Ad Land Takes The Path Long Traveled, Schooled On Purpose

Michael Hedges June 27, 2022 Follow on Twitter

Mix sales savvy with ambition, add media and technology, and there is ad land. More than any other, the happy advertising people process the spirit of the times as a matter of course. They create language, behaviors and buzz. It’s what they do.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity - also known as Ad Fest - presented itself last week in the south of France. There were presentations, speeches, parties and awards. The ad people, happily traveling in packs, enjoyed the fireworks, copious entertainment and themselves. The big show returned live after a two-year coronavirus break. There was plenty of pent-up energy.

Ad land is attuned to the latest and greatest, not necessarily in that order. Sometimes nostalgia works. Big always works. “They’re more excited than usual,” said a beachfront bartender to Bloomberg (June 26). “It’s unbelievably exciting to be back in Cannes,” said Meta Global Business Group vice president Nicola Mendelsohn, “and I think there’s a real feeling of gratitude for the industry to be able to get together.” Meta, many will know, is the parent company of social media leaders Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. As its chairman and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg once explained to a US Senate committee, “We sell advertising.”

As the ad fest commenced, media buyer GroupM, subsidiary of marketing conglomerate WPP, offered a bright if not exactly sparkling prognosis for ad business revenues through the rest of 2022. “We now expect advertising to grow by 8.4%, slightly lower than the forecast we gave in December 2021,” said its mid-year forecast. “Most marketers are still adding to their media budgets in 2022. There is still ample room for advertising growth and for adaptable marketers to succeed. We don’t see a perilous economic state.” To put that in perspective, ad land podcast Media Voices host Peter Houston offered: “Amazon’s advertising revenues are greater than the entire global newspaper industry. That’s really scary and something to reflect on.”

Warmly welcomed by the ad folks was Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos, noted Hollywood Reporter (June 23). In his first official performance at Cannes Lions, he officially announced what had been hinted for weeks, Netflix will have ads. “We adding an ad tier; we’re not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say, ‘Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads.’ We’ve left a big customer segment off the table.” Ahead of the ad fest, Mr. Sarandos was named Cannes 2022 Entertainer of the Year. In its mature markets, Netflix’ subscriber base has taken a tumble leading to, er, pressure from investors.

As purveyors of messaging, the advertising people were treated with messages from a variety of folks with messages. Greenpeace France activist and former Cannes Lions winner Gustav Martner carried a sign - No Awards On A Dead Planet - to call for an end to fossil fuel ads. He was ejected. Other Greenpeace activists were removed from atop the Palais des Festival, just ahead of the Ted Sarandos appearance. The Creativity Under Bombs (June 21) presentation featured a special video message from Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky. “We need people like you,” he offered, quoted by CNN (June 21). “I believe that the power of human creativity is greater than the power of a nuclear state that is stuck in the past, Speak of Ukraine. Don't let the world switch to something else.” The auditorium was packed.

In addition to the Entertainer of the Year award for Ted Sarandos, the special Cannes LionHeart award was bestowed on girls education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was in attendance. “Girls around the world could use the support of every person in this room: every brilliant writer, creator, and marketing head present today,” she said. “Use your brands to accelerate progress, pitch and promote campaigns and partnerships.” It was another packed assembly.

Also delivering a message to ad land was CNN chairperson/chief executive Chris Licht, joined by chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward. "I've seen what it looks like when a free and thriving press is stomped out,” said Ms Ward, who confronted Taliban extremists in Afghanistan last August. "There is such a thing as truth and there is such a thing as a lie.” Asking the advertising people to support news coverage, Mr. Licht added: "At a time when brands are getting pressure from customers to be alongside causes that mean something and change the world, I can't think of a better cause to get behind than journalism."

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