17517: On The Challenges For Gaining Entry To Cannes.

 

Advertising Age reported entries dropped over 25% for Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

 

There’s no data to indicate how the value of creativity has globally dropped in Adland—but the figure probably far exceeds 25%.

 

Of course, Ad Age’s examination doesn’t highlight the exclusivity of Cannes, whereby a limited community of privileged advertising agencies participate in a closed popularity contest.

 

A stricter submission process likely had 0% impact on Cannes cliquishness.

 

However, the revised requirements surely adversely affected the underrepresentation of non-White advertising agencies—but don’t expect Cannes to offer percentages and/or confirmation data.

 

Cannes Lions entries drop more than 25% as stricter rules kick in

 

By Tim Nudd

 

Award submissions to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity dropped more than 25% this year, a decrease due at least in part to the introduction of stricter eligibility and verification rules for entrants in the wake of last year’s cheating scandal.

 

The festival received 20,050 entries from 92 countries this year, down from 26,900 from 96 countries in 2025, organizers said Saturday. That is nearly a 25.5% drop.

 

In releasing the numbers, festival leaders pointed to a stricter entry process aimed at rebuilding confidence in the awards process. The festival introduced various measures this year to strengthen oversight and ensure submitted work can withstand greater scrutiny. The new rules include a new fact-checking process, stricter client sign-off and bans on agencies that submit fake or manipulated work.

 

The new process makes entering more challenging and time-consuming, according to agencies. The changes were instituted after the festival was rocked last year when multiple award-winning campaigns came under fire for AI-manipulated case studies, unverifiable campaign results and more.

 

“We have been working closely with our international community over the last year on what are considered and significant steps,” Simon Cook, CEO of Lions, said in a statement. “Together, we understand that these strengthened standards are not designed to restrict creativity, but to fortify it—ensuring breakthrough work gets the recognition it deserves, while preserving the integrity that makes the recognition meaningful and enduring.”

 

Other factors are likely at play in the decrease as well, such as entry fees becoming more prohibitive at agencies that are trying to contain costs and even having layoffs.

 

The festival released other entry data as well. Work submitted by brands accounted for 10% of entries this year, up from 8% last year. Independent agencies made up almost one-third of all entries, the festival said.

17516: On Trials & Tribulations Troubling Black Publishers.

 

Adweek published content spotlighting Black publishers who stayed in the black when White brands pulled back performative DEIBA+ commitments.

 

The authors even connected matters to Juneteenth, noting “how the Black-owned media community has continued to be conditioned by a long-standing lack of support from advertisers.”

 

Call it being conditioned for crumbs—and systemic racism.

 

Black Publishers Knew the Ad Commitments Wouldn’t Hold. So What?

 

The ones who stopped waiting on promised ad dollars and built revenue they could control are the ones still standing

 

By Rhonesha Byng & DéVon Johnson

 

Since brands began to pull back their commitment to diversity ads in 2023, publishers throughout the BOMESI network have not been surprised. Many have rebuilt their business models with the knowledge that these ad dollars allocated post-2020 were not going to be there.

 

The lessons we learned over the last six years while operating BOMESI, which launched around Juneteenth in 2020, are very real. 

 

The date commemorates when an enslaved population in Texas learned that they were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. 

 

This delayed revelation indicates how the Black-owned media community has continued to be conditioned by a long-standing lack of support from advertisers.

 

Today, BOMESI has connected more than 300 Black-owned publishers with over 2,500 diverse-owned publishers to create a larger network of publishers reaching over 90 million households on a monthly basis. Currently, Black-owned media receives less than 2% of the total U.S. advertising spend, according to Nielsen; yet Black Americans represent approximately 15% of the population and consume more than 81 hours of media per week, 31.8% more than the general population.

 

Publishers made an expensive choice: trade advertising as the backbone of the business for subscriptions, events, licensing, and branded work on their own terms. Audience trust became the asset that mattered. Some turned down ad revenue outright because the strings attached would have meant covering their communities differently than they wanted to.

 

Here’s how two Black-owned publishers successfully adjusted, when advertisers stopped their commitments.

 

Black Girl Nerds expanded its product portfolio and partnerships

 

Black Girl Nerds sits at the intersection of geek culture and Black feminism, built for an audience that wanted both taken seriously. Broadnax didn’t wait for ad budgets to come back. Founder and CEO Jamie Broadnax built a Substack newsletter, launched a subscription book club through Bindery, and joined the Yahoo Creators program. The shift cost time, nothing more. It grew her Substack readership, brought brands back into her inbox, and gave the business steadier income through Yahoo Creators.

 

Snackable Media made an acquisition to better monetize its audience

 

Snackable Media started as a multicultural ad network, helping smaller, minority-owned publishers compete for big RFPs through bigger players’ programmatic reach. In April 2025, it acquired adtech company AdGrid, picking up its own wrapper, an SSP, rich media tools, and a new unit, Content Zebra, that helps publishers grow traffic and monetize it at once. Founder Justin Barton’s bet: brand attention has faded since 2020, so revenue now has to come from the audience itself—one he calls culturally relevant, high-spending, and worth unlocking through partnership, not a single ad deal.

 

The case for building audiences with brands can be tracked. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center study of 5,000 Black adults, 24% of respondents say they rely on Black-Owned media on a daily basis and 40% do so on a regular basis. Meanwhile, 63% of Black adults in this survey believe media coverage of Black people tends to be negative when compared to other minority groups. Additionally, 57% of respondents say they don’t get the full spectrum of news about Black communities.

 

Because brands are using the “general market” to reach their audience, they are essentially paying for something the audience has already decided is not relevant to them; therefore, brands are at a disadvantage when it comes to advertising to this group through general market channels. 

 

The DEI retreat makes the argument all even more clear. Since 2020, equitable advertising expenditures have served as a means of expressing values through inclusion as a separate line item for brands that include or exclude depending on optics. A Government Accountability Office report revealed that over the last 10 years, federal acquisitions of advertising accounted for $14.9 billion in total spent, but just 14% of that amount (which includes all businesses owned by minorities, women, and disadvantaged individuals) actually reached those businesses that the categorization was intended to serve.

 

Media owned by people of color was included in the 14% total, but not at the top. Publishers who were aware of that math before it was a “talking point” are the type of businesses to work with regardless of where the DEI falls on the public policy agenda.

17515: New Standard, Old Pitch Practices—Buyer Agent Buyers Beware.

 

MediaPost reported WPP Media is enacting IRL the theme emphasized in Publicis Groupe’s paradoxical propaganda.

 

That is, the White media firm unveiled a prototype for a new “buyer agents” standard for media-buying services.

 

The launch and ballyhoo pose questions, raise suspicions, and smell fishy—underscoring the lack of trust and transparency tainting the media field.

 

For starters, clients are not early adopters, typically waiting to see measurable proof of success before buying into innovations. So, it’s a safe bet WPP Media pitched with underhanded overpromising.

 

If WPP Media pushed outcomes-based payment schemes for the prototype, achievement in terms of revenue generation will likely integrate exaggerations and outright lies.

 

Finally, despite anything WPP Media might claim, utilizing a prototype means even executives at the White media firm are tinkering via trial and error, making things up while they plod ahead. As holding company wonks are wont to admit—at least internally—the plane is being built in flight.

 

In short, WPP Media appears to be introducing a new standard for bullshit.

 

WPP Media Unveils Prototype For New ‘Buyer Agent’ Standard

 

By Joe Mandese

 

An agentic bragging rights war appears to be heating up heading into the ad industry’s annual gathering in Cannes next week, with today’s news that WPP Media is developing a new industry standard for media-buying — specifically, for “buyer agents” purchasing video advertising inventory.

 

The first-mover announcement is consistent with big historical moves by WPP Media and its predecessor organization, GroupM, to move the industry forward by developing media research and/or technical standards for buying media — from Nielsen ratings to CTV — in order to prevent industry inertia around key media technology developments.

 

WPP this morning revealed it already is working with key media suppliers and industry standards bodies to “define how TV and video buyer and seller agents interact safely, transparently and at scale.”

 

WPP disclosed that the new agentic standards initiative includes Comcast Advertising and its FreeWheel ad tech unit, Disney Advertising, Fox, NBC Universal, Netflix and Paramount, as well as the IAB Tech Lab and Prebid.org, which are helping to “define how the WPP Buyer Agent and media owner Seller Agents communicate, validate, support approved media transaction workflows, and escalate decisions.”

 

“Two decades ago, the move to programmatic marked a fundamental change in how media was bought and sold. We expect agentic media to have an even bigger impact on our industry in the months and years ahead,” WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser said in a statement announcing the standards initiative, adding, “The companies that lead this next era will be the ones that combine intelligence, interoperability, and governance to define how media decisions are made. That’s what we are building with our partners: a trusted buyer-agent strategy designed to operate in our clients’ interests, maximize the value of their media investments, deepen consumer relationships, and translate intelligence into growth.”

 

IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur also disclosed that the initiative is benchmarking the new media buyer agent protocol on the tech lab’s AAMP (Agentic Ad Management Protocols) framework.

 

WPP said “initial testing” of the new media buyer agent has already begun with its supply-chain partners with a “goal of moving from alpha and beta testing to a model capable of supporting large-scale TV and video investment over the next 6–9 months” and plans to share its findings — as well as reference workflows, tech learning, and a formal proposed industry standard — in early 2027.

 

But the news is bound to generate even more agentic buzz at next week’s Cannes Lions festival, following a cheeky video released Tuesday by Publicis, as well as a white paper issued by influential advertising management consultant 3C Ventures late last week that cautions advertisers about using proprietary holdco agentic advertising systems.

 

And also this morning, Horizon Media announced a it has added its own proprietary “buying agents” to its HorizonOS Blu platform.

17514: Breakfast Is Served—And Underserved.

 

The Omnicom Inclusion Breakfast is scheduled to be served on June 24, 2026, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

 

A social media post hyping the event stars the White holding company’s Global Chief Inclusion and Impact Officer delivering stereotypical perspectives on inclusion including, “I believe that difference is a superpower.” Okay, but DEIBA+ in Adland has been rendered powerless by Kryptonite in the form of systemic racism.

 

Wonder if the breakfast menu will feature Pearl Milling Company pancakes, Cream of Wheat, and Post Honey Bunches of Oats.

17513: On Publicis Groupe Parodying And/Or Promoting Pitch Practices.

Advertising Age published paradoxical propaganda from Publicis Groupe, allowing the White holding company to pitch itself by calling out how White holding companies, White advertising agencies, and White media firms pitch themselves to win pitches.

 

Publicis Groupe took the hypocritical hype a step further via an AI-generated video, overtly selling its suspect AI capabilities.

 

Not mentioned in the faux criticism of pitch practices:

 

1. The exclusivity—ie, White supremacy—holding companies exploit for dominating access to global accounts.

 

2. Prime Redlining maneuvers.

 

Is the Publicis Groupe exposition a harsh critique or a helpful instructional guide?

 

Publicis calls out AI hype and other bad pitch practices as the industry heads to Cannes

 

By Brian Bonilla

 

Publicis Groupe, one of advertising’s most vocal proponents of AI-driven transformation, is heading into the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with a different message this year: stop overpromising.

 

Its new satirical AI-generated video pokes fun at exaggerated artificial intelligence claims, free creative work and other questionable pitch practices, while also announcing that Publicis will host what Arthur Sadoun, its chairman and CEO, described as the holding company’s largest-ever gathering of clients and investors at the festival.

 

Publicis has spent years positioning itself at the forefront of the ad industry’s AI conversation through investments in data and AI-powered platforms, often using Cannes as a stage to promote new technology initiatives. This year, however, the industry’s third-largest player is using the festival to warn against what it sees as growing issues with how AI is being promoted as an efficiency play rather than one that drives business impact, causing a “race to the bottom,” Sadoun said.

 

“We like to use Cannes as a platform for industry transformation,” Sadoun said. “This year, we want to call out what we think is a very important topic, which is the current compound effect of overpromising on AI, and unsustainable commercial practices in particular in pitches.” He added that the trend is “currently leading to massive job cuts in our industry” as agencies claim “we can do more with AI and, by the way, we can be cheaper.”

 

The video, created by Le Truc, features reenactments of what Publicis executives say are real pitch stories they have heard over the past few years. Situations include agency executives promising clients they can do creative work for free, promising clients a $5 million bonus if they use an agency’s AI platform, cutting staff significantly, or even an instance where a client was promised a chance to go shopping with their favorite fashion designer in Milan if the agency won the client’s business.

 

While stories like this have existed for a long time in the industry, Sadoun said the promise of AI solutions to clients has increased these bad practices. “It is a big problem and, as importantly, this is not what clients want,” Sadoun added. “That’s the point we want to make. Clients are not expecting us … to put fewer people on their accounts. They are expecting us to use our talent and AI to deliver real business results.”

 

The film was designed to make a serious point through humor, said Carla Serrano, chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe.

 

“We’re making a statement about how we’ve all gone too far and should, at this moment, really temper ourselves a little bit—especially in the pitch and contractual rooms,” she said. The current environment is one in which agencies are engaged in “AI pitch-maxing,” she added, arguing that “it’s time to get off the hype cycle.”

 

Publicis itself has long faced accusations from people in the industry that it wins business through aggressive commercial terms and by offering creative work for free to win media pitches. Asked directly about such criticism, Sadoun rejected the notion that the company’s growth has come at the expense of its business model.

 

“The industry has been saying that we are giving things for free since we became No. 1 in new business in 2017,” Sadoun said. “Since then, we have doubled our EBITDA, increased our revenue by 65%, hired 40,000 people.” He added: “Are we aggressive in what we do in commercial affairs? Of course we are—and everyone else is. But we are trying, as best as we can, to always come up with offers that, first of all, really deliver for clients.”

 

Sadoun pointed to Publicis’ creative business as evidence that the company is not giving away work to win accounts.

 

“We are the only ones growing in creativity, publicly. We are growing 5% when the entire industry is declining,” he said. “To anyone who says that we give creative for free, our answer is simple: we are growing 5% when the rest of the market is declining.”

 

Publicis has even changed its pitch strategy in the past 18 months, Sadoun said, with a focus on convincing clients to do a project and test out AI tools rather than launching formal reviews.

 

“It would be better if it were all about, ‘Let’s solve a business problem right now. Give us six weeks to do it and prove to you how we can help you drive the growth and success that you’re looking for,’” Serrano said.

 

At Cannes, Publicis is set to showcase what its executives said are tangible business outcomes from AI-enabled transformation work. The company plans to hold more than 60 closed-door client sessions across five industry verticals. Last Year, Publicis hosted over 40 sessions.

 

This will include a large session featuring conversations about business transformation with Gülen Bengi, global chief marketing officer of Mars, and Shakir Moin, president of marketing for North America at The Coca-Cola Company, which were two of the biggest accounts Publicis won last year. It will bring together 350 clients and 70 investors under Chatham House rules.

 

“We want to show not only the ups but also the downs, because clients are ready to hear about the downs and, of course, the outcomes that we have delivered through our relationship,” Sadoun said.

 

The gathering marks the first time Publicis has assembled a client-and-investor audience of that scale at Cannes, he said.

 

“We are doing it in a way where we want this to be a real conversation and actually exactly the opposite of prospecting,” Sadoun said. “We have nothing to sell. Actually, we’re going to try to undersell. We’re going to try to touch on the difficulties of what needs to be put in place to achieve the kind of business results that our clients are looking for.”

17512: On Juneteenth In Adland 2026.

In Adland 2026, Juneteenth has been impacted by restructurings, redundancies, and RIFs—like White holding companies and White advertising agencies throughout the global industry.

 

The anti-DEIBA+ vibe in Adland means Juneteenth further loses its performative priority, plummeting far below organizational rejiggering, shareholder appeasing, and AI capabilities overhyping.

 

Juneteenth is seemingly deemed redundant to celebratory events such as Black History Month and MLK Day—both of which are also ignored and/or viewed with indifference.

 

In recent years, White holding companies and White advertising agencies have quietly diminished ERGs, downsized DEIBA+ teams, and dismissed Chief Diversity Officers. So, delegating diversity duties for Juneteenth is disregarded.

 

Will Adland ever experience freedom from systemic racism?

17511: How To Be Remembered At Cannes—The True Version.

 

Advertising Age published fluff content titled, “How to be the person people remember at Cannes, according to 10 festival veterans”—featuring self-absorbed bullshit from forgettable nobodies.

 

Not mentioned among the contrived tips:

 

• Sexually assault someone.

 

• Admit your Lion-winning entry is scam.

 

• Woo potential clients with lavish gifts, expensive booze, and brazen sex acts.

 

• If you’re a person of color seeking to be remembered at Cannes, you must perform as an A-list entertainer.

 

How to be the person people remember at Cannes, according to 10 festival veterans

 

By Ad Age Staff

 

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a rush of introductions, pitches and personalities—it can be extremely difficult to make a lasting impression. To make the most of your time among the industry’s top players, brushing up on your opener, among other steps, can make a big difference.

 

Ad Age asked 10 Cannes veterans about successful tactics for rising above the noise. See their tips and the reasoning behind them below.

 

Finesse up your opener

 

Amy Worley, global chief connections officer, VML

 

Cannes is undeniably packed with more brands, tech giants and business leaders than ever, but it’s still the Festival of Creativity. So instead of defaulting to “What do you do?” try asking, “What have you seen that’s inspired you this week?” I’ve found it gets past the small talk and into the good stuff much faster. And who doesn’t love to talk about what they love?

 

Rita Ferro, president, global advertising, Disney

 

One of the most memorable first impressions I’ve seen at Cannes came from someone who simply had the confidence to stop, introduce themselves, and ask a thoughtful question. You meet an extraordinary number of people in a single week, and the ones who stand out aren’t the loudest—they’re the ones who are genuinely curious, prepared, and intentional about creating a real moment of connection.

 

I always appreciate when first-timers, students or young professionals take that initiative. It signals hunger, humility, and an understanding that Cannes is ultimately about people.

 

Lead with your point of view over your title

 

Luis Miguel Messianu, founder, president and chief creative officer, MEL

 

The people who make the strongest impression at Cannes are rarely the ones trying the hardest to impress. The memorable ones are curious, generous and present.

 

I remember people who didn’t begin with a pitch, a title or a credential. They began with a point of view. They had seen something, felt something, questioned something. They asked smart questions about the work, about culture, about where the industry was going. That stands out because Cannes can be noisy, and real curiosity cuts through the noise.

 

The best first impression is not “look who I am.” It is “let’s have a conversation worth remembering.”

 

Leandro Barreto, global chief marketing officer for Unilever and Beauty and Wellbeing

 

The people who make the strongest impression are the ones who are precise about what they stand for but also approach Cannes with a real sense of curiosity. They don’t try to cover everything; they engage thoughtfully and land a perspective clearly. In a week that’s full of ideas, that kind of clarity cuts through.

 

I’ve always found it stands out when someone grounds the conversation in real work and real examples and then builds from there. But equally, the people you remember are the ones who are open to going beyond their usual circle—connecting with different brands, perspectives and parts of the ecosystem you wouldn’t normally engage with day to day.

 

Do the thing you said you’d do

 

Joe Paluska, chief marketing officer, Commonwealth Fusion Systems

 

The most memorable first impression I’ve ever seen at Cannes came from Anderson .Paak. After speaking at Amazon Port about authenticity, culture and co-creation, he came right up to the front of the stage. I mentioned that my son was studying hip-hop and was about to turn 21, and Anderson immediately shot him a personal happy birthday video. That moment said everything.

 

Cannes is full of people talking about authenticity, but Anderson practiced it in real time. He didn’t need to do it. There was no “brand benefit.” He just made a human gesture that my son will never forget. At Cannes, the people who stand out are not always the loudest or most polished. They are the ones who make a huge global stage feel personal. Anderson turned a celebrity encounter into a father-son memory, and that is the kind of impression no business card can compete with.

 

Crystal Foote, founder and head of partnerships, Digital Culture Group

 

One of the most memorable first impressions I experienced at Cannes came from the wife of a marketer attending the festival. She was curious about what I did and immediately started thinking about who I should meet. After learning more about Digital Culture Group and the work we were doing, she connected me directly to her husband. What stood out was how naturally she made introductions and created connections in the moment. Cannes moves fast, and some of the best opportunities come from people who are proactive, engaged and genuinely interested in helping others expand their network.

 

Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, president, Pereira O’Dell

 

After speaking on the Cannes Creator stage last year, I had several people approach me who mentioned that something I mentioned in my speaker bio—my specific career path, my Palestinian roots—spoke to them and made them want to stop by and say hi. It was incredibly thoughtful and purposeful, which felt deeply refreshing amidst a sea of sales pitches and superficial hellos.

 

Talk to people standing in line with you

 

Alejandra Haro, regional leader, Circulo Creativo USA

 

Absolutely. I once met a person who is now a speaker at the festival, and it happened in the most unplanned, unhurried way. We simply couldn’t get into the same venue, ended up waiting together, and that was it. To me, that’s what a truly memorable first impression looks like: not a polished elevator pitch, but a real human moment. The kind that makes you think I’d love to work with this person someday. So don’t be afraid to talk to strangers; everyone is there to connect.

 

Kimberly Wilson, board advisor, Fullscale Holdings

 

The people who stand out most at Cannes are usually quietly moving through the experience. I’ve always been drawn to individuals who lead with authenticity versus transaction.

 

I remember meeting the chief revenue officer of a pretty big agency who skipped a networking event entirely and instead opted to join me for an impromptu lunch to discuss how culture, creativity and consumer behavior were shifting in real time. It immediately changed the energy of the interaction because it felt genuine and thoughtful rather than transactional.

 

People remember how you made them feel far more than your title or company affiliation.

 

Make time for the work—it leaves an impression too

 

Jorge Plasencia, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Republica Havas

 

I do not have one specific “first impression” moment with a person that comes to mind. For me, the most memorable first impressions at Cannes have often come from the work itself.

 

Over the years, there have been so many campaigns that have impacted me and stayed with me. One example is the Lacoste work from my colleagues at Havas’ BETC, which used the brand’s iconic crocodile to draw attention to endangered species. It was simple, powerful and deeply memorable.

 

Those are the moments I never forget. Cannes is full of people, meetings, conversations and events, but the work is what stays with you. The best ideas make a first impression that lasts.