INTRODUCTION

INSIDE
Read on for the full report or click on the links below to go directly to a topic.

Each year, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity gathers

influential minds to celebrate the most imaginative, effective, and
transFORM(ative) marketing moments from around the world. Brand
marketers that truly influence are those not afraid to be bold, take risks
and drive future innovations. Throughout the week, Publicis Media
challenged the industry to transFORM, curating conversations that
explored moments of influence, that will continue to drive business
models and societal norms in the coming years.
In total, Publicis Media brands received 184 nominations as well as 3
Grand Prix, 19 Golds, 28 Silvers, 12 Bronzes, and 122 shortlists as
either the primary or a contributing agency.
Read on for highlights and takeaways from the week.

Talent Hunt: New Age Crisis or Age Old

Problem?
transFORM Takeaways
The Rise of the Robots
The Future of Storytelling with
Maurice Lvy and Harvey Weinstein
Inside the Media Jury
TransFORMative Conversations Video

Talent Hunt: New

Age Crisis or Age
Old Problem?
Kathy Ring
CEO, Starcom USA

RETURN TO CONTENTS

Talent today is curious and desires

to learn more.

Finding and retaining top talent continues to be a

challenge for companies. Gone are the days when a
person would spend their entire career with one
company. Employees today are looking for rich
experiences that go beyond tenure, title and
compensation alone. The millennial workforce is
looking to curate career-gaining rich, diverse
experiences across multiple companies and
sometimes even multiple industries.

So what can companies do to meet the evolving

expectations of this changing workforce? Is this simply
a new age talent crisis or an age old problem?

In a discussion hosted by Publicis Media and LinkedIn

at Cannes, industry leaders examined the talent
transformation that is taking place, and how to create
a culture that stands apart in businessall with the
goal of keeping top talent engaged, inspired and
productive. Here are key ways to attract and keep the
best talent in the business.
Opportunity for growth: The newest generation of
employees are motivated by opportunities to sharpen
their skills and grow both professionally and
personally. Talent today is curious and desires to learn

morethey want to understand the why when it

comes to their contribution to a larger plan or project
for the company. Professional development
opportunities can no longer be considered a perk
but rather, a requirement when it comes to engaging
talent.
Meaningful work: Millennials go into a job with a
purposeboth their own and the companys.
Companies that have a clear mission are infinitely
more desirable to top talent today. Employees want to
know there is a larger purpose to what theyre doing
and how they are spending their time. It is also
important to them to not only contribute, but to be
recognized for their contributions.

Diversity: Increasingly, the millennial workforce is

looking to be part of a company that offers diversity
across the boarddiversity of people, experiences,
projects and approaches. Top talent today
understands that approaching things in one singular
way is no way to make progress. Todays workforce is
more concerned with resultswhat they can
accomplishand they know it takes all types of bold
ideas to achieve that.

transFORM
Takeaways
Michael Kahn
CEO, Performics Worldwide, Performance
Global Practice Lead, Publicis Media

RETURN TO CONTENTS

Brands can dance in a hurricane as

long as [they] stand in the eye.

At this years transFORM summit in Cannes, Publicis

Media celebrated the leaders and companies
embracing transformation, whether it be personal,
cultural, industry or business.
Hosted by Publicis Media CEO Steve King,
the
summits eclectic group of speakers included Vanessa
Bayer, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong (Saturday Night
Live); Ryan Seacrest; Bob Pittman (iHeartMedia);
Margaret Gould Stewart (Facebook); Martin Ford
(author and software entrepreneur); Thomas Friedman
(Pulitzer Prize-winning author) and Mark Thompson
(The New York Times Company).

All speakers echoed a main theme: accelerated

transformation has been institutionalized; people and
brands that are best equipped to adaptin terms of
talent, technology, operations and deliverywill
survive and thrive.
Constant Connections: Connectivity has changed
consumer and brand engagement. As consumers are
connecting with the world in ways we never could
imagine, many brands are playing catch-up, striving to
move fast enough to keep pace with their customers.

Thomas Friedman summed up these exceptional

times by offering a thesis: brands can dance in a
hurricane as long as [they] stand in the eye.
Automation, AI and More: Going forward, automation
and robotics will change the workplace. It wont be
easy or linear, but automation will be applied
everywhere and anywhere imaginable.
Artificial
intelligence will also transform marketing. Neural nets
(in search and personal assistants) are getting better
at understanding queries and voice commands. They
will be able to deliver relevant answers/results better
aligned to consumer intent. To succeed in this new
world, brands must possess content that aligns with
that intent.
The Power of Audio: Because of its distinct role in
driving a sense of community and connectivity, radio
provides a powerful connection medium. Digital
delivery has empowered its continued relevancy and
ubiquity. Marketers should not discount radio as
digital and mobile transformation has propelled its
10% growth.

The Rise of the

Robots
Stefan Bardega
Chief Digital Officer, Zenith

RETURN TO CONTENTS

With the rise of intelligent machines, automation is set

to overhaul our economy and change the career
landscape for many. This is the reality that awaits us
as portrayed by Martin Ford in his best-selling book,
The Rise of The Robots.

At the moment, we are undoubtedly seeing the

benefits of automation in our industry. Programmatic
is delivering both efficiencies and effectiveness for
marketers, which is only set to increase. We must also
consider the potential implications of automation on
industry, and our workforce.

Martin Ford was asked to do just that during the

Zenith mainstage presentation at Cannes, The Rise of
the Robots. Ford warned that the replacement of
process-driven jobs by algorithms and intelligent

machines is set to affect those joining our industry

and shared that this could create a talent shortage in
the future. While he believes that creatives and
strategists are not about to be replaced by machines
any time soon, Ford emphasized that understanding
and working with data will be a part of our daily lives.
People who can understand, digest and disseminate
data and technology will be in a strong position in the
future.
Ultimately, Ford believes we can enjoy the benefits of
automation but, as an industry and a society, we must
act now and realize the potential consequences of
uncontrolled automation.

The Future of
Storytelling with
Maurice Lvy
and Harvey
Weinstein
Brian Terkelsen
Global Brand President, Mediavest|Spark

Storytelling has always been central to human

existence. Anyone and everyone craves a good story
and no one does it better than Hollywood.
Today,there are more platforms for stories than ever
before, andthemost popularfit in your hand.
So when Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lvy sat
down with film producer Harvey Weinstein on the
mainstage in Cannes, both had one thing on their
mindthe waysHollywood and Madison Avenueare
managing theseismic shift affecting the storytelling
landscape, and how towork together to engage the
modern consumer. Three themes emerged:

The knockout effect-- finding that perfect balance:

Advertisers understand the importance of making
meaningful connectionsbutdont always get it right
when it comes tothe connection between content
and audience.Toarrive at the golden equation,
Courtesy of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

RETURN TO CONTENTS

brands need tofind the right balance between

whats compelling and whats realistic.
Believe in the power to endear: Not all stories are
inherently emotional, but engaging human emotions
is critical. When brands surround stories with
emotional relevance, they endear themselves to
consumers. This also vastly improves engagement
by encouraging people to share these stories with
others.

Embrace tomorrow now: Tap the opportunity to

innovate within existing platforms. Leveraging the
power of virtual reality, Snapchat, Periscope and
others within more traditional channels will create
new avenues for brands to engage audiences and
share messages with consumers directly.

Inside the
Media Jury
Jodie Stranger
President, Global Network Clients

RETURN TO CONTENTS

Time and again, agility and speed

throughout enabled seamless
storytelling and delivered results.

As a judge at this years festival, over the course of six

days myself and my fellow judges reviewed nearly
3,000 entries, debated what brilliance looks like
today, and witnessed the following themes emerge:

did see technology successfully used to disrupt and

engage consumers. Brands took greater control over a
consumers digital experience, creating unique,
personalized experiences.

Consumer involvement is key. Brands that

personalized their story, created conversation, and
amplified a message to be heard in the cluttered
social landscape rose to the top. Heinekens Dilemma
work for their UEFA sponsorship was a great example
of this, along with Airbnbs Van Gogh work for the Art
Institute of Chicago.

Intuitively tap platform design. There were great

examples of brands harnessing digital platforms core
design and function. For example, the use of
Snapchats three second vanish to transmit messages
to a gay audience in a country where homosexuality is
illegal, or linking the Instagram heart to direct
donations. This opportunistic work creates maximum
relevance with how consumers already intuitively
engage with these platforms.

Social experiences connect. We have made a

significant leap to ensure storytelling lives in multiple
dimensions, allowing consumers to contribute, react,
respond, and create. P&Gs #DADDO campaign was
a great example.
Technology as the disruptor. While there was less
experimentation with technology this year with heavier
a reliance on programs that were tried and tested, we

Simplicity wins. Ultimately we awarded medals, and

the Grand Prix, to work which was simple, purposeful
and where media was central in driving campaign
success. Time and again, agility and speed throughout
enabled seamless storytelling and delivered results.

Cannes Conversations

Future-Focused Tech Gets Real

Best Work

Transformation

Brand Storytelling

Talent Hunt

Creativity

Speed of Data & Tech

transFORMative
Conversations
RETURN TO CONTENTS

Follow Us on Twitter