Those first few post-pandemic editions of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where questions were raised around whether the industry’s love affair with the Croisette might be starting to cool off, feel a long time ago now. Judging by the volume of event invites and ‘I’m heading to Cannes’ LinkedIn posts we’ve seen in the past few weeks, the event is as core to the ad industry’s calendar as it’s ever been.
Alongside VideoWeek live, we’ll be filming video interviews and covering all the big announcements across the week.
VideoWeek Live
VideoWeek will be back this year with VideoWeek Live, a live podcast and lunch event at Marea Rooftop on Tuesday 17th, between 12pm-2pm, which we’ll be hosting in partnership with WPP Media, Samsung Ads and Shinka.
You can register your interest if you’ve not signed up already, though please note that places are limited so registration doesn’t guarantee entry.
Speakers include:
- Ryan Storrar, EMEA & UK CEO, WPP Media Nexus
- Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, Director of Product Management, YouTube Ads
- Holly Duffield, Head of International Agencies, Samsung Ads
- Nik Gill, Global Business Director, Mindshare
- Tim Cross, Assistant Editor, VideoWeek
- Vincent Flood, Editor-in-Chief, VideoWeek
FutureWeek Live
For anyone interested in AI disruption in the media and advertising industry, our sister publication FutureWeek is hosting FutureWeek Live, its own live podcast and networking event right afterwards, at the Marea Restaurant between 2.30pm-4pm. Partners include MiQ and Scope3. You can sign up here.
Our partners for FutureWeek Live will be MiQ and Scope3.
Speakers include:
- Brian O’Kelley, CEO, Scope3
- Tom Richards, Global Head of Product, MiQ
- Rapha Abreu, Global Vice President of Design, The Coca-Cola Co
- Sarah Salter, Global Head of Innovation & Platforms, Wavemaker
- Burhan Amid, Cofounder, Streamr.AI
- Serena Haththotuwa, Senior Reporter, FutureWeek
While we know many of our readers’ calendars will be packed with meetings, it’s always worth carving out some time to pop into some of the panels and fireside chats in the Palais and across the fringe events.
We’ve picked out some of the highlights from the main festival and our partner events to help you plan out your week — to see what’s going on at the fringe events, you can check out Propeller’s comprehensive list here.
Partner Events & Inside the Palais…
Monday
10.30 CMOs in the Spotlight: Mars, Amazon, Novartis
Claudine Cheever, VP Global Brand and Marketing, Amazon
Gülen Bengi, Lead Chief Marketing Officer, Mars
Gail Horwood, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Novartis
Jim Stengel, Host of The CMO Podcast with Jim Stengel
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
17.00 The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull Media
Adam Morgan, Founder and Author, eatbigfish
Karen Nelson-Field, Founder, Amplified Intelligence
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
Tuesday
10.30 CMOs in the Spotlight: Infosys, Nestlé, American Express
Sumit Virmani, Chief Marketing Officer, Infosys
Elizabeth Rutledge, Chief Marketing Officer, American Express
Aude Gandon, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Nestlé
Jim Stengel, Host of the CMO Podcast with Jim Stengel
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
11.00 Take Me to 2030
Brian Lesser, Global CEO, WPP Media
Greg Williams, Editor-in-Chief, Wired
WPP Beach
11.00 The Consumer Intelligence Shift: Unlocking Smarter Audience Strategy Through AI Innovation
Marion Hargett, CRO, MiQ
Steve Carbone, President, IPG
Vinny Renaldi, VP, Media & Marketing, Hershey’s
Ari Paparo, CEO, Marketecture Media
Atrium, Hôtel Barrière le Majestic Cannes
15.00 Accelerating Culture to Adopt AI at Scale
Featuring Gurman Hundal, CEO and Co-Founder, MiQ
Havas Café
16.15 How to Win in 2030
Alex Jenkins, Editorial Director, Contagious
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
16.45 Born This (Brand-Building) Way
Sara Tate, European Partner, Transformation Practice, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand
Peter Semple, Interim CEO, Depop
Connor Archbold, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Tracksuit
Karen Martin, CEO, BBH
The Forum, Rotonde
Wednesday
10.00 What 20 Years of YouTube Reveals About Creativity’s Future
Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube
Lumière Theatre, The Palais
10.30 CMOs in the Spotlight: Philips, McDonald’s, Kimberly-Clark
Josefien Olij, Senior Director Marketing Communications, Philips
Morgan Flatley, Global Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s
Patricia Corsi, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer, Kimberly-Clark
Jim Stengel, Host of the CMO Podcast with Jim Stengel
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
15.15 Marketing’s Seven Deadly Sins
Fernando Machado, Operating Partner, Garnett Station Partners
Terrace Stage, The Terrace
17.00 The Dynamic Duo of Advertising in 2025! What’s all the hype about?
Christian Raveaux, Director of Retail Media Connect, Rewe Group
Alice Anson, Director of Digital Media, Nectar 360/Sainsburys
Christian Russ, Commercial Director – DACH/FRITES, Samsung Ads
Paul Winsor, Head of Retail, EMEA, Snowflake
Terrace Stage, The Terrace
Thursday
10.00 Song Simplifies New Realities. Games, Headsets and Automobiles
Nick Law, Creative Chairperson, Accenture Song
Lumière Theatre, The Palais
10.30 CMOs in the Spotlight: Singapore Tourism Board, Suncorp, Unilever
Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board
Mim Haysom, EGM Brand and Customer Experience, Suncorp
Leandro Barreto, Chief Marketing Officer, Beauty and Wellbeing, Unilever
Sophie Devonshire, CEO, The Marketing Society
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
13.45 Transforming Creativity and Unlocking Brand Agility with AI-Powered Video
Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman, S4 Capital
Linda Sheng, General Manager Global Business, MiniMax
Tanzeen Syed, Managing Director, Head of Consumer Internet and Technology, General Atlantic
Debussy Theatre, The Palais
16.15 How Humans Decide
Stuart Bowden, Global Chief Strategy and Product Officer, Wavemaker
Felipe Thomaz, Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Oxford Future of Marketing Initiative, Said Business School, Oxford
Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, L’Oréal Groupe
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
Friday
10.30 CMOs in the Spotlight: Heineken Brazil, Renault, Telkom
Cecilia Bottai-Mondino, VP Marketing (Chief Marketing Officer), Heineken Brazil
Arnaud Belloni Chief Marketing Officer Renault
Gugu Mthembu Chief Marketing Officer Telkom
Sophie Devonshire, CEO, The Marketing Society
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
11.45 Are Creators Really Effective?
Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media
Afke van de Klashorst, Vice President Digital, Media and eCommerce – Foods, Unilever
Anastasia Leng, CEO and Founder, CreativeX
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
13.15 Climate Information Integrity before COP30: Opportunities and Risks for Advertisers
Jake Dubbins, Co-Chair, Conscious Advertising Network
Charlotte Scaddan, Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, United Nations
João Brant, Secretary of Digital Policies – Social Communication Secretariat, Presidency of the Republic of Brazil
Tarja Turtia, Senior Programme Specialist, UNESCO
The Forum, Rotonde
13.45 Are You Losing Control of Your Brand on Social?
Crystal Malachias, Global Head of Influencer and Global Co-Managing Director of McCann Content Studios, McCann
Carly Burford, Global Brand Director, Peroni Nastro Azzurro
Adam W, Creator
Rotonde Stage, Rotonde
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