Morning,
Writing about Cannes 2 weeks after feels a little like sharing a 2025 Trends email in May, but the need to catch-up with actual work was real. Now that I’m 50% of the way out of inbox hell, we can begin.
There are a few goals for this letter/pod: 1) Heap praise on the few brands and orgs that did things well 2) Give a healthy dose of constructive criticism 3) Share how we want to reinvent this whole thing, because what else are two fresh pairs of eyes good for?
Quick note: This email will get cut off due to all the photos. Carry on in the browser for all the pics.
THIS WEEK’S EPISODE:
02:01 — Pinterest brought their brand to life 88 ways when most didn’t do 1—and won.
08:37 — Female Quotient wins for most actionable takeaways.
14:03 — COLLINS House managed the one thing lacking everywhere else: atmosphere.
20:19 — TikTok’s team wins for best understanding of guest experience.
24:38 — Canva did 3 things very right: visual identity, swag & gatherings.
28:09 — LinkedIn was dialed in. And packed it with a brand’s best friend: good staff.
32:35 — Brands & Culture became our de facto hub—something desperately needed.
35:49 — Yahoo’s team built something very cute. But it lacked one crucial thing.
38:25 — Sports Beach was a popular destination. But they had a plan for it.
39:56 — Marriott had the right talent. But they misunderstood the assignment.
42:29 — Brand Innovators continues to crush it. But dear lord, that logo.
45:15 — BCG wins for the lowest ceilings in the history of all events.
47:09 — Goals House: the coolest crowd and chillest vibe came together over impact.
49:09 — Sunday Dinner gathered and bonded people—no small feat.
50:50 — Google, the impossible hard ticket. But why?
52:10 — Thrads: Young guns with a Rolls-Royce and a robot dog.
54:09 — Inkwell winning with an important message.
55:42 — A few quick thoughts on Substack. Invisible yet there.
57:05 — The hottest ticket: the closed-door sessions.
58:10 — Kirsten tells us about judging Young Lions
59:08 — Little notes on Amazon, Tubi, Snap Meta, DoorDash, and more.
01:02:20 — 10 hot takes on what needs to happen next year.
PINTEREST
EVERYTHING POPPED // Pinterest was by far the most experiential of the activations. It was the difference between talking about your brand versus letting people experience it. Grade: A++
FEMALE QUOTIENT
FULL OF TAKEAWAYS // Frankly, most talks and panels we saw were meh at best (more on that in the takeaways), but at FQ each talk was geared towards actionable takeaways—refreshing. Speaking of takeaways, they also had a lot of physical ones. We get into what worked.
COLLINS HOUSE
TRUE HOSPITALITY // Collins House had a packed schedule of talks and panels (we share our fave), but what stood out was the atmosphere. Relaxed, delightfully friendly, and badge-free.
TIKTOK
GETS THE GUEST // TikTok put on a full week of content and gatherings at the hub of Cannes, The Carlton Hotel. But the most noteworthy thing: event management that puts guest happiness first.
CANVA
A GATHERING PLACE // First things first: Canva’s bags were the biggest swag win in my book. Their visual identity was on point. But their strategy was good too. Gatherings were the priority.
LINKEDIN
CORPORATE CHILL // Hear us out: LinkedIn was chill. They had a few activations, and they were thoughtful. Also, they had something most lacked: proper food. We had a few notes, naturally.
CARLTON HOTEL
CENTRAL BUT NOT // Quick notes on the Carlton Hotel: Lovely tampons. Not so lovely wait staff. But worse, this space isn’t optimized for its use.
BRANDS & CULTURE
GOOD CULTURE // It’s no secret we’re fans of the Brands & Culture team—just the loveliest. But their programming was varied in such a refreshing way. And they hold a mean happy hour. They do exactly what their name says. Great recap here.
YAHOO
ADORABLE BUT QUIET // Yahoo’s activation design was adorable. The visual identity felt very clear. But there was never anyone there. Proof that you can make things look good but if the product isn’t landing, it’s not going to change the outcome. They should have pulled a Canva and hosted outside party events to drive traffic.
SPORT BEACH
CAME TO PLAY // Sadly, we couldn’t get into what was seemingly one of the biggest attractions on the Croisette. But they did us a solid, and they had a screen with the panels for boardwalk listening.
MARRIOTT
MAKE IT MORE // We were kindly invited to an event with chefs Massimo Bottura and Anthony Porowski. Fantastic guests. The issue: the format was all wrong.
BRAND INNOVATORS
EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE // We’re consistently impressed with Brand Innovator’s ability to show up at every event. We enjoyed the Gary V talk at SXSW London. But what can we do to help with that logo?
BCG
LOW CEILING AWARD // The award for low ceiling at Cannes is a tough category, with many contenders, but BCG’s spot won Gold. We were there to see the High Snobiety Luxury report talk, which we were told was over, but in fact wasn’t—not the best. But here’s the report. The essential nuggets?
GOALS HOUSE
IMPACT IS COOL // By far the best-dressed crowd in Cannes was found at the Goals House. Loved the mix of music, talks, and good vibes.
SUNDAY DINNER
BONDING OVER SINKING // A cool dinner that led to an impromptu ‘yacht’ party that led to the police declaring that the boat was indeed sinking led to some of the best connections—in true Cannes style.
GOOGLE
ANECDOTAL TALES // Despite my lovely connections at Google, I could not get in—tough ticket. Lots of angry and frustrated folx at the door. That said, anecdotally, I heard their AI demos were great. One event made a campaign for Slice in real time, creating mong other things a real radio station. Can’t tell you more, but this was one of the few things anyone reported being genuinely useful.
CLOSED-DOORS
CMO SECRETS // Another thing we were told repeatedly by CMOs was that the closed-door sessions were the most useful. Small peer groups, with the freedom to talk to folx in similar roles and tackle real issues. Frankly, this sounds like the future of Cannes mixed with proper experiential and parties.
THRADS
SCRAPPY WORKS // I came across Thrads, an ads platform for ChatGPT ads, via the XP Land brunch. They won an award for best experiential. Why? They hired a Rolls-Royce and were offered air-conditioned rides up and down the Croisette in return for hearing their pitch—clever. They also had a robot dog.
Note of Thrads’ actual business: I got to chatting with them and they are making ads within conversational LLMS. One interesting thing they talked about was that they generate the ad in real time based on what you’re looking for—changing how you think about ads for sure.
INKWELL
BIG IMPACT // Inkwell is one of the bigger spaces on the beach and at a time when diversity and DEI is taking a back seat it was great to see them there. The founder gave a get-you-to-your-feet rallying cry speech at the XP Land brunch—fan-girled hard.
SUBSTACK
INVISIBLE BUT THERE // Given that they don’t do advertising, it might not be surprising they weren’t there, but it was a miss. There were a lot of creators there. But the biggest miss of all. I had SO many people want to subscribe, and the app offers no easy QR code for people to scan. What in the actual f. Insanity.
JUDGING YOUNG LIONS
THE NEW GEN // Kirsten was a judge for the Young Lions, and it was clear the minute I saw her afterwards that it was amazing. So many young, diverse voices. We’re in good hands, folx.
AMAZON, TUBI, SNAP, META, DOOR DASH & MORE
AMAZON: Worked with the city of Cannes to refurbish the parking lot—like that. And they were donating their furniture to the city—also love. But overall, unsurprisingly, very corporate.
META: Felt like a showroom vs an experience. But the enthusiasm for the glasses is there.
TUBI: Big old purple thing clearly meant for meetings
SNAP: Little train takeover but not rolling out Saturn and becoming an essential part of the user experience = a crime.
DOORDASH: We didn’t go in, but the windows were like an ad—not inviting.
Plus pics of other things we saw that were worth including.
10 HOT TAKES
Hit this section for our thinking on each of these issues.
Most of the content was not impressive. Words on repeat: ‘Authenticity’. ‘Creators’. ‘AI’ Same conversations, ad nauseam. There’s a fix.
People loved the closed-door session. Why? CMOs are trying to keep their heads above water. This is the opportunity.
Connecting and shared experiences are a huge piece of why people go to Cannes. And yet, there weren’t enough ways to do it well. Big shout out to all the people we met,
, and Lindsey at Sunday Dinner.More true experiences are needed. Inspiration was lacking. There are good examples for how to fix this.
Many brands were missing usefulness. The brief should start here.
The experts weren’t always at the table. We don’t need CMOs talking about working with creators. Let’s get your rad social team to do that. We need CMOs talking about tackling their own realms. No more leaders once removed. Bring your own lens.
Where were the hydration and sunscreen brands? Dear non-ad brands, you have a captive audience here. Take advantage.
Everything runs on lu.ma, but we need more. Snap, step up.
The opportunity is in what no one is doing. Uber sponsors? Ebikes? Flip flops? Hats? Snowcones? Bandaids?
Cannes Lions needs to be integrated better. Let’s break it out of the basement.
TO CLOSE
Forget Rosé. Orangina is the unofficial sponsor on Cannes. Dip was the other.
Without my extroverted sidekick, this is me. Took my introverted soul about 2 weeks just to recover.
And, as always, all of the places we ate & sipped (and loved) are stored in my AmiGo. Use code GOOD THINKING to skip the waitlist.
That’s all, folx.
-Chris
If you listened/read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
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