What is Cannes Lions now?
Another round of ego stroking
I love creativity. And many creative minds work in advertising, and some of them get a voice or opportunity to share their work at the annual Cannes Lions (the Oscars for the industry) BUT….too many don’t. Instead it is the biggest ego stroke of the year for agencies and their senior leadership, spending way too much money for a chance to get a speaking engagement, minor press, and yes, sometimes close deals. How do I know? I have been there, handling the press on behalf of the male-dominated event where everyone wants to drink rosé and feel important. Now I have many friends that are there, and they are very talented individuals, but what I want is to see more women in leadership and owning creative agencies, leading the, nurturing talent and crediting them. Because it is often the junior members make the ideas happen but getting crushed under the degrading agency model.
Less than 1% of the approximately 22,000 advertising agencies in North America are owned by women, according to Ads of Brands and Ad Age.
While there has been a 12% increase in women in leadership positions in the UK, as reported by The Drum, ownership remains a significant gap.
Women receive only a small percentage of venture capital, and own only a small percentage of creative agencies, according to Medium.
This is particularly notable given that women drive the majority of consumer purchases, yet many agencies lack the female perspective in leadership and ownership.
Last year, industry-giant-turned-entrepreneur Cindy Gallop called out several individuals who presented their work to the jury exhibiting sexist behavior while doing so—and that the jury had taken the extraordinary step of reaching out to those entrants later to express their displeasure. This doesn’t surprise me in the least, given out of all the industries I have worked in, advertising often claims to be the most progressive while drowning itself in sexism at every level. It’s so tired.
Additionally, Cannes Lions has faced criticism for being disconnected from real-world advertising, focusing on niche, jury-pleasing work rather than campaigns with broad impact. Concerns include the festival's size, the dominance of traditional media, and the authenticity of some awarded work. There are also critiques about jury selection bias and the high cost of attending, which can exclude smaller agencies and independent voices. (If you too have attended before, then you know Cannes has becoming too large and unwieldy, with a focus on excessive tech and media over core creativity. Take a look at all of the big tech sponsored buildings and parties, and it seems insanely self serving, self-absorbed and ostentatious.
My wish for everyone is that we curb the self-congratulatory talks / speaking engagements, celebrity presence, and focus on the larger global conversations, connection, and creativity. Also, to all of you young creatives working around the clock…remember to work on your own personal projects, because I can guarantee you can launch your own successful business far beyond the agency world. Save yourselves and your creativity!