Budgets may be tighter this year, but the rosé will still be flowing freely as agency executives flock to the French Riviera to attend the year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from June 16 to 20. As a hub for seaside schmoozing and lavish award ceremonies, Cannes has long been a playground for industry leaders.
This year, however, that backdrop of luxury comes with a sobering reality: Shrinking marketing budgets, slower client decision-making and economic headwinds are forcing agencies to rethink how they afford to show up at Cannes without bowing out of what’s easily the industry’s biggest event.
“I’ll be honest, this has been a tougher year in terms of getting decisions out of people for new business and for new scopes,” said David Reid, vp of global growth at Transmission, a global B2B marketing agency, “but we can’t stay quiet and can’t afford to go dark because buyers are in-market.”
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