Generative AI Ruled the Palais
While the main topic of discussion at last year’s Cannes Lions was the role of AI in advertising, one particular application was on everyone’s lips: Generative AI. It was more than just a theme — it was the lens through which we’re looking at the industry, a new way of thinking, improving, and innovating. Advertisers of all types are exploring this bold new technology, with varying levels of integration already baked into their internal workflows and in customer-facing experiences. The conversations we witnessed centered primarily around preparation and application: How can we be ready for the Gen AI revolution? Where should we invest in our tech stack? How will those investments translate into customer value?
Seamless Retail in High Demand
Nobody wants to repeat information to a customer service agent. Consumers now expect that AI-driven systems will already know who they are, and increasingly, what they want, before being asked. Frictionless consumer experiences are becoming the norm, and this innovation is accessible through AI. The future of advertising will be primarily driven by organizations using AI at every consumer touchpoint to intelligently gather, process, and display data across one integrated system, with the end goal of surprising and delighting across the entire customer journey.
Sustainability and Responsible Investment
Advertisers are looking for ways to operate more efficiently, sustainably, and responsibly. That often means fewer ads delivered with better targeting, so every placement works harder, in brand safe environments, and with respect for consumer privacy. AI-powered optimization will contribute across the entire customer journey. In a world of signal loss, advertisers are looking for alternative ways to maintain connections with consumers. Here too, AI will play a large role in helping to recapture the signal. Media dollars are following the availability of privacy-enhancing tech as marketers widen their data aperture. It’s about data collaboration, not just data collection.
Emerging Audiences and Brands in Sports
Sports are always a big deal at Cannes, but this year they made a bigger splash than usual, both in the form of evolving audiences around longtime favorites and newly popular sports — WNBA and pickleball are both having moments, each enjoying expanding audiences who want to enjoy athletes’ storytelling (on and off the field). This explosive growth has advertisers thinking outside the traditional sponsorship box. Today’s celebrity athletes are entrepreneurs, investors, and content creators. They are their own brands. Expect advertisers to tap into this new media with enhanced storytelling.
The Shifting Role of the CMO
The CMO has traditionally owned advertising, among other marketing functions, but we are now witnessing an expansion in the role driven by digital transformation. The CMO is not only in charge of the brand’s messaging, but continues to be increasingly embedded into the practice of digital innovation as a key technology player, not just at the operational level, but strategic too.
In looking to find a throughline narrative from this year’s Cannes, we came away with the impression that CMOs and advertising professionals continue to seek smarter approaches to their data. To do this, they’ll leverage the latest in Gen AI to capture emerging audiences and produce better advertising that’s seamless, sustainable, responsible, and impactful. The “signal loss” problem is the big hurdle that our industry faces — we have more data than ever, but more limitations on how we can use it. Fortunately, exciting new AI tools have arrived to help us overcome this problem. AI helps us find the right data signals, and make the most of them.
Pathing the Future Together
At Choreograph, we’re building the industry’s fastest, most connected data platform. We’ve invested heavily in an information architecture that supports the latest AI and machine learning models and methodologies. We lead the industry in AI optimization, so our partners can squeeze more information out of every data point. In a world where access to limited data sets is quickly becoming a reality, our partners rely on our ability to extract value from every data signal available, so they can find emerging audiences at every touchpoint with highly targeted messages. With CMOs now responsible for major digital transformation decisions, we see our role as a trusted technology partner that can help them navigate uncertainty. We’re building AI-powered tools they can easily plug into, so they can quickly identify and use the signal, even in a world of narrowing data.
It’s an exciting time to be in the industry. We’re looking forward to building its future with partnerships strengthened by new ideas and connections, thanks to a wonderful experience at Cannes.
