Hearst global CRO Lisa Ryan about reinventing the storied brand. Willa is part of a new generation of magazine editor, coming to Hearst from streetwear media company High Snobiety. I wanted to have the editorial and sales sides in this conversation because the reality of these magazines is they are fully brands now, to be expressed in various ways that are well beyond print.
• On Wednesday, we will hold our annual Media Leaders Dinner. We are gathering C-level executives for a great evening of dinner and drinks at Baoli Beach. Thanks to EX.CO for its partnership on this.
• On Thursday afternoon, we are holding a live edition of People vs Algorithms at the Dotdash Meredith Villa, which unlike the other publisher houses is an actual house. I still haven’t met Alex in person, and it won’t be here. Instead, I’ll be joined by Troy Young, Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer and Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel. The secret to Cannes programming is to make sure you have drinks/networking to programming ratio of 2:1. We will have mingling, drinks and those little sandwich appetizers you run into in Cannes all the time before an hourlong recording before returning to cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. 

We have limited availability at our gatherings. I’m of the mind that smaller is always better. 70-person events beat 700-person events.  Often a 7-person dinner beats the 70-person event. If you’re interested in a securing a spot, register here. We’ll be sending out approvals. One request: Only register if you truly want to come. As I said, space is limited, and Cannes is the worst with people who sign up for everything and then ghost. I have PTSD from previous Cannes on this front. I’m not saying it’s the worst trauma to carry.