5 thoughts about... Cannes Lions

Alex is the Managing Director of major UK talent agency InterTalent. He represents his clients alongside overseeing the agency's creative strategy, day-to-day operations & acquisitions.

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🤔 5 Thoughts about… Cannes Lions.

I’ve just returned from my first ever trip to Cannes Lions, the biggest and most prestigious festival celebrating creativity in marketing, advertising and communications. Cannes Lions has been around for years, but it’s now exploded beyond all recognition, coinciding with the rapid shift in advertising and the rise of the creator economy.

The Croisette was flooded with thousands of brands, advertising agencies, networks, platforms, agencies, marketers, tech platforms and more. Not forgetting a crazy list of global superstars and media moguls wandering around. Everyone is there to be seen, heard, meet, network and party.

I’ve never seen anything on a scale like this. Every major platform and tech brand spent millions to showcase what they can do. From Google & YouTube to Spotify to Pinterest to LinkedIn to Snapchat to Reddit and more.

I spent 5 days meeting as many new people as I could, promoting InterTalent’s clients and our major partnerships. I spoke to people from all over the world. Highlights included watching a live podcast with the incredible Evan Shapiro & Marion Ranchet (look them up), having coffee with Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie, listening to will.i.am, Serena Williams, Ryan Reynolds and NBA stars Kyle Kuzma & Carmelo Anthony, and saw 50 Cent, Cardi B & Diplo perform (I’ve never been cooler). It was nonstop.

Today’s ‘5 Thoughts’ is not thoughts on Cannes Lions - quite simply, it was phenomenal - but more about what I learned while there. As expected, AI and the Creator Economy took centre stage…

So here are 5 things I learned at Cannes Lions 2025…