It’s been one week since the highly anticipated Cannes Lions 2023 – the event of the year for advertising and creativity. We’re thrilled to share our top four key takeaways from the event, showcasing what the industry will prioritize in the upcoming year.
Signal loss
At Cannes Lions 2023, experts underlined the detrimental effects of signal loss on advertising and emphasized the significance of having diverse channels. Discussions emphasized the importance of adapting paid media strategies to align with evolving consumer behaviors in order to remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape.
Urgency in planning and avoiding being caught without a solid strategy was a common theme throughout the event. Alternative identifiers, like first-party data, were highlighted, as they prioritize privacy-centric approaches. Contextual advertising emerged as a key part of the solution, providing relevant ads that fit seamlessly into the user’s experience.
Collaboration
Collaboration was a major theme at Cannes Lions 2023. Attendees explored topics such as maintaining privacy and identifying the right attributes for effective targeting. Clean rooms were discussed as a way to ensure privacy when sharing data, and highlighted partnerships as the key to unlocking interoperability within the advertising ecosystem. The discussions underscored the need for industry players to join forces and collaborate on solutions that benefit all stakeholders in the ecosystem.
“What makes Cannes unique is that you have a lot of decision makers in the room at the same time. This leads to more efficiency in terms of coming up with goals and objectives and really getting to the heart of the key aspects for us to build partnerships.”
alison omealia, vp, customer success, experian
Personalization
Personalization was a key topic of discussion at Cannes Lions 2023, with its growing significance in advertising taking center stage. The event emphasized the need to focus on serving up tailored content that resonates with individual consumers, cultivating brand affinity.
The intersection of science and art was highlighted, emphasizing the role of data-driven insights and creativity in supporting frequency capping and delivering engaging content.
Advertisers are adapting to cookie deprecation by shifting from cookie-based third-party targeting to first-party data solutions. This is due to the significant changes in the consumer privacy landscape, which have limited advertisers’ access to signals emitted by consumers through their devices and browsers. As a result, alternative IDs like UID2, Ramp ID, and ID5 are emerging as viable options for advertisers to continue personalized targeting.
Balancing AI and creativity at Cannes Lions 2023
Participants shared invaluable insights on how to strike the right balance between harnessing AI’s capabilities and nurturing creativity to keep the human touch alive. The event emphasized the importance of understanding the boundaries of AI while utilizing tools that drive innovation and imagination. Attendees explored the dynamic roles that AI provides and discussed how it can help push the boundaries of their creativity while still keeping the human element intact.
As technology continues to advance, so does the need for advertisers to adapt their approach and integrate AI in a way that enhances their creative output.
Experian events at Cannes Lions 2023
We hosted a series of events that included a kick-off event and four panels. The activities were designed to provide attendees with valuable insights on various topics related to advertising and data privacy. Here’s a recap of what we covered during the week.
Experian’s Cannes Lions kick-off event
We co-hosted a kick-off event on Sunday with Audigent. It was a successful event that brought people together to launch an important week in the AdTech industry and build connections with clients and prospects alike.
Data on the sell-side
Ongoing signal loss has marketers, agencies, and platforms tapping directly into the sell-side for high-quality audience and context. In this panel, industry experts from Truthset, Captify, Audigent, Newsweek, and PubMatic joined Experian to discuss the imminent disappearance of cookies and the need to adapt and future-proof data privacy strategies. The deprecation of third-party cookies presents an incredible opportunity to redefine data privacy practices and empower consumers.
Our panelists emphasized the need to adapt and invest in alternative identifiers in order to thrive in a cookie-less future. Publishers were urged to create valuable content, engage in first-party activities, and consider the next generation of consumers who are growing up without traditional identifiers. The fragmented landscape calls for a variety of tactics and partnerships, while AI can provide opportunities to explore beyond deterministic identifiers, fostering creativity and innovation in advertising practices.
Stacking the marketer’s toolbox for success
In partnership with Adweek Abroad in Cannes, industry leaders from FreeWheel, Tubi, and Instacart joined Experian to discuss opportunities for brands to unlock deeper, richer, and more scalable insights into current and potential customers.
The panelists highlighted several key considerations, including building a robust first-party data strategy, ensuring accuracy in data quality partnerships, and establishing better-connected communications and relationships with consumers.
Participants acknowledged the value of consumer data and urged advertisers to remain purpose-driven, always putting the viewer first. The freshness and recency of data were identified as critical factors for establishing quality connections with consumers and staying attuned to consumer trends.
What does the future of identity hold?
During this panel discussion, industry leaders from the IAB, MiQ, Cint, Direct Digital Holdings, and Tatari joined Experian to explore the future of identity.
The panelists discussed the challenges cookie deprecation poses in programmatic advertising and the need for new identifiers and solutions. They also acknowledged the expanding media landscape and the importance of frequency capping and attribution measurement in a post-cookie era. Trends to watch for include the potential consolidation of identifiers and the movement of first-party data in-house by larger media companies. Panelists shared different views on cookie deprecation readiness and the overhype of AI in the industry.
Streaming takes center stage
OMG, Roku, AMC Networks, Paramount, and Disney joined Experian to discuss streaming TV as a fragmented and evolving landscape. The panelists debated whether it has become a performance channel and emphasized the need for client education, attribution, and optimizing performance metrics. They also discussed reaching audiences across different mediums with data interoperability, audience targeting, and reliable identity solutions. The panelists explored the emerging trend of AI, optimizing ad placement, refining targeting, streamlining creative approval, and enhancing ad breaks.
“A lot of trends in AdTech are relevant to TV, but the most consistent trend has definitely been having a solid identity source throughout the whole lifecycle of a campaign within TV.”
ali mack, sr. director, platforms, experian
Let’s keep the conversation going
The innovation and possibilities for signal loss, collaboration, personalization, and balancing AI and creativity are limitless, but understanding exactly how to get there is what can make all the difference.
As we wrap up another successful week at Cannes Lions, let’s use these conversations as an opportunity to advance together toward a more connected future — what trends are you most looking forward to? If you’d like to discuss any of these topics further, get in touch with us!
Check out more Cannes content:
- Insights from a first-time attendee
- Four new marketing strategies for 2023
- Exploring the opportunities in streaming TV advertising
- The future of identity in cookieless advertising
- Maximize ad targeting with supply-side advertising
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2013 has been a milestone year for those lobbying on behalf of expanded rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Americans. With 12 states and the District of Columbia now formally recognizing same sex marriages and two highly anticipated rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court expected shortly, the momentum is currently on the side of those seeking greater recognition and support of LGBT-related issues. The speed with which public attitudes have shifted towards greater acceptance of LGBT individuals and their causes has left many marketers scrambling to devise plans that are not only inclusive of LGBT consumers, but in many instances, designed to overtly and publically court this influential and growing consumer segment. The 2013 LGBT consumer report out from Experian Marketing Services delivers insights marketers need to better understand the market that is on everyone’s radar. In this first of a series of blog posts, we’ll highlight key data from the report. Readers can download the full report at any time here. Living out Loud In 2006, when Experian Marketing Services first began measuring sexual orientation among respondents to our Simmons® National Consumer Study, we found that 3.4% of all non-Hispanic adults self-identified as either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT), a figure consistent with what leading LGBT researchers predicted at the time. However today, 4.3% of the non-Hispanic adult population self-identifies as LGBT, a figure that has risen slowly but steadily year-after-year. Younger adults have consistently been more likely to identify as LGBT, and in fact today, 5.8 percent of 18 to 34 year olds say they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. As a result, the adult LGBT population predictably skews towards the younger age cohorts. Specifically, 36% of LGBT adults today are aged 18 to 34 versus 26% of the heterosexual population in that age range. Likewise, while 20% of heterosexual adults are age 65 and older, just 16% of LGBT adults are in this age range, though our data shows that the share of adults age 65 and older identifying as LGBT has also risen. Home and Family As a growing number of U.S. states pass laws recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions, we see an increasing percentage of gay and lesbian Americans reporting that they are married. In 2007, for example, when only Massachusetts allowed same-sex marriage, 8% of gay men and 14% of lesbian women said they were married. Today, 17% of gay men and 16% of lesbian women are married. Marriage rates among lesbian and gay adults still lag well behind those of heterosexuals, but the gap is closing from both sides. In fact, while marriage rates are rising among lesbians and gays, they’re falling among heterosexuals. Today, 58% of heterosexual men and 53% of heterosexual women are married, compared to 60% of heterosexual men and 55% of heterosexual women who were married in 2007. The Pink Dollar Income levels are important to consider when targeting consumers, but more important is determining the amount of money left over for non-essentials after the other bills are paid. Despite earning nearly identical salaries, gay men have lower annual household discretionary expenditures than heterosexual men. Likewise, lesbian households have fewer dollars than those of heterosexual women to spend on non-essentials. This is mostly likely due to the fact that both lesbian and gay adults tend to reside in larger cities where the cost of living can be considerably higher than average. Interestingly, when household size is brought into the equation, we see that gay males actually have higher discretionary spending per capita than heterosexual men. In fact, gay men live in households that devote $6,794 per capita annually to non-essentials, which is $753 more than what heterosexual men spend. Forthcoming posts from this series will include insights into the automotive and food vertical markets; the mobile habits of LGBT consumers; and an examination of online visitors to LGBT content sites. Don’t want to wait? Download the full report now. Also, learn more about the Simmons LGBT Consumer Study, the only syndicated, national probability sample survey that measures the lifestyles, attitudes, media habits and brand preferences of the LGBT population giving marketers actionable insights into this powerful consumer segment that can be directly compared with those of heterosexuals.
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