Croisette dispatches: Editor’s diary from the heart of Cannes

Bonjour! And welcome to the ad industry’s annual spritz of the Mediterranean salt water, a whirlwind of rosé-fueled soirées, brand-backed beach bashes, and yes, the collective sweating in linen that somehow brings us all together.

It’s the end of Day 3, and let’s just say my social battery is officially running on fumes. I’m a day behind on this blog (classic Cannes chaos), but before we get to Day 2 highlights, let’s talk about the event of the night—the iconic Campaign party on the Carlton Beach.

A bunch of industry luminaries, both familiar and new showed up, some mingled with a seltzer in hand, others fully committed to the rosé life, and a few even pulled off some surprisingly coordinated dance moves. Because I’m feeling generous, below is a little sneak peek. And excuse the trippy phone video. 

Day two

Havas rebrands Converged

Started the day with a croissant and a side of corporate ambition at the Havas Café. CEO Yannick Bolloré addressed a packed press room and announced that Converged is rebranding as Converged.AI with a €400 million investment over the next four years. The ambition is to be identified as an “AI-driven company”: ambitious, it’s techy, and it’s the kind of big talk you expect at Cannes.

From there, I had one of those rare and wonderful Cannes moments: meeting someone I’ve worked closely with for years for the very first time. Over coffee, I finally met Anish Daryani, CEO of Moonfolks and Havas Moonfolks (Indonesia). Cannot believe it’s been three years of collaborating remotely (also marking my third work anniversary at Campaign Asia-Pacific!)? Exchanged notes on the highs of our first Cannes experience from one “Cannes virgin” to another. Fantastic chat and a lovely reminder of how much of this festival is about real-life connection after years of screens.

Next stop: the basement of the Palais

Aka creativity’s answer to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

The basement of the Palais is where all the shortlisted campaigns come to life—everyone insisted I make time for it, and now I understand why. Walking through this treasure trove of creativity, you are  completely swept up: idea after idea, each one different and beautiful than the last. It's an immersive, and inspiring experince. For the seasoned Cannes crowd, it’s a familiar pilgrimage. For a first-timer like me, it was a lot of wonder. 

Lunch dialogues

Back to walking along the Croissette to meet UltraSuperNew’s comms partner, Zoe Brooks, for lunch. Gorgeous conversation, zero photos.

Meanwhile, the Croisette is absolutely chock-a-block with delegates, the sun beating down. I’m playing sunburn roulette, and losing. Stood in the queue for an hour to get my pass at the Sport Beach for Stagwell CEO Mark Penn’s interview later in the week. Yes, an hour. For a pass. For the uninitiated, Sport Beach is Stagwell’s mega-activation at Cannes which has become quite a brand in itself.  Here, athletes, marketers, and agencies mingle, network, and—if you’re lucky—play a little pickleball and talk shop.

CMO edition

Next up: a conversation with Yahoo’s global CMO, Josh Line, in hands-down the best meeting room I’ve ever been in. Mediterranean sun-drenched views, salty breeze and an ice-cold seltzer.

Josh has an interesting background. He’s spent over 15 years at Paramount, climbing various rungs to chief brand officer, with a stint on the agency side before all that. Now, just a couple of months into his new gig at Yahoo, he discussed the challenges in the role, steering marketing at a legacy company. We covered a lot of ground: the pressure and promise of his role, the realities of transforming the OG of the internet, what AI means for the future, and, of course, his first impressions of the Cannes circus.

Industry therapy

Rounded the day with an evening chat with Dheeraj Sinha, FCB’s Group CEO for South Asia. We cut through the festival noise: state of the industry, the endless panel parade, toasted to FCB’s trophy haul. Banter on the frivolity of helicopter parenting and the lighter side of agency life.

As I strolled back along the Croissette, the energy was still peaking. Beach parties are packed, rosé is flowing, and the night is showing zero signs of winding down. Cannes, you really don’t do “quiet.”

More tomorrow, assuming my phone and feet survive.

Catch you on the Croisette (or in the next queue).

Day one

Woke up somewhere between time zones, body clock wildly confused, and a South of France jolt that has a way of keeping you alert, no matter how wee bit you slept. 

After a quick coffee (okay, two), I strolled down to the registration hall to pick up my badge. The process is a simple barcode scan, a quick print, sans any human interaction. Weirdly efficient for a festival with tens of thousands of people from 90 countries. 

First stop: Apple’s top marketing executive, Tor Myhren, opened the festival and wasted no time addressing the elephant in every Cannes room: artificial intelligence. “The good news is AI is not going to kill advertising,” he said, pausing to let the words sink in. “The bad news is, AI is not going to save advertising. We’ve got to save ourselves.”

A self-described optimist, he called AI “the most exciting creative tool we’ve seen in our lifetimes” but stressed that no machine—no matter how advanced—can replicate what makes us human. “To fall in love with your brand, it’s not enough for marketing to make you simply understand something. It has to make you feel something. And I think people are so much better at this than machines. I really do.”

I found myself nodding along even though a few folks found the “hard sell” of Apple’s products and campaigns “unnecessary.” (More on that session here.)

Sorrell on Cannes evolution, AI, and “weaseling out”

From there, it was off to Monks Café, where I met S4 Capital’s Martin Sorrell and Fay Denis du Peage, VP of media APAC, over coffee. The interview, as always with Sorrell, was sharp and unfiltered.

He spoke about the festival’s shift towards a more tech-driven focus, the challenges facing the holding companies, and its future, the timing of Mark Read’s exit from WPP, just as Cannes Lions kicked off, didn’t escape his scrutiny. “To pin it on AI,” he said with a wry smile, “is a ‘weaseling out.’”

Sorrell also touched on the pressure traditional holding company models are under, especially as digital and AI are front and center. The conversation covered enough ground to warrant a story of its own. Stay tuned for more on that soon.

Disney on the power of storytelling

Disney has taken over the stage, the beach, and, frankly, a building. The 15-foot chrome Mickey installation (below) at the Hotel Martinez is hard to miss.

Sat through a session moderated by Dana Walden, the co-chair, Disney Entertainment with writer/producer Dan Fogelman and Emmy Award-winning actor Sterling K. Brown to talk about the magic of storytelling via their collaborations on This Is Us and Paradise. Endearing, filled with camaraderie and inside jokes, it felt more like eavesdropping on old friends than a formal session. Fogelman opening up about losing his mom and how it changed his writing was profound.

“My mom was like my person that I navigated the world with,” he said. “She passed away under surgery that I helped organise for her that was non-life-threatening, and she died.” He called the tragedy a “car crash of an event” that shaped much of his writing.

“So much of what I write has become about the little moments that come from that, and the big moments and the feelings—trying to find joy, trying to look at my young family now and think of my mom, and not let that make me sad because she’s not here to have ever met her grandchildren, but to carry her forward,” he said.

I wasn’t expecting an emotional gutpunch. Losing someone who is your person changes everything. It’s a shift in how you see the world and how you move through it… and how you carry them with you. In the quiet moments and the overwhelming ones, you find ways to honour their love and lessons while continuing to write your own story.

Dentsu press lunch

Set on the beach, just below Cannes famed main drag, the Croisette, the next two hours were quite the recipe for a perfect Cannes afternoon. White, sand, blue water, chilled soda (swapped the rosé for a soda, not the usual Cannes move, but the sun was that relentless. Good company, great conversations, and a sparkling Mediterranean backdrop doing its thing, reminding you to pause for a moment to take it all in.

Berry and pepper flavoured ice lolly courtesy of TBWA. Unexpectedly delicious, just a little rebellious.

Campaign House

Later, I joined the Campaign House panel at Canopy by Hilton, alongside Maisie McCabe, Luz Corona, and David Brown. For 45 minutes, we had an open, honest chat about where advertising is headed. We covered a lot of ground: media under the microscope, AI’s potential and pains, DEI challenges, and how tariffs are biting into budgets. It was a lively mix of perspectives, perhaps, a few more questions than answers but if you’re curious, there’s a full writeup here.

Capped the day with Meta's party. Good chat, great wine, plenty of faces from every corner of the industry

As I sign off for the day, Tor’s parting thoughts play up in the mind: “Go make something wonderful.”

And isn’t that the point of all of this? To create something that stirs, connects and inspires. Something that lasts.

À bientôt!