Uproar Over Publicis Pullout Leaves Cannes Lions Scrambling
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Written with reports from Brian Braiker, Lindsay Stein, Jack Neff, Laurel Wentz and Ann-Christine Diaz.
Arthur Sadoun’s goal was to steal some of the Cannes spotlight from Google, Facebook and the consultancies gunning for Publicis Groupe’s business, then the new CEO of the holding company succeeded. His brazen pledge to sit out next year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and pour the savings into an AI-powered professional assistant program called Marcel dominated the conversation at the beachside bars and parties along the French Riviera all week. And Cannes might never be the same again.
Organizers are pondering fundamental changes to a festival that critics say has lost its way as sprawling ros-washed parties on the beach and yachts often overshadow serious panels occurring inside the Palais. WPP CEO Martin Sorrell even floated the idea of moving the festival to New York or Paris, suggesting it has become too much of a trade show. “You will get a broader distribution. It won’t be such a narrow group,” he said in an interview. “Talking to some clients this morning, they reduced their participation from the past year.”
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